“Modern bourgeois society, with its relations of production, of exchange and of property, a society that has conjured up such gigantic means of production and of exchange, is like the sorcerer who is no longer able to control the powers of the nether world whom he has called up by his spells.” (Marx, Engels, 1848)
The project is the culmination of an investigation into protest as a construct of architecture and an ‘urban design’ exercise based in Birmingham’s southern gateway. The Urban Synergies project envisions a scenario set in 2030, in which the Occupy movement (originating from Occupy Wall Street) has established a permanent presence - a shadow city (Neuwirth, 2005) in Birmingham in its quest for social, economic and political reform.
Founded in Marxist theories of dialectical materialism (philosophy of motion and change) (Trotsky, 1939) and value, and Guattari’s Three Ecologies (Guattari, 2000), the project explores the role of the bank in a post-capitalist society.
Guattari, F. (2000) The Three Ecologies, Continuum Publishing: London.
Marx, K. Engels, F. (1848) Manifesto of the Communist Party
Neuwirth, R. (2005) Shadow Cities, Routledge: London.
Trotsky, L (1939) The ABC of Materialist Dialectics
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