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URBAN ACT

The presentation of a European wide network of practices who act within the urban field as a place for political change and architectural practice, introducing their different projects, tools and methods.

The compilation of practices results from numerous pan European workshops, and has recently been published in book form by atelier d'architecture atogérée.
The URBAN ACT book not only locates and maps the activities of numerous
practices, but is structured as a manual to allow insight into the methods of
interventionist urban practice, like a user guide to "do-it-yourself urbanism".

For more information on the background and contributions visiisit the related research project website www.peprav.net

Practice contributors include:
aaa, Paris
AG Gleisdreieck, Berlin
Park Fiction, Hamburg
Constant, Brussels
Atsa, Quebec
public works, London
Blok, Zagreb
Laboratorio Urbano, Madrid
Metrozones, Berlin
etc.etc.etc

Posted January 25, 2008 13:02 by Kathrin Böhm

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www.30birdproductions.org
Friday 13th April starts at 19.00
at public works studio

30 Bird Productions is an Anglo-Iranian film and theatre company producing highly visual new writing. Using its cultural heritage as its inspiration, 30 Bird explores the meeting points between Eastern and Western cultures, whilst using visual and textual material to develop new forms of performance.

30 Bird develops each project via a collaborative workshop process placing an emphasis on visual narratives. Via the use of sculptural design and installations, 30 Bird aims to create surprise out of the ordinary.

The rise of Modernism both as a philosophical outlook and an architectural form and its imposition in the East has informed much of 30 Bird's work. Our projects do not tell a story, they are more akin to musical compositions, depicting images derived from individual descriptions, photographs and official documents. Projects include: The Parable of The Blind, Death By Heroine, Majnoun, but you speak such good English and The Persian Revolution.

Posted April 9, 2007 08:07 by Torange Khonsari

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Doina Petrescu and Constantin Petcou will present and discuss the work of atelier d'architecture autogeree(aaa) in Paris. She is also a lecturer in architecture at the University of Sheffield and a co editor of the recently published "Architecture&Participation" book.

" The atelier d'architecture autogeree / studio of self-managed architecture (aaa) is a collective platform which conducts actions and research concerning urban mutations and cultural, social and political emerging practices in the contemporary city. The interdisciplinary network was founded in 2001 in Paris by architects, artists, students, researchers, unemployed persons, activists and residents.
We develop urban tactics to accompany micro-processes and enable rifts within the standardised urban contexts, which are regulated by private economic interests or centralised policies. These policies are incompatible with the global, informal and multicultural mobilities that characterise the present-day metropolis. We encourage the re-appropriation of derelict spaces and the creation of new forms of urbanity by local residents through reversible designs and lived everyday practices, which make use of their skills and knowledge. These spaces conserve a potential of accessibility and experimentation by resisting the increasing control of the urban context.
Our approach involves not only critical analysis but also the process of making and acting through shared competencies and collaborations. We valorise the position of the resident/user as political condition
and develop tools cooperatively to re-territorialise their spaces of proximity and empower their decisions and actions within the city. These tools include among others trans-local networks, catalyst processes, nomad architectures, self-managed spaces and platforms for cultural production.
A “self-managed architecture” provokes assemblages and networks of individuals, desires and different manners of making. It is a relational practice, which is not always consensual but at times conflictual, and it is the role of the architect to locate confrontations and accompany subjective productions. Such an architecture does not correspond to a liberal practice but asks for new forms of association and collaboration, based on exchange and reciprocity.
Our architecture is simultaneously political and poetic as it aims above all to "create relationships between worlds".

Posted December 5, 2006 19:00 by Andreas Lang

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Freetown Christiania: Research Presentations and Debate

Individual Research Presentations followed by informal Dinner for everyone, followed by
discussion and debate

Freetown Christiania (www.christiania.org)
The Freetown Christiania in Copenhagen has been in existence for more than three decades. For just as long it has had to defend its self-governed status against the Danish government’s attempt to “normalize” it. Christiania is a unique community and place that holds its own rules, and proves a successful model for collective ownership and living.

The Christiania Researcher in Residence project (http://crir.homepage.dk)
The Christiania Researcher in Residence project was established in regards to the fact that Christiania is part of Denmark's history and poses questions of what Denmark's cultural memory is and how it should be formed. These questions are extended to an international context.

Friday Session 08
The evening will start with presentations by Christiania residents involved in the current negotiation regarding Christiania’s status and future, and members of the Christiania Researcher in Residence Project. It will be followed by artists who have been invited by CRIR to develop work in response to Christiania.

An informal dinner will allow everyone to gain energy for a more general discussion on Christiania
as a social, cultural and legal model. The profit made from selling drinks and food will go to CRIR.

Presentations and contributions by

Lise Autogena
London based artist, former Christiania resident and founding member of CRIR.
(www.autogena.org)

Emmerik Warburg
Christinania based sound engineer and video artist, founding member of CRIR and part of Christiania´s activistic society.
(http://home.christiania.org/~emmerik/)
(http://crir.homepage.dk)

Jens Brandt
Architect, activist and member of CRIR, based in Copenhagen and Croatia.
(www.supertanker.info)

Asa Sonjasdotter
Artist and member of CRIR, based in Sweden, Denmark and Berlin.
(www.potatoperspective.org)

Nicoline van Harskamp
Amsterdam based visual artist; her video project “Christiania Trias Politica” looks into the history of rules and governance in Christiania.
(www.vanharskamp.net)

Jaime Stapleton
London based historian currently working for the World Intellectual Property Organisation; his primary focus was the "sense of ownership" that Christianites have developed in relation to their homes and community and its relation to "legal" ownership of property in Christiania.
(www.jaimestapleton.info)

Neil Chapman & Martin Wooster
UK based artists and writers, whose audio interviews trace an invisible relationship between people and stories in Christiania.
(www.slashseconds.org/issues/001/003/articles/nchapmanmwooster/index.php)

Michael Baers
Berlin based artist, who is asking “What is the Mystery” in his recent comic strip about Christiania, which appeared serially in Ugspjelet, the Christiania community weekly paper
(http://crir.homepage.dk/michaelbaers/mystery_1.html)

Posted November 3, 2006 19:00 by Kathrin Böhm

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Freetown Christiania in Copenhagen, DK, is both a living community and an amazing social and cultural experiment, which keeps developing and evaluating itself. The Christiania Researchers in Residence Porgramme was set up to invite artits from outside to live in Christiania and to develop new work that explores some of the particularities of Christiania.
The evening will start with a number of presentations by artists who have worked from within Christiania, followed by an informal dinner for everyone, and a debate on the current situation of Christiania and the research outcomes in relation it.

For more information visit http://crir.homepage.dk

Posted October 16, 2006 12:00 by Kathrin Böhm

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CRISIS is a national charity that fights homelessness and empowers homeless people to fulfill their potential and transform their lives. With Urban Village CRISIS has developed a new model for sustainable communities with affordable homes for low income essential workers and formerly homeless adults.

Urban Village is:

- An innovative concept for socially mixed communities based on tried and tested model from New York
- High quality permanent housing with onsite holistic support and opportunities for work and well being
- A cost effective solution, which tackles multiple agendas across local and central government

Located on the City Fringe in Tower Hamlets, Urban Village will create 270 units of permanent affordable housing for a mixed community of low income workers and homeless adults unable to move on from an overcrowded hostel system. Urban Village will not only provide high quality, environmentally friendly housing, it will also boast integrated onsite support services including healthy living, training, and employment opportunities. Support services include the New Mildmay Hospital serving people living with AIDS, a Primary Healthcare and 8 bed Detox Centre, and the New Shoreditch Tabernacle Baptist Church.

Urban Village is based on a successful model pioneered by Common Ground Community in New York in 1990. Common Ground currently operates 1500 units. In 2005, New York City government committed to delivering 9,000 more units.

Posted October 6, 2006 19:00 by Log