New possibilities for spatial research: re-animating the built environment through speculative maps and models

Trafi-Prats, Laura ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3468-1073 and de Freitas, Elizabeth (2024) New possibilities for spatial research: re-animating the built environment through speculative maps and models. Qualitative Inquiry. ISSN 1077-8004

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Abstract

This paper presents creative methodologies for studying the emotionally charged environment of school buildings, with particular attention to situated movements and modes of engagement after the Covid pandemic. Drawing on digital-sensory methods and futuring practices, developed in collaboration with staff and students in a UK secondary school, we present a series of speculative architectural models and living maps. Our approach is informed by Bruno Latour’s concept of the Terrestrial as a metamorphic zone that includes the built environment, with connections to contemporary architecture and design practices. We use techniques in speculative cartography and cosmography, creating maps and models that show how students negotiate the affective atmosphere and social-material ecology associated with school buildings.