BDes thesis: collective dwelling & expropriation for autonomy

This is an investigation of the unoccupied space in the BMO tower, 100 King St. west, speculating on what possibilities might exist there for collective dwelling and robust community outside of the confines of capitalist conceptions of property and state sanctioned development.

The central goal of autonomous housing outside of state and capitalist property conceptions is rooted in the idea that housing is a fundamental right of human beings, and that the commodification of housing under capitalism has led to the use-value of housing to be superseded by it’s exchange value as real-estate (1).

The practice of squatting (the illegal occupation of a building) has set a precedent as a viable option for much needed housing and community space, and is a mode of reclaiming the use-value over exchange value. In my research, I exained the processes of European squatting that have taken place in London, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Berlin, in the mid to late 20th century, as well examples of informal housing in Caracas (2)(3) . From this I have gathered that the act of squatting is simultaneously an act of rebellion and revolutionary activism as well as a means to procure humane housing and collective space. This project will utilize squatting as a medium to gain access to the tower and appropriate un-used office space with the eventual goal of permanent dwelling space and communal living.

References

(1) David J. Madden and Peter Marcuse. “Introduction: The Residential Is Political.” In Defense of Housing: The Politics of Crisis, Verso, 2016, pp. 9–12.

(2) Justin McGuirk. “Caracas: The City Is Frozen Politics.” Radical Cities: Across Latin America in Search of a New Architecture, Verso, 2014, pp. 105–107.

(3) Alexander Vasudevan . The Autonomous City: A History of Urban Squatting, Verso, New York, 20