Alternative Approaches in Architectural Design Education: 'Parasitic Architecture' as a Space Design Strategy

This study is an analysis of the outcomes of a three-week architectural design studio project that used the parasitic intervention and appropriation of urban space as its starting point. The project examined the structural, environmental, and experiential context of parasitic architecture and considered the re-use potential of space. Parasitic architecture has found a place in contemporary architectural discourse as a spatial approach that uses existing urban spaces, structures, or infrastructure and establishes a one-sided utilitarian relationship as a way of existence. Flexibility, adaptability, temporality, and sustainability are the essential qualities of these parasitic structures. While they are attached to an existing structure, architectural parasites add new structural, programmatic, and experiential features. They are new, temporary spaces and new alternatives to the claims of permanence and stability of architecture. This study examines the contribution of parasitic architecture as a design strategy, making visible new spatial possibilities of urban space previously unrecognized. The design projects of second-year architecture students are examined in terms of the design objectives, criteria, and values of architectural parasites on a structural and an urban scale. The projects also addressed how the relationship to a space can be defined through personal experience.