P.O.P.

Design
Week 1 Minutes
Initial Meeting
25/01/2019

@praxxis_p.o.p

Tobias Corry
Smriti Solanki
Estelle Xin Yun Ang
Lauren Jakeman
Leanne Hobday

1. Potential Names

- P.O.P. – People Over Profit

- Archi.vate – Activating Through Architecture

2. Concepts Extracted from Individual Tables

- Designing Public Spaces – Funded by Public Money

- Hierarchy of Collaboration
- Boss mentoring Juniors
- Power Structures
- Consultant Involvement
- Specialities of members but work collaboratively
- Aim for equality but understand the need for overseers
- More collaboration between Architects and Technicians
- No Hierarchy / Central Figure
- Typically Higher Budget for more High profile projects (masculine) resulting in profit or
fame
- Less money put into projects of the everyday – e.g. Housing
- How do people currently view buildings? – A commodity?
- Cycle between Collaboration and Individual Working
- What is the current role of the Architect? – Do our skills reflect that?
- Activating disused spaces
- Every opinion matters regardless of experience
- Credit given to firm as a whole
- All people encouraged to put forward their ideas
- More on-site interaction with tradesmen
- Situate out projects within the context of the site

3. Manifesto
 - 1 – To break down existing power structures in society and the established architectural
profession in order to address the dichotomy between architectural education and
practice
- 2 – To ensure a greater understanding of the social, political and historical context of the
sites/communities our projects are based in
- 3 – To avoid viewing buildings as abstract commodities, instead acknowledging their
value in the everyday lives of many
- 4 – To be deeply engaged with the many tradesmen, crafts people and local businesses
involved in the realisation of our designs to ensure a consolidated final output
- 5 – To devote our projects to those unable to openly express their identity without fear of
repercussions
- 6 – To promote a non-hierarchical approach to the design process, understanding the
need, however, for leaders to guide a unified approach
- 7 – To share the responsibility of any mistakes made and the credit for any achievements
gained

4. Agreed Roles – Based on Strengths

- Project Manager: Toby

- Structural Engineer: Leanne
- M&E Engineer: Smriti
- Urban Planner: Estelle
- Landscape: Toby
- User Rep. (New Role): Smriti
- Fire Engineer: Lauren
- Access Engineer: Lauren
- Health & Safety: Estelle
- Finance Adv.: Toby
- Technician (Detailing): Leanne

To be decided next time:

- Formulating Group Table – Deconstructing individual power structures and reconstructing

- Assigning Site Analysis Roles
- Deciding on group colour palette, fonts etc.
- Discuss other diagrams:
o Role of the architect over time (in history / in our lifetime)
o Current structures vs Our Structure – Layouts of Tables
o How moral principles disappear in practice
- Find precedents