Autoterrorist

June 30, 2006

the OC

Well, I am back in the OC now, looking for a job because I am beyond broke at this point.

I am really behind on my posts, but I will get them up there, plus new podcasts. I swear.

the OCOriginally uploaded by Omar Omar.

Culture shock….......................

Cat:

Uncategorized

| Time: 5:26 pm Comments (0)

June 10, 2006

DynamiCity

Yesterday I caught the DynamiCity exhibition on one of its final days at the Netherland’s Architectural Institute in Rotterdam.

“DynamiCity – Tactics for a Changing Metropolis” assembles four groups of architects who have developed a new approach to and visual language for urban environments. This is the first time they are being recognized as being a part of a distinct movement. These firms offer a novel analysis of the intricacies of urban life. To do so, they have developed methods to help us better understand, perceive, experience and use the city.

The four groups are Atelier Bow-wow (Japan), Stalker/ON (Italy), Actar Arquitectura (Spain), and Chora (Netherlands). Though the exhibition curators claim to have discovered a “new movement” as represented by this international smattering of architects and artists, I found their approaches to the urban environment to be incredibly varied.

For example, the Chora group’s submission consisted of impressive, almost overwhelming use of research, maps and diagrams charting the dynamics of the urban landscape support a theory of “Dynamic Master Planning,” which eerily reminds of utopian aims in urban planning. The maps and diagrams were presented in a dizzying array, accompanied by obtuse texts which lent the project an air of scientific rectitude, whilst on the opposite wall were collages of their new paradise peopled by magazine cut-outs of smiling children and happy couples. Something about it didn’t quite convince.

On the other hand, the group Stalker/ON and its Osservatorio Nomade, an urban research group in Rome, take a different, much more humanist approach to research into the dynamics of the city. Their submission focused on the revitalization of the Corviale building in Rome, a kilometer long, nine-story-high residential/commercial “megastructure” that, because of its design, quickly fell into neglect and disarray, prone to squatters and leaky roofs. Stalker/ON’s approach to the building was disarmingly compassionate and charming, sometimes humorous, focusing on the human element through interviews with the residents and even the Corviale’s architect. The fallacy of mega urban planning quickly becomes evident and we realize that the urban landscape is made up of individuals, not robots or magazine cut-outs.

My favorite, though, was the submission from Atelier Bow-Wow, from Tokyo. Their focus was on impromptu urban structures, what they call “dame (ã ã‚ï¼‰architectureâ€ or “no-good architecture.” Particularly ingenious was a tent inspired by the kotatsu, or Japanese heated table. Having first hand experience with the absolute delight that is a kotatsu, I think a super big one to crawl into and hang out with your friends sounds fantastic for a chilly winter day.

I especially like Atelier Bow-Wow’s attitude towards what would be considered “dame” structures and celebrating them as manifestations of the spontaneity of urban life. I was especially impressed with the touching yet non-apologetic documentation of the homeless under the bridges along the Kamo River in Kyoto.

This week I am off to Paris. I think the sublet we are getting has an internet connection, but you might not hear much from me anyway.

I apologize again for not making a new podcast. Last time I tried I got distracted by this.

Cat:

| Time: 2:04 pm Comments (5)

June 7, 2006

Exhibitions, notes, articles and other stuff…

Sorry for the increasingly infrequent posts. Unfortunately since I arrived in Amsterdam my internet access has been pretty dismal.

I’ll try to write about the exhibitions I visit and such.

As for now here are a couple of links to shows I hope to attend:

Future City: at the Barbican in London

I hope to have enough time to finish a podcast tomorrow, but to hold you over until then here is an interesting article concerning the World Cup in Germany and renewed debate over some controversial Nazi-era statues.

Also, check out Amnesty International’s European ad campaign featuring “see-through” posters with the slogan, “This is happening, not here, but now.” (from Wooster)

Cat:

| Time: 2:35 pm Comments (0)

June 30, 2006

the OC

June 10, 2006

DynamiCity

June 7, 2006

Exhibitions, notes, articles and other stuff…

Categories