Hidden Barriers III: Architectures of Separation + Cohesion

Teaching Staff
David Coyles, Senior Lecturer in Architecture, Studio Lead
Eduardo Rebelo, Teaching Fellow

The Hidden Barriers superstudio examines how the processes of social, economic and political conflict shape urban space and community development. It presents students with a chance to participate in research investigations taking place as part of the Ulster University Hidden Barriers research programme, underpinned by a series of projects funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).

The studio uses this multidisciplinary research base to explore innovative and cross-disciplinary methods of charting, analysing and mapping urban landscapes and proposing thoughtful architectural propositions. Where prevailing narratives tend to direct our gaze towards the symbolic material and spatial landmarks of conflict, such as Belfast’s ‘peace walls’, Hidden Barriers considers architecture in its widest sense. In this respect, our examinations are particularly interested in the less visible ways that ‘everyday’ architecture and space can duplicate and reproduce the effects of conflict.

The third iteration of the Hidden Barriers superstudio places the analysis of the legacies of conflict in Belfast alongside the analysis of the legacies of conflict in Detroit, USA. These examinations explore how architecture has the capacity to encourage both mechanisms of separation and mechanisms of cohesion, by looking in detail at two geographically comparative areas: the Belfast ‘Westlink corridor’ and the peripheral communities along its edges; and the historic ‘Eastern Market’ district of Detroit.

In both cities, diverse manifestations of spatial, material and psychological ‘Hidden Barriers’, evolving from a mix of social, economic and political forces, persist as fundamental barriers to post-conflict recovery.