Architecture and Humanities: Speculative Mapping of a Fictional Society

Speculative mapping becomes an intersection of traditional learning and innovative thinking approaches to architectural and societal design exploring the habitus of a person’s cognitive and motivating structures regarding their self and built space and eventually an exploration of a society (Archer, 2005). It provides a tabula rasa to process a statement of data and comparison of socio-architectural and humanistic constellations (Delitz, 2018). This abstract looks into the role of speculative mapping as a pedagogical tool in the Architecture and Humanities course by having grouped students engage in the creation of fictional societies’ living that mirror contemporary real-life issues with driving solutions and problem solving through cartography. The emphasis of making and creating through a speculative map design fosters conversation between students that becomes a catalyst to critical thinking and problem solving in discussion within a contemporary context whilst understanding how traditional practice of drawing co-exist and benefit in today’s digital driven world.