ComplexityAndTheHumanDimension

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Presentation from architect Maurice Mitchell's invited talk at SPA 2010: ==> File:ComplexityAndTheHumanDimension1.pdf (warning: 60mb pdf)

Maurice Mitchell is Reader in the Department of Architecture and Spatial Design at London Metropolitan University where he runs a Diploma Studio. He has taught at the Architectural Association, and the Development Planning Unit, University College London, and has for many years run exploratory architecture courses at the Centre for Alternative Technology in Wales.

His early career included extended periods of work in the shanty towns of Ghana and as advisor to the Southern Regional Government of Sudan: more recently his work has taken him to Kosovo, and to marginal settlements throughout India.

A recognised expert in the Architecture of Rapid Change and Scarce Resources, in June 2008 he guest-edited the special edition of Open House International on this subject. Maurice is the author of three books: Culture, Cash and Housing (1992), The Lemonade Stand: Exploring the unfamiliar by building large scale models (1998), and Rebuilding Community in Kosovo (2003).

Maurice's talk - Complexity and the Human Dimension: A Question of Fit - will look at the relative appropriateness of loose or tight fit construction together with that of open or integrated approaches in analyzing and intervening in complex rapidly changing situations where resources are scarce.