This studio explored the potential of agonism (a strand of contemporary political theory), opening unexpected paths to reveal identification and confrontation of current polemics in the field. By assuming that current architecture doesn’t seem to be interested, able or accepted in frontline confrontations, this studio questioned whether architecture can act as an infiltrated agent, to work with and against opposite ideological agendas. Its final aim was to test the potential of architecture design as a double (secret) agent working for opposite ideological agendas.
The secret mission developed in this subject was the design of one of the most controversial architectural typologies in Australia: an immigration reception and processing centre that appears average but acts with a critical hidden agenda. This course vindicated the role of the architect as a public intellectual; that is, a designer who is not only actively involved in discussions about the construction of cities, but also takes critical positions in controversies that inform the evolution in the design of buildings.
