Transformative Lines; Exhibition & Seminar

Hosn Houssami with CatalyticAction & Public Interventions

Chaired by Dr Bo Tang

Seminar

Wednesday, 22 January 2025

5:30pm–7:00pm

Exhibition

Wednesday, 22 January - Wednesday, 29 January 2025

Hosted by CUBE and CREATURE.

Transformative Lines - An exhibition of participant-led research produced in localities of high urban displacement; Beirut, Athens, and Freetown

Seminar with Joana Dabaj of CatalyticAction and Catalina Pollak Williamson of Public Interventions, followed by ‘Transformative Lines’ Exhibit Launch:

Following on from place-based research pursued in Beirut, Lebanon, Hosn Houssami will presenting her findings relating to co-productive research techniques within the context of transitional migrant cities: Beirut, Athens and Freetown. With a focus on child-led participation - in the neighbourhoods of Sabra and Karantina, Beirut - Hosn’s work looks to explore the hidden imaginaries that may not be a part of the articulated collective narrative. These findings will be considered through two distinct themes: “Physical Lines”, the physical composition and connections within neighbourhoods, and “Intangible Lines”, pertaining to the socio-cultural and political make-up of communities. It is through these ‘Lines’ that she will draw up the connections between these three cities but also express how this framework can be used in other contexts.

This exhibition will be supported by an inaugural seminar, with guest speakers Joana Dabaj of CatalyticAction, and Catalina Pollak Williamson of Public Interventions. They will be discussing their own participant-led architectural research which has resulted in several successful live projects across numerous urban and rural localities.

CatalyticAction, is an organisation that empowers vulnerable children, youth, and their communities through participatory design and architecture. CatalyticAction delivers both built and research projects that actively engage local communities and have successfully developed safe spaces worldwide, from initial ideas to co-designing solutions with the community.

Public Interventions is a collaborative platform founded by Catalina with a focus on participatory art and design-research projects concerned with the social production of public space, and the development of new temporary practices of commoning to connect and engage communities with their built environment. Public Intervention’s work ranges geographically with projects based in Spain, Turkey, Chile, Italy and England.

Speakers

Hosn Houssami

Hosn Houssami is a Vice-Chancellor’s Scholar at London Metropolitan University researching emergent mapping methodologies, Urban Imaginaries, and their architectural applications in the context of Beirut, Lebanon. Her PhD aims to explore how cartographic techniques and participatory practices can be adapted to prioritise the consideration of children’s spaces and the role of a child in city development. This research follows on from her Master's level studies with ARCSR: Architecture of Rapid Change and Scarce Resources, during which she contributed to the Lines through the City research project.

Joana Dabaj

Joana Dabaj, a Lebanese architect and researcher, is the co-founder and Director of Programmes at CatalyticAction. Joana holds an MSc in Building and Urban Design in Development from the Development Planning Unit at University College London (UCL) and a Bachelor of Architecture from the American University of Beirut (AUB). Her work focuses on collaborating with displaced and host communities in Lebanon to co-design inclusive interventions. This includes participatory design, action research, advocacy, capacity building, and community-engaged construction, with a particular emphasis on gender-sensitive urban planning and the power of play in displacement contexts. With over 10 years of experience in participatory design and research, Joana brings deep expertise in creating impactful, community-driven solutions tailored to diverse communities.

Catalina Pollak Williamson

Catalina Pollak Williamson is an architect, academic and urban activist using socially engaged practice and participatory urban pedagogies to drive urban transformation. Her research, teaching and practice explore Play as a critical design tool for co-producing radical urban imaginaries. These projects highlight her dedication to contributing to socio-spatial justice by challenging power hierarchies through a reflexive, relational and performative approach to urban research and social development practice.

She currently teaches at the School of Architecture, University of East London and is completing her PhD at the Bartlett Development Planning Unit, University College London.

Chair: Dr Bo Tang

Dr Bo Tang is Reader in Architecture and co-director of the Architecture of Rapid Change and Scarce Resources (ARCSR) research group at London Metropolitan University. Her work focuses on the nature of collaborative hands-on making and the culture of bottom-up city-making, explored and examined through her teaching, research and live projects in India, Nepal, Sierra Leone, Greece and the UK. Bo is co-editor with Shamoon Patwari of Learning From Delhi (2010) and The Architecture of Three Freetown Neighbourhoods (2013), and co-author with Professor Maurice Mitchell of Loose Fit City: The Contribution of Bottom-Up Architecture to Urban Design and Planning (2018).

Please note that the seminar may be recorded.

Image credits: Transformative Lines, Hosn Houssami, 2024

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