Jos Boys on Accelerate
Accelerate is a vital programme for enabling under-represented groups to enter the architectural profession and its related disciplines. Whilst we are already moving beyond the stereotypical image of the architect as an individual white, male, middle-class able-bodied superstar, there remains a lack of diversity in design practice, particularly at the more senior levels. And so the huge amount of creative talent offered by young people from non-traditional and ethnic-minority backgrounds continues to be wasted; and the design of buildings and cities still gets stuck in conventional assumptions about what 'normal' users.
When I co-founded The DisOrdinary Architecture Project with artist Zoe Partington in 2008, we wanted to challenge conventional norms about disability and ability; by bringing together disabled artists with architectural students, educators and practitioners to explore how starting from difference – from explicitly valuing our rich variety of backgrounds, experiences and ways of being in the world - is a creative generator for design; and a powerful critique of what is assumed the norm in how we design. DisOrdinary Architecture's aim is nothing less than to create a cultural shift both in architecture and more widely, so that our built surroundings can more accurately - and beautifully - enable the full multiplicity of our lives.
This focus on making diverse social, cultural and personal understandings central to the architectural process is what Accelerate is about. It is underpinned by a deep commitment by The Bartlett UCL to widening participation. By enabling more young people, maybe like you reading this, who are the first in their family, or their school, or their neighbourhood to have the opportunity to study architecture, it aims to change the face of the profession for the better.
When I first began studying architecture, as one of the post-war generation of young women entering the field (and university) in larger numbers for the first time, I felt like I didn't really fit in; like my South London parents I had no idea what being an architect involved. Over the years I have never lost my passion for the subject. At the same time, I have found that not only was 'misfitting' a more shared experience than I imagined back then, but that also, treated positively, it is a valuable and powerful source of creativity.
Dr. Jos Boys Co-Director, The DisOrdinary Architecture Project and MSc Learning Environments, Course Director The Bartlett UCL.
Accelerate 2020 supporters
Accelerate 2021 supporters
Accelerate has been hard hit by Covid-19 and is looking for new partners to support the programme. If your company wants to do more to support young people form under-represented backgrounds pursue careers in architecture and the built environment, please consider becoming an Accelerate supporter.
