Hala Barakat
Background and Perspective
Speaker: Professor Hala Barakat (also rendered as Barakat/Barakat) with Palestinian lived experience from Anabta, shaping her architectural perspective.
Central claim: architecture has historically perpetuated challenges, injustices, and silences, especially in marginalizing vulnerable populations in favor of dominant agendas.
Vision: architecture can uncover hidden narratives and resist design as a political instrument.
Notable terms and concepts from her work:
architectures of hiding, crafting, concealment, omission, deception, erasure, silence
skeletal bulldozer in land walks across Palestine and South Africa
landscapes as testimonies of resistance; machines of transcription; pen in the hands of the powerful
Professional milestones:
2023 Fellow in Architecture residency program from Art OMAI (Art Omni/Art OmAi) expanding critical and creative engagement with architecture.
Previous teaching roles: University of Idaho; University of Southern Florida; current position at Washington State University (WSU).
Teaching focus across institutions: intersecting architecture with identity, memory, and power.
Personal motivation: a marginalized background shaped a commitment to social and political dimensions of design.
Research Focus and Key Concepts
Core research areas:
early design pedagogy (foundation design; foundations committee feedback loops; foundations 01/120, 01/140, 01/1940 references in class context).
real estate and development: architecture’s impact on real-world issues and cross-disciplinary collaboration for funding and budgeting.
Central questions: how can architects influence real-world outcomes beyond aesthetics and how to integrate social justice into design practice?
Foundational principle: architecture as a tool for revealing hidden histories and challenging dominant narratives.
Selected research directions:
architectures of hiding, new approaches to unveiling hidden histories.
land walks across Palestine and South Africa (collaboration among Palestinian and South African architects) focusing on memory, sovereignty, and land use.
skeletal bulldozer metaphor to critique displacement of human remains during park construction on a Muslim cemetery in Jerusalem.
architectures of hiding and a machine for transcribing history (pen as instrument in the hands of the powerful).
landscapes as testimonies of resistance (overlay of Nakba with Trail of Tears) to connect disparate histories and durations.
mapping tangible and intangible boundaries; recognizing hidden or disappearing truths today.
Current and upcoming themes:
displacement as a universal condition: unhousing, unplacing, and related experiences across different scales.
date pits and other locally available materials as building resources; exploring humble design as a systemic solution.
the role of AI in design: opportunities, governance, and staying in control of the design process; using AI to augment rather than replace critical thinking.
Teaching Philosophy and Pedagogy
Core belief: students should understand how they think as designers; cultivate and bring their own identities, backgrounds, principles into projects.
Process over product: emphasize that we "create, we think as we make"; trusting the subconscious and focusing on the design process to guide final outcomes, especially when the final product is not fully controllable.
Individualism in design: help students articulate their own design language and the unique ways they talk about spaces.
Iterative design process:
constant feedback loops with revisions to meet codes and constraints while honoring personal principles.
early, frequent model-making as a thinking tool; using unconventional materials and found objects (fragmented cameras, typewriters) to understand systems and extract lessons for building design.
Openness and inclusivity in assignments:
avoid rigid checklists; celebrate diverse approaches and allow different project scales (e.g., 10 vs 50 lines) to reflect student voices.
encourage independent study/electives where students pursue personally meaningful topics (e.g., vignettes and metaphors via collages; Armenian genocide themes; Meow Town project).
Contextual awareness:
as a land grant university, reflect on colonial and indigenous histories (e.g., Nez Perce and Native American communities) and the responsibility of architects to respond thoughtfully to past harms.
highlight the transformative power of a small design decision (0.2 mm line) in large-scale outcomes (an 8 m wall) to illustrate design impact.
Site and context as learning tools:
site analysis goes beyond maps: sense of smell, sound, scale, user experience, and pathways; how these layers can be overlayed to reveal problems and solutions.
use Google Maps-like site cues to teach layer integration and problem solving through design.
Design for social and political relevance:
projects often address current or historical injustices; use architecture and design to advocate, raise awareness, and propose ethical resolutions.
Studio structure and outcomes:
upper design studios (construction-focused) with real-site interactions (e.g., artist-in-residence in Spokane) to test ideas in contexts that support creativity without limiting freedom.
from speculative sites to built outcomes: a museum of no history becomes a vehicle to explore meaning and memory through making.
Foundations, Studios, and Real-World Context
Foundational pedagogy emphasis:
iterative feedback with real-world constraints (codes, approvals);
design thinking centered on personal identity and human experience.
Real-world impact and advocacy:
students learn to advocate for causes through projects (e.g., prison wall design addressing policy inequalities; Indigenous and local community concerns).
independent studies used to connect personal interests to broad issues (e.g., Armenian genocide, environmental restoration).
Examples of studio practice:
use of found objects and analog processes to understand systems; hands-on model building as cognitive exercise.
public-facing projects balanced with personal research and ethical considerations.
Notable Student Projects and Case Studies (Selected Snapshots)
University of Idaho (CAMI’s group): a wall project centered on a speculative prison wall around marijuana incarceration policies; demonstrates translating systemic issues into design opportunities.
University of Idaho thesis projects:
Sterling: fluids in motion; explored open-ended processes from astronomical to molecular scales; used wax melting and printing to study space and perception.
Skyler: architectural neural agility; “visions of architecture through neural sensation and perception”; prototyped using a hand-made wire-wiring technique to train the brain and demonstrate extended neural activity.
Hannah Hearst: representation and image-making strategies to engage viewers; focus on alleyways in Moscow, Idaho; reactivating neglected spaces.
Rui: Japan oil dispensary concept into the ocean; healing through designed systems to clean up ocean oil pollution.
Minching: Meow Town; addressing controversial and ethically sensitive topics (cats and COVID origins) through a public park concept and advocacy.
Hassan: earthquakes and Ottoman wood construction; a historical approach to strengthen current building strategies by tracing past technologies.
Washington State University (WSU) and Foundation Studios:
House of Play: a foundational project rethinking housing with a play-first approach to bring joy to daily life; a row house section redesigned to balance adult and child needs and joy.
Payton: playful use of play-doh to craft vivid, colorful architectural ideas; emphasizes the design process as enjoyable.
Matthew: nature as architectural content; integration of natural elements beyond traditional greenery or parks.
Richard: light as a design tool to activate spaces; exploring different temporalities of light in spaces.
Projects illustrate a spectrum from personal memory to broad social critique, and from speculative to near-implementation scales.
Research Methods, Tools, and Future Directions
Methodologies:
sketching as cognitive training; drawing to communicate ideas when verbal explanation is limited; making drawings legible to convey mood and spatial experience.
drawing as a bridge between mind and hand; using light, texture, and composition to evoke user experiences.
site analysis as layered interpretation: beyond typical maps to include sensory and experiential data.
AI and digital tools:
AI is a transformative tool; designers should stay updated and collaborate with faculty on policy and best practices.
Use AI thoughtfully (e.g., MidJourney) to explore patterns and embroidery motifs (e.g., Palestinian embroidery) as design patterns; AI used for pattern stitching to address destruction zones and healing.
Caution against over-reliance; maintain authorial control and ensure output aligns with ethical aims and research questions.
Landscape as testimony of resistance:
landscapes studies overlay Nakba (Palestine) with Trail of Tears (Native American history) to contextualize temporal durations and shared human experiences of dispossession.
Materials and sustainability:
date pits and other fruit seeds explored as building materials for humble, locally available resources; potential to translate into practical construction methods in resource-scarce regions.
Displacement and housing research:
displacement concept examined across contexts (war, domestic settings, migration); emphasis on how design can recognize, mitigate, and communicate these experiences.
Ethical, Philosophical, and Practical Implications
Ethics of representation:
architecture as a medium to address sensitive topics (genocide, displacement, colonization); responsibility to foreground marginalized voices.
careful translation of political topics for public engagement without sensationalism; using accessible metaphors (e.g., skeletal bulldozer) to communicate complex issues.
Public engagement and accessibility:
balancing abstraction with public utility; how to communicate complex ideas to diverse audiences without diluting intent.
designers should craft spaces to guide user experience and behavior through form, proportion, and circulation, not solely through graphic representation.
Education and professional practice:
cultivate broad exposure to diverse faculty and ideas; use AI and digital tools to supplement and not supplant fundamental design thinking.
develop core principles before graduation (e.g., empathy-driven design, public service orientation) to guide career choices and firm selection.
Long-term impact:
projects aim to inform policy, preserve memory, and promote social justice; architecture as a platform for advocacy and cultural resilience.
Key Terms, Concepts, and Takeaways (Glossary)
Architectures of hiding: design strategies that obscure or erase histories or narratives within built environments.
Skeletal bulldozer: metaphor used to discuss desecration of cemeteries and how to talk about it through design artifacts.
Landscapes as testimonies of resistance: treating landscapes as carriers of historical memory and political meaning.
Tangible vs. intangible boundaries: spatial and non-spatial limits that shape how truth is perceived and conveyed in sites.
Displacement, unhousing, unplacing: experiential states of losing home or place due to conflict, policy, or social change.
Date pits as building material: local, sustainable alternative material for construction in resource-limited contexts.
AI in design: tools like MidJourney for ideation; importance of human oversight and ethical use.
Museum of No History: a speculative project exploring how to create meaning in absence of historical narrative.
Audience Q&A Highlights (Key Points Reiterated)
Abstract vs public utility in architecture:
Public-facing design should translate abstract ideas into experiential strategies that guide movement and perception within spaces; balance is achieved by using abstraction to evoke experience while providing functional cues to users.
Advice for students entering a complex world:
Develop a set of core principles before graduation (e.g., empathy, public service); actively seek diverse mentorship and courses to broaden perspectives, especially on AI.
Use principled guidelines to navigate career choices and design decisions; stay current with new tools but retain critical agency over design aims.
Engagement and participation:
Encourage questions and dialogue; acknowledge that the field benefits from cross-disciplinary exploration and ongoing critique.
Summary Takeaways
Architecture is a powerful tool for revealing hidden histories and challenging oppressive or marginalizing practices.
Pedagogy should honor personal identities, support iterative design, and connect classroom work to real-world concerns and communities.
The work spans speculative and built scales, emphasizing memory, displacement, and resilience; it leverages traditional and new technologies to explore meaningful narratives.
Ethical engagement, public accessibility, and principled practice are essential for meaningful impact in design education and professional life.
Continuous learning (including AI and digital tools) should be balanced with sustained human-centered judgment and advocacy for community needs.
Background and Perspective
Speaker: Professor Hala Barakat, with Palestinian lived experience, shapes her architectural perspective.
Central claim: architecture has historically perpetuated injustices and marginalized vulnerable populations.
Vision: architecture can uncover hidden narratives and resist design as a political instrument.
Notable concepts: architectures of hiding, crafting, concealment, omission, deception, erasure, silence; skeletal bulldozer; landscapes as testimonies of resistance.
Professional milestones: 2023 Fellow in Architecture residency program from Art OMAI; current position at Washington State University (WSU).
Teaching focus: intersecting architecture with identity, memory, and power.
Research Focus and Key Concepts
Core research areas: early design pedagogy and real estate/development.
Central question: how can architects integrate social justice into design practice?
Foundational principle: architecture as a tool for revealing hidden histories and challenging dominant narratives.
Selected research: architectures of hiding; land walks across Palestine and South Africa (memory, sovereignty, land use); skeletal bulldozer metaphor (critiquing displacement) and landscapes as testimonies of resistance (connecting Nakba with Trail of Tears).
Current themes: displacement as a universal condition; locally available materials (date pits); the role of AI in design (augmentation, not replacement).
Teaching Philosophy and Pedagogy
Core belief: students should understand their design thinking, bringing their identities and principles into projects.
Process over product: emphasize "creating, thinking as we make"; trusting the subconscious.
Iterative design: constant feedback, early model-making using unconventional materials.
Openness and inclusivity: diverse approaches in assignments, encouraging independent study on meaningful topics.
Contextual awareness: reflecting on colonial and indigenous histories, highlighting design impact from small decisions ( line to wall).
Site and context: beyond maps to include sensory and experiential data (smell, sound, scale, user experience).
Design for social and political relevance: projects often address injustices, advocating through architecture.
Studio structure: real-site interactions to test ideas, museum of no history to explore meaning and memory.
Foundations, Studios, and Real-World Context
Foundational pedagogy: iterative feedback, real-world constraints, design thinking focused on personal identity.
Real-world impact: students advocate for causes (e.g., prison wall design, Indigenous concerns) through projects and independent studies.
Notable Student Projects and Case Studies (Selected Snapshots)
Examples include projects on speculative prison walls, fluids in motion, architectural neural agility, reactivating alleyways, ocean oil clean-up, ethical topics (Meow Town), historical construction, and foundational projects like House of Play and nature integration.
Research Methods, Tools, and Future Directions
Methodologies: sketching as cognitive training; drawing to communicate mood and spatial experience; site analysis as layered interpretation.
AI and digital tools: transformative potential (e.g., MidJourney for patterns); caution against over-reliance, maintain authorial control.
Landscape as testimony of resistance: overlaying Nakba with Trail of Tears to contextualize dispossession.
Materials and sustainability: date pits and other fruit seeds as local building materials.
Displacement research: examining displacement across contexts, how design can mitigate these experiences.
Ethical, Philosophical, and Practical Implications
Ethics of representation: architecture addresses sensitive topics (genocide, displacement), foregrounding marginalized voices.
Public engagement: balancing abstraction with public utility, designing spaces that guide user experience.
Education and professional practice: cultivate broad exposure, use AI to supplement design thinking, develop core principles (empathy, public service).
Long-term impact: projects aim to inform policy, preserve memory, and promote social justice.
Key Terms, Concepts, and Takeaways (Glossary)
Architectures of hiding: design strategies obscuring histories.
Skeletal bulldozer: metaphor for desecration of cemeteries in design.
Landscapes as testimonies of resistance: landscapes as carriers of historical memory.
Tangible vs. intangible boundaries: spatial and non-spatial limits shaping truth perception.
Displacement, unhousing, unplacing: losing home/place due to conflict, policy.
Date pits as building material: local, sustainable construction alternative.
AI in design: tools for ideation, importance of human oversight.
Museum of No History: speculative