You’re probably wondering what this podcast is all about, it began as the research topic for my master’s thesis, but I decided to switch the format from pen, to paper, to audio. I created this podcast as a tool for visualising Youtopia in tomorrow’s society, I’m analysing architecture at points of social change, and observing the ways we design places as a result of that.

It’s youtopia not utopia because in an ideal society, the spaces we build and design should be reflective of you, and whatever identity you represent. This is architecture for social empowerment, and social equality.

I’ve got a couple of guests that are going to help me along the way, these guests have been chosen because they’ve organised protests, they’re disrupting educational barriers, they’ve created campaigns, they’re forming networks...They’re going to share their stories, challenges, achievements, and aspirations; and we’re just going to discuss how the work they do positively disrupts the ‘system’ and creates opportunities for change.

By taking this a step further and disseminating the podcast as a public tool, the essay can take on an organic form. If one considers the abstraction of ‘utopia’ into ‘(You)topia’, as planting the seed for the idea and subject matter of this essay, the body of the essay as the plant growing, the research method as the tree bearing fruit, and finally the dissemination of the concept in podcast form as the fruit itself, all that remains is for the listener, the audience to pick the fruit and choose what to do with it. Like a ‘tool’ for bringing about the concept of youtopia, we now have that tool in the possession of ‘you’; the listener; the people, so it can be shared, discussed and built on.