Skip to content
WTA
WTA
  • Practice
        • People
        • Studio
        • Social Architecture
  • Projects
        • All
        • Institutional
        • Residential
        • Office
        • Hospitality
        • Mixed-Use
        • Commercial
        • Master Planning
        • Transportation
        • Homes
        • Retail
        • Interiors
  • News
        • Awards
        • Projects
        • Media
  • WTA Labs
        • Publication
        • Research
        • Lectures
        • Events
        • EQF
        • WTA Labs Videos
  • Affiliates
        • Artesan Prime
        • Izumi Bonsai
        • Art Stadium
        • Anthology
        • Partners
  • Contact
        • Careers
        • Press Kits

WTA and the paradigm shift on the practice of social architecture

August 2, 2022August 18, 2022

By Patricia Antoinette Ko

In the past century, principal architects like Le Corbusier, Gropius and Mies were articulate in the language and practice of social architecture. Be it through innovating with healthier and more affordable housing, writing books like Toward a New Architecture, or organizing model exhibitions like the Weissenhofsiedlung, generous and empathetic design was once a top priority in architecture for the masses.

Siargao Resettlement Project.

Unfortunately, this fluency petered out by the end of the 20th century. A great deal of aspirations was since then neglected and dismissed — what was once admirable became hubristic and eventually, naive. The narrative of social responsibility in architecture was marginalized and propelled out of the norm. Coupled with the advent of the pandemic outbreak, we begin to see the current built environment as one crowded with a suffocating state of affliction

Unfortunately, this fluency petered out by the end of the 20th century. A great deal of aspirations was since then neglected and dismissed — what was once admirable became hubristic and eventually, naive. The narrative of social responsibility in architecture was marginalized and propelled out of the norm. Coupled with the advent of the pandemic outbreak, we begin to see the current built environment as one crowded with a suffocating state of affliction

Social architecture is a human-centric approach toward the built environment — a practice for the people, by the people. The current built environment’s trajectory postpones this principle, often lacking an authentic connection to nature and our communities. The modern definition of good design has shifted from considerate to utilitarian — an apathetic transition to host more investments and densify cities. But the keenness to densify without considering the long-term quality of life only presents a new set of problems.

WTA challenges this current norm by taking an engaging and inclusive approach that relearns and reteaches what social architecture can mean for future cities. By investing instead on purposeful design, they reexamine the idea of “social” and put into perspective two often unassociated, but deeply kindred philosophies: architecture and change.

Horizon Manila

WTA’s renewed commitment for a socially responsible architecture is reminiscent of early ideals, and it convenes one simple wake-up call: design like you give a damn. What they embraced was a campaign to develop architecture-based solutions that foster social interaction — places where programmed space and accountability intermingle. From emergency quarantine facilities to mobile public library systems, they prove that contemporary social architecture is achievable and crucial in increasing the vitality of life and life-support systems.

But the modern decline in social fluency nowadays is not because most people don’t share WTA’s sentiments about architecture; in fact, most might be inclined to admit that architecture does play a huge role in social responsibility. It is simply because the process of how architecture is created, and even finished, is often rendered invisible. The thought of architecture is usually linked to a mere profession. But don’t most professions come with obligations to serve others? If both iconic and non-iconic architecture are, by definition, “social” purely because of profession, then what is so social about social architecture?

With the built environment so imbued inside the wider web of society, its social purpose is often left to the imagination. In a moment of irony, realities that are ever-present to the human eye like architecture, are so “normal” that they become invisible. Something we pass by again and again, but don’t bother giving a passing thought to. WTA deconstructs this habit and takes apart the idea of architecture being “normal.” Not by scrapping its current state completely, but by reconstructing it in a new way that is less oppressive and more equitable.

Lamentably, architectural practice doesn’t have the right vocabulary to articulate the merit of social change when it cannot easily be quantified with measurements or value. If architects could quantify the impact of their designs, perhaps the discipline’s social facet would be much more powerful. Ultimately, most social projects are left to thrive in their own ingenuity. But just because “social” isn’t recurrently associated with architecture, doesn’t mean its collective function isn’t needed.

Social architecture is here to drive big change, one project at a time. WTA’s commitment to a social architecture is best understood as a resolve to start up old conversations and begin new ones. By bringing forth the spirit of creative activism amid a dynamically changing landscape, architecture can, in fact, make a difference.

WTA breaks down selectively exclusive barriers and brings accessible, meaningful institutions to the people. In turn, architecture is able to recreate networks and function at a more human scale. While we are still left wondering to what extent a design’s quality can make a difference, one thing is for certain: there is no need for a shortage of designs that can leverage small ways to bring about big social change.

Related Articles

Spaces Mag Cover El Museo del Prado en FilipinasFeatured Cover on Spaces Magazine: El Museo Del Prado
September 11, 2017September 17, 2020
WTA’s El Museo del Prado en Filipinas gets featured on the Cover of Spaces Magazine Volume 13: September 2017 Issue....
Read More »
Garden City residential development in Bacoor, CaviteCity of Tomorrow: Housing is a human right
August 29, 2020October 29, 2020
Garden City residential development in Bacoor, Cavite One of the small joys that has kept me sane through this pandemic...
Read More »
Neighborhood size market in SydneyCity of Tomorrow: The Agency of Commerce
August 22, 2020October 31, 2020
Neighborhood size market in Sydney One of the main engines of capitalism is commerce. Many of our cities are built...
Read More »
Roman Architecture - The Colosseum of RomeCity of Tomorrow: 35 architecture ideas through the years
December 5, 2020December 5, 2020
The story of architecture is the story of human civilization over the last 6,000 years. We have shaped and transformed...
Read More »
Horizon East Church of the Crossroads is located at Horizon ManilaCity of Tomorrow: The human environment (1/2)
April 24, 2021May 26, 2022
(First in a series) Climate change continues to be the single, most important long term global concern, even as we...
Read More »
WTA Architecture + Design Studio
  • Practice
  • Projects
  • News
  • WTA Labs
  • Affiliates
  • Contact
Copyright 2023 WTA Architecture + Design Studio. All Right Reserved.