Commoning Form

The essay proposes to rethink architectural form through the lens of the commons, considering how architecture can act as a material framework for participatory citizenship and ultimately, a good life. While contemporary design ethics have dismissed traditional notions of form as indulgent or self-referential, this essay asks what an ethical and relational approach to form might look like. Through examples of community-led housing, the essay explores how architecture enables new kinds of city-making and alternative modes of citizenship.

Ioana Petkova is a spatial researcher, educator and practitioner. She holds a degree from the University of Applied Arts Vienna and a doctorate from the Royal College of Art in London. She is currently a lecturer at the London South Bank University, where she runs a design-build lab with organizations from the voluntary community sector. She teaches and writes on the topics of urban commons and the democratization of architectural practice, both as a question of labour and the ethics of designing the city.