MARTIN DOLAN  Post-doctoral Researcher at Oxford Brookes University

 

Martin is a Part 1 RIBA certified architect with an MA in Development and Emergency Practice from Oxford Brookes University, a course that aims to link critical thinking on international development with humanitarian practice. With a keen interest in conflict resolution and post-conflict resilience inspired by working on community projects in Colombia, he has pursued research that combines his experience of working in the architectural field with conflict studies. He has participated in research projects in Colombia and Palestine, receiving a distinction for his dissertation which focused on the role of architects in conflict resolution in Medellin, Colombia.

 

Currently a postdoctoral researcher at the School of Architecture, Oxford Brookes University, where he is involved in various projects including a conference on Art and Conflict in the Global Present and research into post-disaster recovery. He works as part of a team of researchers on an EU funded research project in relation to flooding and mitigating measures.

 

In 2015 Martin was invited as a guest speaker at the Royal United Services Institute as part of a round table discussion bringing together young researchers working on urban security issues. He has also presented at the UK Shelter Forum in 2014.

 

In 2014 Martin was awarded a scholarship from Santander Bank to fund his workshops in Medellin, Colombia that involved working on issues of urbanity and architecture with young victims of violence.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"The importance of art and design in nurturing non-violent community interaction in a post conflict context"

 

This study examines the case of the neighbourhood of Moravia in Medellin, Colombia, an area ravaged by what has been labelled by many as “the new wars” of civil and civic urban violence. The neighbourhood was settled originally by rural peasants displaced by the civil war in the countryside of Colombia, only to be met with the difficulties of urban life. Built on the city’s rubbish dump on the edge of the city, it has a history of marginalisation, stigmatisation, crime and violence.

 

This study portrays how art in the form of cultural development through dance, theatre and music combined with inclusive design process in architectural representation and the building of a community centre helped to change the social issues at the heart of many of the problems that made the neighbourhood victim to gangs and rebel groups and how it went from a no-go are to represent the dramatic change that the city as a whole has gone through. Moravia is now a cultural hub and the pride of many.

Interviews with workers, community members and architects form the basis for this presentation that aims to highlight the intrinsic value in art and design for uniting communities through shared identity and celebrations of diversity.