Making a home in the in-between : an exploration of the ideas of Ivan Illich and John Turner through the history of Sudoeste del Besòs

This thesis explores the ideas of Ivan Illich and John Turner as a continuous development of a theory of anti-industrialism rooted in analysis of the divorce of production from consumption. For Illich and Turner, this divorce ultimately leads to planetary overreach, global inequality in access to re...

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Bibliographic Details
Author: Murphy, Katharine
Format: master thesis
Publication Date:2022
Country:España
Institution:Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)
Repository:UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC
Language:English
OAI Identifier:oai:upcommons.upc.edu:2117/375773
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/2117/375773
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Self-help housing
Anarchism
Suburbs
Ivan Illich
John Turner
Anti-Industrialism
Localism
Conviviality
Resourcefulness
Self-Building
Sudoeste del Besòs
Public Housing
Housing by People
Tools for Conviviality
Autoconstrucció
Anarquisme
Barris perifèrics
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Urbanisme::Aspectes socials
Description
Summary:This thesis explores the ideas of Ivan Illich and John Turner as a continuous development of a theory of anti-industrialism rooted in analysis of the divorce of production from consumption. For Illich and Turner, this divorce ultimately leads to planetary overreach, global inequality in access to resources, and loss of personal freedom. Both authors put forward an alternative framework to industrial productivity which emphasizes localism and individual control over the means of reproducing everyday life. Illich offers a more high-level analysis applicable to all sectors of society, whereas Turner applies Illich’s philosophy to the production of housing. After exploring each author’s thinking through a close reading of one text by each, this thesis will attempt to illustrate their critiques of industrialism through a historical and anecdotal account of the building of the Sudoeste del Besòs neighborhood in Barcelona and the experience of some of its first residents in the 1960s.