Case-Experience: Methodological Challenges in the Contemporary Metropolis

Abstract

This paper aims to establish the case-experience method as a situated and critical alternative to the prevailing analytical approaches in Architecture and Urbanism. Drawing from empirical research on the Habitar en Igualdad program, which developed housing blocks for women and the LGBTQIA+ community in La Rioja (Argentina), we argue that urban knowledge is rooted in ethical engagement, attentive listening, and the researcher’s embodied presence. The case-experience method is implicated, adaptive, and responsive, positioning itself to challenge normative categories, incorporate corporeality into knowledge production, and address specific subjects and territories. Additionally, this approach supports critical dialogue within research in Architecture and Urbanism, particularly in connection with social movements, vulnerable groups, and diverse contests over housing. We found that this method is pivotal for capturing the nuanced content of research involving multiple and complex urban social strata, especially in cities of the Global South. Furthermore, informed by feminist, decolonial, and queer perspectives, we contend that re-examining urban epistemologies is essential to addressing the inequalities that shape Latin American cities.