PHD THESIS

PhD Thesis Title: Political Housing: Toghetherless

PhD Co-Supervisor: Anna Leander & Javier Fernández Contreras

The PhD research “Political Housing: Toghetherless” explores how the participatory redefinition of housing economic value to an use value, can foster collective reflexivity, challenge existing socio-political norms and observe their material entanglement. The inquiry is situated within global contemporary environmental challenges and international comparative studies. It seeks to unpack the processes behind the decommodification of housing in prefigurating sufficientcy. However, instead of exploring classical technical solutions to transform housing and the construction sector, the research focuses on social movements that materially anchor their political disputes. The central question guiding this study focuses on understanding the social and material formation of socio-environmental and spatial surpluses produced through the decommodification of housing. In other words, how is housing equipped to imagine sufficiency standards once its economic value is subtracted?
 

Profile
 

Damien is a PhD candidate in the International Relations & Political Science department and a Doctoral Researcher for the Future of Humanitarian Design (HUD) at The Geneva School of Art and Design HEAD – Genève (HES-SO). He founded Hypothesis atelier to focus on social architecture, and data-room.xyz to explore connections between material and digital spaces. Damien holds a Msc in Architecture from the Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETHZ) and a Bsc from the Academy of Architecture of Mendrisio.
 

Research Interests
 

• Architecture
• Humanitarian design
• Environmental crises
• Digital spaces
• Co-design
   

Academic Work Experience

Teaching
 

• Human Bodies within Interior Spaces (Fall 2024) HEAD – Genève
• The Interiors of Humanitarian Design (Fall 2023) HEAD – Genève
• Architectural Heritage and Digital Media (Fall 2022) HEAD – Genève
• Teaching assistant (2020-2023) HEAD – Genève