Author: STRAND

Davina Jogi

https://doi.org/10.60152/c5cc6ky9

Abstract: As a Zimbabwean documentary photographer trained and working in southern Africa, I have been conscious of the shift from the centre to the margins in photographic discourse that is redefining how photography is perceived, practiced and taught globally. In this paper I intend to outline this move away from eurocentric knowledge structures, methodologies and practices towards what are considered decolonial photographic practices as described by Rolando Vázquez Melken (2024). Exploring the impetus behind this transition, the paper will investigate what role informal, grassroots and community-based African institutions have played as agents of change. Photography’s entanglement with the domination and erasure of colonized people is becoming more thoroughly understood and appreciated through the work of theorists such as Mark Sealy (2018) and Ariella Aïsha Azoulay (2019). This reality compromises the way the medium has long been taught, utilized and interpreted in post colonial cultures. Further complicating the situation across Africa, I suggest that the institutions of photography education and research have limited reach and are often siloed from commercial and media related image making, which serves to perpetuate problematic representations of the continent. Utilizing my experience as a student of the Market Photo Workshop (MPW) in South Africa, a founding director of the Zimbabwe Association of Female Photographers (ZAFP) and more recently, a PhD candidate carrying out practice-based research in photography, the paper will explore what decolonial photography education looks like in an African context. Informal associations and organisations like The Other Vision (Sudan), Unpublished Africa (Zimbabwe-based) and Espace Partage Photo (Mali) are arguably creating a new photography pedagogy which has naturally emerged from this necessity to use the photographic medium against itself. The paper proposes that these local responses may be relevant to other contexts with shared colonial histories.

Keywords: decolonial photography, photography pedagogy, African photography

How to cite this Paper (Harvard referencing style):

Jogi, D. (2025) ‘Towards an informal photography pedagogy on the African continent‘, in R. Bogdanović (ed.) On Architecture — Crosscutting and Fusion of Disciplines, Proceedings. Belgrade, Serbia: STRAND, pp. 64–73. 

See publication On Architecture (2025) Conference Proceedings

24/7 Spaces of Collective Practice Team

https://doi.org/10.60152/8z1rcflk

Abstract: 24/7 Spaces of Collective Practice showcases the work of students from the University of Belgrade’s Faculty of Architecture, who, through an experimental pedagogical framework, explored the possibilities of everyday, all-day living in public and institutional spaces. By engaging in collaborative work, dialogue, and spatial drawing, students reflected on architecture born from immediate needs, with active involvement from the body, community, and context. 24/7 Spaces of Collective Practice not only showcases results but, more importantly, presents a method – a form of learning that is collective, open, and grounded in exchange. Through collaborative work, drawing in physical space, and articulating space through action, the project emphasizes design as a shared experience. In an era marked by fragmented educational models and growing individualism, this practice highlights the significance of common space—not only as a physical reality but also as a way of thinking. The common table becomes a site for exchanging ideas, while the tape on the floor serves as the first trace of architecture – one that emerges directly from life.

Keywords: architecture, teaching, action drawing, 1:1 scale, public-private 24h space use

How to cite this Paper (Harvard referencing style):

Rašković, I., Bogosavljević, J., Mojsilović, M., Zlatković, S., Jerković Babović, B., Todorović, D., Zorić, A., Filipović, I., Stojanović, D., Kordić, N., Dukanac, D., Spasenović, V., Cigić, P., Ilić, J., Dedić, S., Subotić, A. and Petrović R.(2025) ‘24/7: Spaces of Collective Practice, Learning through collaborative discussions and action drawing‘, in R. Bogdanović (ed.) On Architecture — Crosscutting and Fusion of Disciplines, Proceedings. Belgrade, Serbia: STRAND, pp. 59–63. 

See publication On Architecture (2025) Conference Proceedings

Connor Goddard

https://doi.org/10.60152/3utwwwox

Abstract: Throughout the everyday, our perceptions around work ahead of us is routinely negotiated, yet consistently pre-determined. While clear desks and empty calendars may signal certain freedoms through the workday, academic structures, semesters, and deadlines can be viewed a disturbance from delving deeply into tasks often neglected. While often painted into our work as a requirement for certain individuals within the academy, research can be neglected, not through desire, nor purposefully, yet due to the constrained nature of our work. Here, research can be viewed as the newly acquired LEGO set, sitting unopened on a shelf ready to be built, yet requiring time, and space, to do so. Often, our own research can be left unopened, or built slowly, rather than being valued as the passion projects many of us hope such practice to be. While fulfilment can often be achieved through this slower means of production, a deeper investment and dedication to the task is often desired. This is not to say that work otherwise lacks personal value, meaning, or fulfilment – quite the opposite. Instead, we, as academics, find ways of pulling research into other work (i.e. teaching), shaping positive pedagogical outcomes and through knowledge production. In many cases, further opportunities and passions emerge from this deep investment in student success and through the facilitation of learning. This contribution aims to express the fine line between passion-projects and practicalities walked by many throughout the academy. Through personal examples developed through teaching practice and in ongoing work towards the completion of PhD research, this submission touches on both the challenges, and the rewards which can be reaped through involvement and investment in the diverse structures and dynamic day-to-day practices as part of tertiary education. Notably, this submission frames such academic challenges and opportunities through a geographic lens, drawing on case study examples of rural retirement migration, and the complex entanglements of decision-making in later-life currently being explored through PhD research in Western Australia.

How to cite this Paper (Harvard referencing style):

Goddard, C. (2025) ‘Passion and Practicalities: Exploring distraction, routine, and production through geographic teaching and research in Western Australia‘, in R. Bogdanović (ed.) On Architecture — Crosscutting and Fusion of Disciplines, Proceedings. Belgrade, Serbia: STRAND, pp. 54–58. 

See publication On Architecture (2025) Conference Proceedings

Aleksa Bijelovic

https://doi.org/10.60152/d7f04uit

Abstract: The aim is to reveal common occurrences and tendencies of the contemporary interdisciplinary setting, academic and professional, within the dominant system in education (market) production, in which many of us play a part. How does a particular actor perceive their role and these relationships, and is there a way to transcend the string of circumstances and imagine what may be possible instead? With this comes the individual actor and their systemic social tendencies, the relations of apparent freedoms contracted in wages and fees, in contrast to the captivity of precarious independence. Individual motives and capacity to partake in the production processes may yield different structural dynamics in different contexts, although the assumption is that modern social conditions do not cater to systemic varieties and that if any truly diversified outputs of the education-industry (market) supply chain exist — it must be a glitch. One of the main points to consider is to challenge this assumption to see if the speculation stands ground at all, and with that, if we care for liberatory perspectives in education, presuming emancipation from the dominant system is attractive. If diverse outputs do occur in practice, no matter how rarely, then there may be some value in detecting and investigating them in unison to explore structural similarities that can potentially inform new theories and daily doings. A consequential objective is to assess concepts of production glitches as material deviations from educational conventions, resulting from accidental or intentional actions. Whether one sabotages the mundane conditions of one’s daily work or (alongside it) tries to implement new strategies, hoping for a paradigm shift, it is about the deviations as realities of practice leading to new awareness.

Keywords: fetish, autodidact, cultural tools, cognition, intention

How to cite this Paper (Harvard referencing style):

Bijelovic, A. (2025) ‘Of Realised Cultural Tools as Fetish and Autodidactic Paradox; On to Smysl and Folklore’, in R. Bogdanović (ed.) On Architecture — Crosscutting and Fusion of Disciplines, Proceedings. Belgrade, Serbia: STRAND, pp. 41–47. 

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Francesco Carota, Gustavo Amaral

https://doi.org/10.60152/1v0upfcf

Abstract: This paper explores the application of Artificial Intelligence (AI), particularly Natural Language Processing (NLP) models to the evaluation and comparative analysis of design scenarios developed by students in an advanced architectural studio on urban dwelling, taught in fall 2024 by the authors at the University of Kansas. In the face of increasingly complex and uncertain urban conditions, the capacity to envision and communicate future scenarios has become a critical component of architectural and urban design education. Scenarios, understood as structured narratives about possible futures, serve both to articulate design intentions and to reflect on the broader implications of spatial and planning decisions. Building on previous research on the topic, our methodology explores the application of a computational framework that integrates geospatial analytics, semantic parsing of design options, and quantitative metrics derived from urban performance indicators. Using materials of student-generated projects—including plans, diagrams, geotagged program data and textual narratives—the NLP engine extracts key themes, spatial metrics and design intents from textual and drawing descriptions to assess formal and functional design characteristics according to different parameters such as activity intensity, walkability, proximity to services, and spatial diversity. By combining qualitative design thinking with data-informed interpretation, the research aims to support both instructors and students in identifying latent patterns and evaluating the effectiveness of design strategies in shaping livable, inclusive urban environments. The paper contributes to the growing field of AI-assisted architectural education by offering a replicable, scalable, and critically reflective methodology. It demonstrates how AI tools, when used with pedagogical intent, can enhance transparency, foster design awareness, and reinforce the relevance of evidence-based decision-making in architecture.

Keywords: Design Scenarios, Urban Design, Artificial Intelligence, Pedagogy, Design Studio

How to cite this Paper (Harvard referencing style):

Carota, F. and Amaral, G. (2025) ‘Intelligent Pedagogies: Assessing Student Urban Design Scenarios through AI and Semantic Spatial Analysis‘, in R. Bogdanović (ed.) On Architecture — Crosscutting and Fusion of Disciplines, Proceedings. Belgrade, Serbia: STRAND, pp. 29–40. 

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Ivan Filipović

https://doi.org/10.60152/u05iwc9k

Abstract: This article introduces soft power urbanism as a conceptual framework for understanding how spatial interventions operate as instruments of national influence in the global city. Expanding on the theoretical foundation of soft power architecture, soft power urbanism considers how states leverage dispersed urban nodes, such as embassies, cultural institutes, and educational facilities, not only as diplomatic outposts but also as elements in a broader geopolitical spatial strategy. These nodes, embedded within the host city’s infrastructure, form a matrix of influence that is as much symbolic as it is operational. The presented research proposes a two-pronged theoretical structure: first, Spatial Strategies of Influence in the Global City, which theorizes the pre-implementation logic behind the selection, design, and placement of these nodes, drawing on principles of urban acupuncture, visibility, and ideological alignment with host environments. Second, Architectural Networks of National Projection analyzes the emergent spatial, cultural, and political effects once these infrastructures become active, often forming loosely connected yet functionally coherent clusters that shape both perception and experience of national presence abroad. By distinguishing between these two phases, the article advances soft power urbanism as both a diagnostic and speculative tool; one that not only identifies how cities become stages for geopolitical expression but also suggests how urban space may be consciously shaped to accommodate, resist, or reframe such projections. This theoretical model emphasizes the performative and narrative capacities of urban space in the realm of international relations, foregrounding architecture and urban planning as active agents in the exercise of soft power. In doing so, it invites further research into the ethical, social, and spatial implications of deploying the city as a medium of global influence.

Keywords: Soft power urbanism, Spatial politics, Global city, Cultural diplomacy, Architecture and influence

How to cite this Paper (Harvard referencing style):

Filipović, I. (2025) ‘Soft Power Urbanism: Strategic Frameworks for Spatial Influence in the Global City‘, in R. Bogdanović (ed.) On Architecture — Crosscutting and Fusion of Disciplines, Proceedings. Belgrade, Serbia: STRAND, pp. 20–28. 

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Dragana Zorić

https://doi.org/10.60152/9a5iow1r

Abstract: Temporary, moveable, and deployable architecture has transitioned from the margins of architectural discourse to a central site of experimentation in contemporary practice. Such structures challenge the discipline’s historical privileging of permanence and monumentality, proposing instead design strategies rooted in ephemerality, adaptability, and event-based spatiality. This article situates these architectures and their practices, within a broader historical and theoretical continuum, connecting current examples with a long lineage of past examples and experiments with temporality, many modernist and postmodern. It argues that mobility and modularity have become critical tools for addressing shifting urban conditions, environmental imperatives, and evolving social needs. After a select critical survey of key examples of architectural transience in contemporary practice including its impacts and meaning, this study examines the related pedagogical production of advanced undergraduate studios at Pratt Institute (2024–2025). These studios, framed around a speculative project titled The Critter, tested how nimble and provisional urban structures might selectively and strategically inhabit the margins of New York City, in an attempt to spark permanent change. By integrating historical reflection, theoretical inquiry and design pedagogy, the article argues that temporary architecture constitutes not simply a logistical solution but a critical design strategy that aims to impact urbanism at a large scale. The microform proposes architecture can become more agile, sustainable, and open to new materials, typologies, and uses and respond to conditions of uncertainty so as to rewrite the stasis of the urban condition at large.

Keywords: temporary architecture, ephemerality, deployable structures, design theory, design pedagogy, urbanism, microform

How to cite this Paper (Harvard referencing style):

Zorić, D. (2025) ‘The Critter: Temporary Structure as Agent of Contemporary Urbanism‘, in R. Bogdanović (ed.) On Architecture — Crosscutting and Fusion of Disciplines, Proceedings. Belgrade, Serbia: STRAND, pp. 9–19. 

See publication On Architecture (2025) Conference Proceedings