'Reprogramming the Wall' was a 5th year student project Paul Bower began at Sheffield School of Architecture in 2006, as part of 'Studio 2: Strategies of Transition'. Set in Belfast, the project took its main site as a peace line that predominantly runs along Cupar Way; the unofficial interface between the Catholic/republican communities of the Falls Road and the Protestant/loyalist communities around the Shankill Road.
Presented here is a video of a cycle ride Paul took along part of the perimeter of the Cupar Way wall which reveals in real time how the "interruption in relationships" had manifested itself, showing the scale of the security barrier and the various control gates, openings, spaces that exist to maintain 'peace' in this area of West Belfast. Overlaid to this film is a mixture of conversations with various agents working at the time in Belfast, dealing with contested space and its relationship with the built environment.
As part of Paul's PhD at Queen's University Belfast (QUB), he is critically revisiting and reflecting on this project to identify aspects and approaches, he and others took, that may help to begin a much needed rethink of architectural practice through contested and critical contexts.
