Monday, 31 October 2011
Protest Clash
We went to the 'Occupy' site in Birmingham's Victoria Square today to talk to the protesters to try and get some information from them and to hear their views. However we were met by a fence that was barricading us out/them in. The EDL (English Defence League) were marching through the street that day, with opposition from the anti fascist movement, and as such a heavy police presence was required. As a result we've had to postpone out interview. We have however drawn up some interesting maps showing how the police secured the area surround the 'Occupy' camp. They claimed that they were protecting the government building but the town hall building (no 2) was left open.
Friday, 28 October 2011
Programme of events
This is the first draft of our timeline we planned out in studio on Tuesdsay. It probably still needs quite a bit of work if it is to be plausible. One of the problems is exactly the same as the anti-capitlist protestors are having - most of the land is privately owned, so there needs to be some incentive to let the protestors stay. I had some ideas about a temporary tourist economy that could be developed initially until the movement became more universally accepted as a legitimate society. I'll bring a print on Tuesday and we can take another look. I feel as though this is an important piece of work to get right if the project is going to have any credibility.
Occupation of Public Space
An interesting article in this weeks BD magazine. There is a debate currently going on at bdonline.co.uk that I will post relevant discussions about.
Wednesday, 26 October 2011
Street Protest Architecture - Dissent Space in Australia
Hey Dave,
I've found a good article on street protest architecture which if worth having a look at. I've summarised some of the points the article raises below.
PROTEST STRUCTURES
- Protest structures help to bring human and domestic elements into public and political life.
- Protest structures are frequently misunderstood as the antithesis of architecture, but on the contrary, their architectural role in democratic cities is significant.
- In the avant guarde traditions of art, the case of experimental protest constructions is of interest because its suggests where our unsettled society may be going, rather that only where it has been.
-Protest architecture is not so much driven by the construction of materials and shelter as it is by the relations and tectonics of people and ideas.
COLLAPSIBLE ARCHITECTURE
-The notion that architecture might be collapsible , tentative, and ephemeral (my new favourite word) developed especially in the political climate of the 1960s.
-In Paris in 1968, inflatables played a key role as architecture for protest
-The structure were theatrical, colourful and transportable, well suited to a new culture of mobile and global people's movements that came to a flashpoint in Paris in May 1968.
PROTEST ARCHITECTURE AS A DEMOCRATIC TOOL
-Hundreds of citizen of the comparatively affluent community of Perth had responded to a campaign including email and text-message communications to join the spontaneous protect march, only hours after the new allied bombing had started (IRAQ PROTEST)
-At the street level there are allegiances built by social justice communities and activist groups, coming together at meetings and rallies, supported by an enormous internet network available to the ubiquitous middle classes
RECONCILIATION PLACE AND PROTEST SPACE
- The Government of the time reacted quickly to pass new legislation to prevent camping in public space.....allowing the government to evict the peaceful protesters (in response to aboriginal tent embassies)
-When in 2003, electrical power was cut off to the information office- one of the oldest parts of the tent embassy, the environmental group Greenpeace supplied Photovoltaic Panels to provide adequate energy.
- Globaal activist groups such as reclaim the streets, critical mass, and space hijackers continue this idea, with ideas emanating from their ideological and activist centres through networks of virtual solidarity to the corners of the globe.
-The notion of justice both locally and globally is of interest to a large number of citizens in the modern city, despite the apparent lack of a place for these issues to be aired.
RECONCILING NOMADIC AND SEDENTARY CIVIC ARCHITECTURES
- activist spatial occupations of the city can be seen as attempts for the New Word city to reclaim the citizen expression of the freedom of the peripatetic and peregrine in the classical city.
-For there to be a freedom to walk (let alone dwell and protest) in a public space, there must be public spaces in which to wander, and a social belief in their importance.
- Australian architecture is developing as an agency of protest occupations in public space. this model suggests a potentially valuable strategy for building the city by addressing the equilibrium of forces of the sedentary and the nomadic
SOURCE:
http://bad.eserver.org/issues/2004/65/cowan.html
I've found a good article on street protest architecture which if worth having a look at. I've summarised some of the points the article raises below.
PROTEST STRUCTURES
- Protest structures help to bring human and domestic elements into public and political life.
- Protest structures are frequently misunderstood as the antithesis of architecture, but on the contrary, their architectural role in democratic cities is significant.
- In the avant guarde traditions of art, the case of experimental protest constructions is of interest because its suggests where our unsettled society may be going, rather that only where it has been.
-Protest architecture is not so much driven by the construction of materials and shelter as it is by the relations and tectonics of people and ideas.
COLLAPSIBLE ARCHITECTURE
-The notion that architecture might be collapsible , tentative, and ephemeral (my new favourite word) developed especially in the political climate of the 1960s.
-In Paris in 1968, inflatables played a key role as architecture for protest
-The structure were theatrical, colourful and transportable, well suited to a new culture of mobile and global people's movements that came to a flashpoint in Paris in May 1968.
PROTEST ARCHITECTURE AS A DEMOCRATIC TOOL
-Hundreds of citizen of the comparatively affluent community of Perth had responded to a campaign including email and text-message communications to join the spontaneous protect march, only hours after the new allied bombing had started (IRAQ PROTEST)
-At the street level there are allegiances built by social justice communities and activist groups, coming together at meetings and rallies, supported by an enormous internet network available to the ubiquitous middle classes
Reclaim The Streets, King Street, Perth — 31 August 2002 (photos D Narbett/Perth Indymedia, copyleft, compiled by Gregory Cowan -- Perth's first Reclaim the Streets, marking and protesting Australia's non-participation in the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg.)
RECONCILIATION PLACE AND PROTEST SPACE
- The Government of the time reacted quickly to pass new legislation to prevent camping in public space.....allowing the government to evict the peaceful protesters (in response to aboriginal tent embassies)
-When in 2003, electrical power was cut off to the information office- one of the oldest parts of the tent embassy, the environmental group Greenpeace supplied Photovoltaic Panels to provide adequate energy.
- Globaal activist groups such as reclaim the streets, critical mass, and space hijackers continue this idea, with ideas emanating from their ideological and activist centres through networks of virtual solidarity to the corners of the globe.
-The notion of justice both locally and globally is of interest to a large number of citizens in the modern city, despite the apparent lack of a place for these issues to be aired.
RECONCILING NOMADIC AND SEDENTARY CIVIC ARCHITECTURES
- activist spatial occupations of the city can be seen as attempts for the New Word city to reclaim the citizen expression of the freedom of the peripatetic and peregrine in the classical city.
-For there to be a freedom to walk (let alone dwell and protest) in a public space, there must be public spaces in which to wander, and a social belief in their importance.
- Australian architecture is developing as an agency of protest occupations in public space. this model suggests a potentially valuable strategy for building the city by addressing the equilibrium of forces of the sedentary and the nomadic
SOURCE:
http://bad.eserver.org/issues/2004/65/cowan.html
Monday, 24 October 2011
The March
The slide below could show a potential march route that could begin to inform our master plan. The Big City Plan Describes Bradford Street as 'performing a central roll in linking the City Core and Irish Quarter. The slide and photo bellow show the street potential linking the two sides of the site.
Mapping of skills and skill transfer
Further to the post on Guattari here is a nice nugget:
"It seems to me that mass media fatalism equates to a misunderstanding of a number of factors:
(1) sudden mass consiousness-raising, which always remains possible;
(2) the progressive collapse of Stalinism in all its incarnations, which leaves room for other transformative assemblages of social struggle;
(3) the technological evolution of the media and its possible use for non-capitalist goals, in particular through a reduction in costs and through miniaturisation;
(4) the reconstitution of labour processes on the rubble of early twentieth century systems of industrial production, based upon the increased production - as much on an individual basis as on a collective one - of a 'creationist' subjectivity (achieved through continuous training, skill transfer and the 're-tooling' [ressourcement] of the labour force, etc)." (Guattari, 2000 p.40-41)
I've underlined the aspects which I think are of particular relevance or that could provide some theoretical grounding to what we propose.
Do you think its worth carrying out a mapping of current skills on the site based on the employment sectors research? We can then try to transpose them onto some sort of new industry maybe?
"It seems to me that mass media fatalism equates to a misunderstanding of a number of factors:
(1) sudden mass consiousness-raising, which always remains possible;
(2) the progressive collapse of Stalinism in all its incarnations, which leaves room for other transformative assemblages of social struggle;
(3) the technological evolution of the media and its possible use for non-capitalist goals, in particular through a reduction in costs and through miniaturisation;
(4) the reconstitution of labour processes on the rubble of early twentieth century systems of industrial production, based upon the increased production - as much on an individual basis as on a collective one - of a 'creationist' subjectivity (achieved through continuous training, skill transfer and the 're-tooling' [ressourcement] of the labour force, etc)." (Guattari, 2000 p.40-41)
I've underlined the aspects which I think are of particular relevance or that could provide some theoretical grounding to what we propose.
Do you think its worth carrying out a mapping of current skills on the site based on the employment sectors research? We can then try to transpose them onto some sort of new industry maybe?
The Three Ecologies
In short, (which is pretty much impossible because this text is so broad) Guattari suggests that there is little point in addressing environmental concerns without addressing social and mental issues.
I think there are a few themes to pick from this: Firstly, Guattari appears to be anti-capitalism - or rather the effects of capitalism, such a mass media serialisation, globalisation etc. - so to a certain extent what we are proposing (a post-capitalist economy) is in keeping with his ideas.
Secondly, he proposes a society where we are increasingly different. I think this is something we need to weave into our narrative somewhere.
Guattari, F (2000). The Three Ecologies. London: Continuum.
I think there are a few themes to pick from this: Firstly, Guattari appears to be anti-capitalism - or rather the effects of capitalism, such a mass media serialisation, globalisation etc. - so to a certain extent what we are proposing (a post-capitalist economy) is in keeping with his ideas.
Secondly, he proposes a society where we are increasingly different. I think this is something we need to weave into our narrative somewhere.
Guattari, F (2000). The Three Ecologies. London: Continuum.
Concrete Island
Back to what I was blogging about before: Do you think we could use this novel to inform a narrative/ character to drive the project?
The story effectively involves an Architect (Maitland), who crashes his car into a left-over piece of land in the middle of a motorway interchange and cannot escape. It is very much a contemporary version of Robinson Crusoe.
Maitland is a symbol for a society founded on capitalism and consumerism. The island serves two purposes in the novel. Firstly, it is used as a way of embodying the mental struggles that he goes though on the island. Secondly, it is representative of the kind of alienating, non-place, urbanism of the capitalist society.
Through the course of the novel we see his attitude change from one of needing to escape to one of needing to dominate the island and everything on it.
There are quite a few themes in this we could pick up on. The nature of the island for example could be related back to the islands of void in our site. Any thoughts?
Ballard, J.G. (2011). Concrete Island. 4th ed. London: HarperCollins.
The story effectively involves an Architect (Maitland), who crashes his car into a left-over piece of land in the middle of a motorway interchange and cannot escape. It is very much a contemporary version of Robinson Crusoe.
Maitland is a symbol for a society founded on capitalism and consumerism. The island serves two purposes in the novel. Firstly, it is used as a way of embodying the mental struggles that he goes though on the island. Secondly, it is representative of the kind of alienating, non-place, urbanism of the capitalist society.
Through the course of the novel we see his attitude change from one of needing to escape to one of needing to dominate the island and everything on it.
There are quite a few themes in this we could pick up on. The nature of the island for example could be related back to the islands of void in our site. Any thoughts?
Ballard, J.G. (2011). Concrete Island. 4th ed. London: HarperCollins.
City of Quartz
This is more a continuation of the site analysis really, but it might be useful to weave in:
In 'City or Quartz' Mike Davis provides a commentary on the modern history of LA. One notable theme that I picked up is that of the importance of property and land values:
"…[they] love their children… but they love their house prices more" (p.153)
In the eternal quest to increase their self worth (solely in terms of capital) the white middle-classes ended up causing racial and class antagonisms and segregation. Here we see the effects of a society driven by capitalism.
There is an interesting quote from the head of Harris Homes:
"[The Joshua Tree] is a very bizarre tree. It is not a beautiful tree like pine or something. Most people don't care about the Joshuas."
I think we can liken 'the Joshuas' to the markets, and the house builder to the Big City Plan in this case. BCP is prepared to wipe out the markets in the name of 'progress'. The only thing is I am sure, that like the Joshua trees in LA, there are people that care.
Davis, M. (1998). City of Quartz. 2nd ed. London: Pimlico.
In 'City or Quartz' Mike Davis provides a commentary on the modern history of LA. One notable theme that I picked up is that of the importance of property and land values:
"…[they] love their children… but they love their house prices more" (p.153)
In the eternal quest to increase their self worth (solely in terms of capital) the white middle-classes ended up causing racial and class antagonisms and segregation. Here we see the effects of a society driven by capitalism.
There is an interesting quote from the head of Harris Homes:
"[The Joshua Tree] is a very bizarre tree. It is not a beautiful tree like pine or something. Most people don't care about the Joshuas."
I think we can liken 'the Joshuas' to the markets, and the house builder to the Big City Plan in this case. BCP is prepared to wipe out the markets in the name of 'progress'. The only thing is I am sure, that like the Joshua trees in LA, there are people that care.
Davis, M. (1998). City of Quartz. 2nd ed. London: Pimlico.
Postscript on the Societies of Control
In this essay, Deleuze discusses the way in which control has changed throughout history and how 'societies of control' have superseded 'disciplinary societies'. Disciplinary societies are embodied by machines and factories, and are about organising production. Societies of control on the other hand are embodied by computers and corporations and rely on much more subtle means of control.
I think we can relate this to our project. I would say that most of the site still falls into the category 'disciplinary societies', whereas the Bullring is definitely a 'society of control'. As to how we can use this yet, I'm not sure, but we are heading towards a politically driven project so I figured it would be a useful discussion point.
Perhaps we could implement a disciplinary society? Although in the Three Ecologies, Guattari says that we cannot return to past values. More on this later.
Deleuze, G. (1997). Postscript on the Societies of Control. In: Leach, N. Rethinking Architecture. Oxon: Routledge. p309-313.
I think we can relate this to our project. I would say that most of the site still falls into the category 'disciplinary societies', whereas the Bullring is definitely a 'society of control'. As to how we can use this yet, I'm not sure, but we are heading towards a politically driven project so I figured it would be a useful discussion point.
Perhaps we could implement a disciplinary society? Although in the Three Ecologies, Guattari says that we cannot return to past values. More on this later.
Deleuze, G. (1997). Postscript on the Societies of Control. In: Leach, N. Rethinking Architecture. Oxon: Routledge. p309-313.
Void Analysis
"…Repressed memory, rejection, absence of control have produced a system of empty spaces (the sea of the archipelago)…today’s city contains nomadic spaces (voids) and sedentary spaces (solids) that exist side by side in a delicate balance of reciprocal exchange…"(p23. Careri, 2002)
You can see from the mapping exercise we carried out that there is a lot of 'void' space in the site. In this case, we defined void as being devoid of occupation. So it includes derelict buildings as much as brownfield sites.
There is a lack of community leading to a sense of anxiety and alienation when within the site: It is a Eutopia (literally "no place").
This could provide a nice link to J.G. Ballard's Concrete Island, which I will post about shortly.
Robert Neuwirth on our "shadow cities" | Video on TED.com
Thanks Matt
I really like the idea of this project being driven by a political agenda and it seems that what you are proposing isn't that dissimilar from Robert Neuwirth's 'Shadow Cities' in a lot of respects.
Take a look at this video:
In Protest, the Power of Place
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/16/sunday-review/wall-street-protest-shows-power-of-place.html?_r=1&pagewanted=1&sq=wall
http://occupyLSX.org/
http://www.birminghammail.net/multimedia/news/video/2011/10/23/protesters-occupy-victoria-square-to-protest-against-banks-97319-29647095/
Protest Quarter Slides
Hi Dave,
Here are my initial slides looking at the occupy wall street movement. I was thinking to move forward we could start looking at the void areas your group identified and start to map out how these could become squats for protesters. Could then look at defining a route for marches etc. Ill follow this post up with a few articles on the occupying areas thats going on.
Here are my initial slides looking at the occupy wall street movement. I was thinking to move forward we could start looking at the void areas your group identified and start to map out how these could become squats for protesters. Could then look at defining a route for marches etc. Ill follow this post up with a few articles on the occupying areas thats going on.
Monday, 17 October 2011
Political quarter
Hey guys,
I was thinking for our master plan we could maybe look at a political quarter. Using the history and the market marches etc as precedent. The market area could become a soap box area. Maybe using modern day technology for the communication?
I was thinking for our master plan we could maybe look at a political quarter. Using the history and the market marches etc as precedent. The market area could become a soap box area. Maybe using modern day technology for the communication?
Thursday, 13 October 2011
photo upload
hey matt just to let you know i have uploaded a few photos on mediafire i found from books when doing my historical research, hope they are helpful
Sunday, 9 October 2011
Hey guys,
Here are some slides I have done:
The first one is a general one of Racism and sexism in Birmingham, showing percentages
The second is the front page which i thort shut be kept simple, hope u think its ok
The third is a page of psycho analytic study of the site, i have done few more (looking at control etc) so don't think we need to put our photos together on mon/tues unless there's any you really want in the presentation, by the way I re-visited the site on friday just to get a feel for the inside of the site as we missed most of it init, the feeling I got from it was that the heart and soul of the site lay at the market, and the further away I got the more lifeless the site became,
The fourth one is an analysis of the boundaries of the site looking at the main features that enclose the site
See you Tomorrow (Matt on Tues) and hope the works going ok!!
Amandeep
=)
Muslim CCTV surveillance scheme
Here's the article for the CCTV story we we're talking about while on site.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/jun/17/birmingham-stops-muslim-surveillance-scheme
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/jun/17/birmingham-stops-muslim-surveillance-scheme
Utilisation of Space
Hi Guys,
Here's one of the slides i've done for the presentation. It shows how the market stall utilises every inch of space. I took the information from my day working on the markets. You can see on the previous post me and Tony (The Italian Stalion) working the fruit and veg store. 'POUND A BOWL'
I also got shown around the wholesale markets on Saturday. The contrast between the wasted space there and the utilised space of the market stand might be a good point of comparison to inform our masterplan.
Regards
Matt
Here's one of the slides i've done for the presentation. It shows how the market stall utilises every inch of space. I took the information from my day working on the markets. You can see on the previous post me and Tony (The Italian Stalion) working the fruit and veg store. 'POUND A BOWL'
I also got shown around the wholesale markets on Saturday. The contrast between the wasted space there and the utilised space of the market stand might be a good point of comparison to inform our masterplan.
Regards
Matt
Tuesday, 4 October 2011
Blog Open
Hi All,
The Blog is now open for us all to use. Please add any work you do or information that you may think may be useful to share. I've emailed us all the URL and passwords so that we can each post using the posting tab.Regards,
Matt
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