Minor Spatial Tactics from the Floating University Berlin and Agrocité Paris

Abstract

Emboldened by the economic crisis of 2007 to 2008, a growing rhizome of socially and politically engaged spatial practices have resorted to alternative modes of producing architecture that focus more on its societal aspirations. Aiming to uncover some of the potentialities of the projects that emerged from this growing rhizome to introduce other modes of making architecture while resisting dominant ones, this paper considers the Deleuzian-Guattarian concept of the “minor” to propose an alternative reading of such projects as “minor architectures,” that is, critical practices that resist the canon and act in the crevices of the mainstream. Using ethnographic research methods on two empirical cases, namely the Floating Berlin designed by Raumlabor and Agrocité Paris designed by Atelier d’Architecture Autogérée, the paper identifies “minor” spatial tactics of making architecture that go beyond the limit(ation)s of the practice: (1) resisting the architectural object as a static entity, (2) fostering collective expression, (3) exploring potentialities by reterritorializing interstitial spaces, and (4) creating haptic and affective experiences. The paper reflects on the concept of the minor as an operational tool that could help break away from dominant systems of architectural production.