About

This student-led journal was founded by Maria Salaru and draws on the work produced during the Anthropology of the Built Environment course at University College London, which explores anthropological approaches to the study of architectural forms.

As the world comes to terms with living with the Covid-19 pandemic and people begin to revisit public spaces that were inaccessible for two years, we are presented with an opportunity to reconsider the significance of the built environment in social life. At the same time, the homes that are usually regarded as spaces of safety and comfort were transformed into spaces of confinement over two years, prompting us to reflect on the role of architecture in our notions of domesticity, privacy, and security.

The authors of this year’s essays explore the power dynamics at play in planning and architectural processes in spaces such as homes, playgrounds, railway stations and ghost towns. They consider and address questions about who has the right to design and use spaces and buildings, and what the terms of that usage is. In the process, it becomes evident that certain sections of the population are commonly excluded from all these spaces, both private and public. This emphasis on the materiality and tactility of marginalization offers a more concrete view of inequalities that are often obscured by abstract statistical analyses.

Editors [2021-2022]: Ruman Kallar and Shreetoma Biswas

Editors [2020-2021]: Scott Campbell and Caragh Murphy-Collinson

Editors [2019-2020]: Karwai Ng, Abigail Pipkin and Lily Rodel