Tipping point This article was originally published in Domus 968 / April 2013 “At the beginning,” says Javier Corvalán, “this house was the antithesis of our usual way of doing things, since we had chosen a physical factor as our point of departure, instead of starting from a material and structural question as we normally do.” The exception may perhaps be ascribed to the fact that this house — built for a famous Paraguayan movie director — induced the architect to be swayed by a topic that has always fascinated him: the properties of light. With this inspiration he developed his design as an optical device, a sort of “camera obscura” into which the upturned image of the surrounding landscape is projected through a pinhole. This idea might initially sound like a gratuitous ploy, but in truth, the chosen solution is perfectly suited to the building’s functional programme. The Caja Oscura (“camera obscura”) house lies in a rural area about 15 km from central Asunción. Ground floor plan
Sennse - Communication et Enjeux urbains Oscar Lhermitte The Urban Stargazing project focuses on bringing back the stars in the city sky by recreating existing constellations and adding new ones, narrating old and contemporary myths about their respective geolocations. Over time, society has developed a complex rhythm that demands we live in an environment artificially lit twenty-four hours a day preventing us from experiencing the natural lights coming from billions of light years away, shining and twinkling as soon as the Sun sets to the west. During the summer of 2011, twelve groups of stars were installed at different locations in the city of London, and could only be observed by the naked eye at night time. Along with the installations, an astronomical map of the reclaimed sky was given to the public, detailing each constellation with its latitude/longitude coordinates.
Beta The future of city-making is human-centric. With failed topdown schemes of Le Corbusier, Cornelis van Eesteren and others, we witnessed downsides of the state-driven urbanism. With vastgoedfraude, we witnessed downsides of the market-driven urbanism. While cities in reality are made for and by people, city technocrats and bureaucrats never made the real peace with human-driven city-making. It is time for us city designers to identify this and re-define our role before it is too late. *For the clarity of term game, by World of Citycraft, we do not refer to video games such as ‘Simcity’, or not to city simulation games such as ‘Specefighter’ or not to board games such as ‘Settlers of Catan’. How are games the right medium for city-making? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Wat wil je bereiken? World of Citycraft will bring an informal quality to the public domain in a time where the formal, image-driven quality cannot be sustained anymore. Wie is je doelgroep? Everybody involved in urban generation.
Compétences | Reperage Urbain - Sociologie, urbanisme, territoires Nos méthodes sociologiques d'enquête, d'étude de terrain, de diagnostic territorial (voir plus bas) débouche fréquemment (voire : généralement) sur la conception, souvent collective, d'un "projet ", ou du moins d'un schéma, d'un plan guide, d'une série de préconisations ou de 'fiches action'. L'essentiel de notre démarche dans ces domaines peut se résumer à : En effet, au-delà de l'échelle du "pâté de maison" (ou "îlot"), un "projet urbain" devient forcément un objet "instable" : Il tente de cadrer une réalité nécessairement évolutive, impliquant des multitudes d'acteurs de façon assez complexe (habitants ou riverains inclus), avec de nombreux facteurs de décisions et d'évolutions variables dans le temps et en grande partie imprévisibles (exemples : le marché immobilier, les normes écologiques réglementaires, l'âge et le profil de la population…).
Beta Three days and three nights to design public space: 72HUA directors Halbrecht and Karjevsky discuss the first real-time architectural competition via Domus Network, Author Joshua Simon Imagine a team of 120 architects and designers descending on an average street with residential buildings, public and commercial programs, schools, services and light industry—this is not “Extreme Makeover—Home Edition” the neighborhood version, but rather a social and architectural projects that aims at mending urban fabrics—it is called 72 Hour Urban Action, and its two directors, Kerem Halbrecht and Gilly Karjevsky from Tel Aviv-Jaffa, are about to bring it to the world. After analyzing the site, mapping movement patterns, current uses, physical qualities and urban context ten sites are chosen along the street with the most potential for intervention. This, they say, is a platform for experimentation, to test ideas and methodologies.
Beta As I delivered my nominations for the 2012 European Prize for Public Space, and as the classic thinker of the corresponding sphere was suddenly raging, I felt the urge to go back to a book that reassesses, if not indeed upturns, the fashion in which architects and planners regard urban space and its public dimensions. It’s only in appearance that the recently published Urban Maps is about establishing a cartography of the city. Unless, of course, one considers that the practice of mapping the city is nowadays becoming itself highly performative. The investigation’s subtitle is eventually more enlightening: Instruments of Narrative and Interpretation in the City. As my own endorsment prints in the back cover: Fifty years ago, Kevin Lynch offered us a classical reading of ‘the image of the city’ based on a waning ideal of clear built landmarks and distinct urban signs. Image by RE_MAP, Manchester School of Architecture’s design research lab Autonomy should still be there, yes.
Infographics XXXL Après le projet Hand Lettering Cover, le studio belge Soon a imaginé pour son client « Ablynx » une série d’infographies réalisée à échelle géante. Une idée astucieuse et réalisée avec talent qui permet de proposer des histogrammes et autres infographies à taille XXXL. Plus d’images dans la suite. The Stone Cold Facts Photograph by Randal Ford for Fast Company Candy Chang is a Taiwanese American artist who is interested in the relationship between public space and personal well being. Combining urban planning, street art, and design, she sought more contemplative and inclusive ways to reflect and share with the people around her. Her interactive experiments in public space have examined issues from housing costs and the future of vacant buildings to career choices and confessions. After losing someone she loved, she created Before I Die on an abandoned house in her neighborhood to invite people to reflect on their lives and share their personal aspirations in public space. Since then, over 450 Before I Die walls have been created in over 60 countries and 30 languages by passionate people around the world, and her book about the project was recently published by St. She is a TED Senior Fellow and a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader. Before I Die:WebsiteTwitterFacebookNewsletterEmail M.S.
I Wish This Was 2010New Orleans, LA Interactive public art project that invites residents to share their hopes for vacant buildings. Chang placed boxes of free stickers in businesses around the city and posted thousands of stickers on vacant buildings across New Orleans, so anyone walking by could fill one out. The stickers are vinyl and can be easily removed without damaging property. Responses ranged from the functional to the poetic: I wish this was… a butcher shop, a community garden, a bike rack, a place to sit and talk, an affordable farmer’s market, a taco stand, a donut/flower shop, full of nymphomaniacs with PhDs, a source of tasty healthy food I could afford, my art gallery, your dream, Heaven. Part of the Ethnographic Terminalia exhibition at Du Mois Gallery, New Orleans. 2010, New Orleans.