Equal by design

Equal by design

A film exploring how ideas from the past can inform current debate on social housing will premiere in London at the Bertha DocHouse Cinema and in Aberdeen at the May Festival.

A collaborative research project between the University of Aberdeen and University College London has brought experts in architecture and housing charities together with philosophers and academics to take a fresh approach to the issue.

The project team have created a 25 minute film entitled ‘Equal by Design’ that shows how the ideas of a 17th century philosopher who linked ‘human flourishing’ to equality connects to architectural thought.

Dr Beth Lord from the University of Aberdeen has led the project funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).

She said: “Baruch Spinoza has a unique concept of equality that is as relevant today as when he wrote his theories more than 300 years ago.

“Inequality in housing is a major issue and a better understanding of Spinoza’s concept can help us to think about how we can improve wellbeing through the design of social housing.”

As part of the project the team examined some of the UK’s most controversial social housing schemes including Sheffield’s Park Hill flats and London’s Alexandra Road estate.

Dr Lord continues: “Although these schemes have been blighted by poor maintenance in recent years, we can see that planners did get certain things right in the 1960s.

“The mandates around space standards are preferable to what we have today. We see looking back to the design ideas of these new estates that wellbeing was very much at the heart of the process.

“Looking back further to Spinoza we can see that certain ideas about ratio, equality and difference enable us to consider the issue of providing high quality social housing from a wider perspective.”

The film features contributions from figures at the leading housing charity Shelter and from the Equality Trust. Following the launch events it will be free to download and share online.

The launch screening takes place on Saturday May 21 at the Bertha DocHouse Cinema in London. The film has its Scottish premiere at the University of Aberdeen’s May Festival, as part of celebrations for the Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design, on Saturday May 28 from 4pm to 5.15pm. Tickets are free of charge but should be reserved by visiting www.abdn.ac.uk/mayfestival

 

Search News

Browse by Month

2024

  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr There are no items to show for April 2024
  5. May There are no items to show for May 2024
  6. Jun There are no items to show for June 2024
  7. Jul There are no items to show for July 2024
  8. Aug There are no items to show for August 2024
  9. Sep There are no items to show for September 2024
  10. Oct There are no items to show for October 2024
  11. Nov There are no items to show for November 2024
  12. Dec There are no items to show for December 2024

2004

  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov There are no items to show for November 2004
  12. Dec

2003

  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec There are no items to show for December 2003

1999

  1. Jan There are no items to show for January 1999
  2. Feb There are no items to show for February 1999
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec

1998

  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr There are no items to show for April 1998
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul There are no items to show for July 1998
  8. Aug There are no items to show for August 1998
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov There are no items to show for November 1998
  12. Dec