aae2016 Publication Volume 1

Space & play time - the value of the speculative act in architectural design (education) David Short University of Nottingham, UK INTRODUCTION Across humanities and social sciences, there has in recent years, been a renewed interest in acts of speculation and their benefits to research and problem solving (‘Speculative Realism’ workshop at Goldsmiths College, London, in 2007, ‘Speculative Realism and Speculative Materialism’ conference at the UWE, Bristol April 2009, ‘Speculative Art Histories’ symposium, Witte de With Centre for Contemporary Art , Rotterdam, May 2013, ‘The Art of Speculation’ joint symposium, Berlin, November 2014 and The ‘Speculative Tate’ series of Talks and Lectures, at Tate Britain, London, October 2014 – May 2015). Speculation at one time was considered one of the highest forms of thought. This paper seeks to promote the act of speculative drawing as an integral part of a design process and supports this by discussing and evidencing the work of studio Unit 4, at the Department of Architecture, the University of Nottingham.

This undergraduate studio, has for many years been interested in exploring and developing creative methodologies in architectural design education, that broaden the conceptual range by which architecture is produced. This is not so much about having an idea that conceptually challenges or provokes, or indeed about the finished object that may challenge and provoke, it is the process of the speculative acts in drawing that are the focus of attention; producing drawings that become territories and landscapes for thinking and speculation. This speculative approach over many years has encouraged, fostered and often created unique architectural outcomes that are unexpected and very personal.

Underscoring the work lie the fundamental principles of drawing and thinking, questioning and reflecting; principles that enhance a student’s capacity for creative problem solving in an open and exploratory way.

THE SPECULATIVE WHAT? So what do we mean by a speculative act and in particular the speculative drawing? What might inventive speculative practices look like in the design studio? These are some of the questions that this paper will consider.

Fundamentally this approach demands an ‘exploratory form of engagement’, as the Unit of Play at Goldsmiths (The Unit of Play, Department of Sociology, Goldsmiths, the University of London) might