DISOBEDIENT BUILDINGS Disobedient Buildings

In Season 2 Episode 1, a dust sample containing cat hair, leads the Disobedient Buildings team into a discussion about the many ways in which block residents in Oslo, London, and Bucharest foster connections with others. We will delve into how people’s relationships with neighbours, pets and wild urban animals, and specific environments (parks, cafes, WhatsApp groups) influences their overall sense of wellbeing. However, we will also demonstrate that frictions and disputes can always emerge. How do block residents forge, manage and maintain multiple networks of support and care, particularly in times of uncertainty and crisis? Is loneliness inevitable and has the concept of ‘community’ become obsolete?

Starting with a dust sample containing feathers from a duvet in Oslo, in Episode 2 the Disobedient Buildings team examine the impact of inequality, precarity, and stigma on the wellbeing of tower block inhabitants. In the post-war period, these buildings were often seen as the pinnacle of modernity and technological innovation, but over time they have become associated with deprivation and poverty. This episode aims to challenge these negative stereotypes: why do so many participants love living in their aging blocks? By reimagining these spaces, we hope to inspire practical solutions, however small, for current housing issues.

Prompted by some unusual dust samples, in Episode 3 the Disobedient Buildings team explores what it means to be an ageing body in an ageing building. What are the contradictions between the intentions and imaginaries of the original architects and the present-day realities and needs of ageing block residents? As populations in European cities are aging, how we can improve older people’s overall health and wellbeing? And how can we design housing that matches people’s desire to continue to live in their own homes – even when they need care and help to do so?

In Episode 4, a speck of dust from a windowsill in London opens up a discussion about the uncertain impact of pollution and new development projects on residents’ health and wellbeing as well as their sense of safety, security, and trust in the state. Across field sites, the Disobedient Buildings team found that home ownership and the weakening of welfare systems have chipped away at people’s trust in the ability of governments and local authorities to offer them care and security. How have decades of deregulation, disinvestment and institutional neglect impacted the lives of residents of ageing blocks? How can we re-evaluate the future potential of vertical living in our cities?

In the first episode Inge Daniels, the principal investigator, leads a discussion with the other two team members, Gabriela Nicolescu and Anna Ulrikke Andersen. They first unpack ‘disobedience’ as a concept and explore its usefulness during their empirical research in the three countries studied. This is followed by a comparative exploration of the pack methodology that they designed to conduct in-depth fieldwork during the pandemic. Can buildings be disobedient? How were the packs received by research participants?

In this episode Inge Daniels talks to Danny Dorling, Professor of Geography at the University of Oxford. He has written numerous books and articles about social and economic inequality in the UK and beyond, including Finntopia (2020) and 32 Stops (2013) mentioned in the recording. Professor Dorling uses statistical analysis about populations to gauge the state of welfare and wellbeing in Europe. He shares some of the idiosyncrasies and ironies of London that have emerged from his research. Is London the most unequal city in Europe? Why is life expectancy falling? Is cladding mainly done for other people’s views? What might happen if citizens start to challenge misleading narratives of prosperity and individual responsibility propagated by those in charge?