The works presented in the exhibition “ACCUMULATION—CLEARANCE” continues the new three years cycle of Transitional Territories Studio on the de- / re-territorialization of places, structures and cultures between land and sea: the palimpsest of traces of inhabitation, production, and infrastructure projected on land, river and ocean grounds, which define the urban as a material and socio-ecological space. As guiding principle, the opposing and/or at times iterative notions of accumulation and clearance are at the core of the study. By looking into centres and repeated cycles of accumulation and their externalities, we aim to document urbanisation, its impact on present and future environment and life. The project continues in a search for alternative forms of critical design as acts of care.

The research on the state of the territorial project is developed in collaboration for the second year with Diploma Unit 9 at the Architectural Association. The Unit develops projects on a territorial scale, with a strong focus on spatial diagnostics and territorial transformation. At the heart of the studio lies the idea that crises should be revealed and designed rather than latent and suffered. This year, DIP9 continues to diagnose the current condition of the built environment and reveal its latent crises, with a specific focus on those of funding. Advocating for territorial trans-formations and institutional adjustments, the unit will propose strategies of collective responsibility towards our environment, consider ecological restoration as a catalyst for profound spatial and political change, and weave together spatial conditions through the dissemination of civic infrastructures.