In Other Latitudes examines the in-between spaces of Mediterranean port cities in the context of historical and contemporary conditions of urban politics. Located in the centre of Izmir, our visiting school views the recurring condition of displacement and its effects on the city. The historically migrant neighbourhoods surrounding Izmir’s Roman Agora continue to be the point of arrival in the city for contemporary refugees due to the construction of the train station in the 19th century. By looking at urban space within architectural, sociological, and political discourses, discussions on issues of identity, temporality, and informality are developed. Here, we will be facilitating points of contact and observing cultural products of migrants from within by examining the material conditions of social frameworks and their manifestations in architecture.

In the field, we are able to find intermediate spaces occupied and appropriated at different scales. Lectures and seminars will cover topics of displacement and resettlement, followed by relevant fieldwork in which the formation of architectural and social orders in the new domain will be observed. These studies will document local architectural and anthropological elements using recording methods, collection of objects, and mapping. The outcome will be a small-scale intervention derived from findings, exhibited together with a street dinner in the neighbourhood.

PROMINENT FEATURES OF THE WORKSHOP/ SKILLS DEVELOPED

• Field experience observing self-made spaces of migrants
• Understanding contemporary methodologies to house lower-class emigrants
• Finding cultural elements embedded in the social and built environment
• Theoretical lectures on spatial reflections of displacement
• Effects of significant events in Mediterranean migration such as the Greek population exchange of 1923
• Observing traces of traditional Greek architecture present in current migrant neighborhoods
• Visiting preserved structures of Sephardic Jewish architectural heritage
• Social acquaintance with inhabitants of areas occupied by displaced people
• Visiting roman ruins of the Agora of Smyrna
• Visiting solidarity spaces, informal community spaces, and an art collective
• Archival findings
• Production and projection of migration films and video documentation
• Experimentation with various recording methods and mapping techniques