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Friday, January 24. 2014
A new call by the very interesting Bracket magazine/books!
Via Bracket
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Dear Bracket friends,
We hope you consider submitting. Please also pass this along to anyone you think might be interested.
The deadline is quickly approaching — February 28th!
Best wishes,
Neeraj & Mason
Bracket [takes action]
“When humans assemble, spatial conflicts arise. Spatial planning is often considered the management of spatial conflicts.” —Markus Miessen
Call for submissions
Hannah Arendt’s 1958 treatise The Human Condition cites “action” as one of the three tenants, along with labor and work, of the vita active (active life). Action, she writes, is a necessary catalyst for the human condition of plurality, which is an expression of both the common public and distinct individuals. This reading of action requires unique and free individuals to act toward a collective project and is therefore simultaneously ‘bottom-up’ and ‘top-down’. In the more than fifty years since Arendt’s claims, the public realm in which action materializes, and the means by which action is expressed, has dramatically transformed. Further, spatial practice’s role in anticipating, planning, or absorbing action(s) has been challenged, yielding difficulty in the design of the ‘space of appearance,’ Arendt’s public realm.
Our young century has already seen contested claims of design’s role in the public realm by George Baird, Lieven De Cauter, Markus Meissen, Jan Gehl, among others. Perhaps we could characterize these tensions as a ‘design deficit’, or a sense that design does not incite ‘action’, in the Arendtian sense. Amongst other things, this feeling is linked to the rise of neo-liberal pluralism, which marks the transition from public to publics, making a collective agenda in the public realm often illegible. Bracket [takes action] explores the complex relationship between spatial design, and the public(s) as well as action(s) it contains. How can design catalyze a public and incite platforms for action?
Consider two images indicative of contemporary action within the public realm of our present century: (i) the June 2009 opening of the High Line Park in New York City, and (ii) the January 2011 occupation of Tahrir Square in Cairo. These two spaces and their respective contemporary publics embody the range within today’s space of appearance. At the High Line, the urban public is now choreographed in a top-down manner along a designed, former infrastructure with an endless supply of vistas into an urban private realm. In Tahrir Square, an assembled swirling public occupies, and therefore re-designs, an infrastructural plaza overwhelming a government and communication networks. This example reveals a bottom-up, self-assembling public. But what role did spatial practice play in each of these scenarios and who were the spatial practitioners and public(s)? The contrast of two positions on action in a public realm offers an opening for wider investigations into spatial practice’s role and impact on today’s public(s) and their action(s).
Bracket [takes action] asks: What are the collective projects in the public realm to act on? How have recent design projects incited political or social action? How can design catalyze a public, as well as forums for that public to act? What is the role of spatial practice to instigate or resist public actions? Bracket 4 provokes spatial practice’s potential to incite and respond to action today.
The fourth edition of Bracket invites design work and papers that offer contemporary models of spatial design that are conscious of their public intent and actively engaged in socio-political conditions. It is encouraged, although not mandatory, that submissions documenting projects be realized. Positional papers should be projective and speculative or revelatory, if historical. Suggested subthemes include:
Participatory ACTION – interactive, crowd-sourced, scripted
Disputed PUBLICS – inconsistent, erratic, agonized
Deviant ACTION – subversive, loopholes, reactive
Distributed PUBLICS – broadcasted, networked, diffused
Occupy ACTION – defiant, resistant, upheaval
Mob PUBLICS – temporary, forceful, performative
Market ACTION – abandoning, asserting, selecting
The editorial board and jury for Bracket 4 includes Pier Vittorio Aureli, Vishaan Chakrabarti, Adam Greenfield, Belinda Tato, Yoshiharu Tsukamoto as well as co-editors Neeraj Bhatia and Mason White.
Deadline for Submissions: February 28, 2014
Please visit www.brkt.org for more info.
Tuesday, July 20. 2010
Via ArchDaily
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by Karen Cilento
It is easy to take for granted the things you grow accustomed to, but ever since the initial idea of revitalizing the High Line began sprouting up, New Yorkers have been taking full advantage of the project and loving every second spent strolling, relaxing and gazing at the West Side’s newest addition. The project has truly piqued locals and tourists’ interests as the elevated promenade is enjoyed as much today as it was on opening day over a year ago.
With such success, it is no surprise, as Kate Taylor reported for the New York Times, that the small office of the Friends of the High Line has received countless calls asking how their cities can also enjoy the High Line effect.
After seeing New York’s success, cities across the United States, such as Jersey City, Philadelphia, Detroit, and Chicago, are interested in transforming their deteriorating infrastructure into new public spaces. “There’s a nice healthy competition between big American cities,” Ben Helphand, who is pushing to create a park on a defunct rail line in Chicago told Kate Taylor for the New York Times. “That this has been done in New York puts the onus on us to do it ourselves and to give it a Chicago stamp.”
But the High Line’s influence has also attracted international cities’ attention. Developers from Hong Kong, Jerusalem, Rotterdam and Singapore have been either in contact with Field Operations or have been scouting out the Gansevoort structure, observing and analyzing the bustling park.
Since the park’s opening, the project has further activated the growing area of the Meat Packing District. Plus, the park fits in nicely with its new architectural neighbors designed by Frank Gehry and Jean Nouvel, and the soon to be Whitney Museum extension by Renzo Piano.
The High Line’s success has restored confidence in urban renewal projects and as the years progress, it will be exciting to see other cities’ variations of the project. In almost every urban context, there’s an under-used section just waiting to be restored to its original luster or re-conceived as something entirely new. Either way, the idea of reviving any portion of these cities will result in a great variety of projects that will capture each city’s esence and character a little bit differently.
Personal comment:
We posted a year ago about the High Line project in Meet Packing District of NYC. As it seems to be a success, it's natural to post about it again and underline the fact that a innovative public space (and in this case, the transformation of an abandoned industrial infrastructure) has really the potential to transform one part of the city (and further away, by contamination).
And by the way, the picture used here is a picture from the inauguration day (if you check the previous post)...
Friday, July 10. 2009
Photo by Karen Cilento
The New York Highline, a project by James Corner Field Operations with the collaboration of Diller Scofidio + Renfro has been open to the public for a few weeks (as we reported previously on AD) and as a New Yorker who has waited patiently for the project to finish, I was anxious to stroll along the latest addition in Manhattan. The visit was a completely new way to experience the city. Just the idea of observing Manhattan by walking above (and through) it, rather than being an actual part of it, made the Highline a project one must encounter to feel what the space can offer.
More about some impressions after a visit to the Highline and more pictures after the break.
Michelle Borth
Entering on Gansevoort Street, I was greeted by papers being thrust in my hand as protesters quickly explained that the wood on the Highline was taken from an endangered Amazon rain forest. The protestors were trying to prevent the remaining parts of the project from being made with this material and thus tried to raise awareness by handing out fliers and talking to those about to walk up the main stairs. It is interesting to note that the Highline’s official website refutes these attacks by explaining, “The Ipe wood used on the High Line was chosen for its longevity and durability, and taken from a managed forest certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, which is recognized for creating and enforcing the world’s strongest standards for forest management. FSC membership requires conservation of biological diversity, water resources, soils, and fragile ecosystems and landscapes to maintain the integrity of the forest and discourage exploitative deforestation.”
Michelle Borth
Karen Cilento
After passing through the protesters, the main entrance stands invitingly and allows light to channel down the stairway. As I walked up this great entrance, I couldn’t rid my mind of how unfair it is that a handicapped person would never be able to experience this space (much farther down the line, on 16th Street, a small glass elevator is haphazardly plopped on the side of the line). Once up the stairs, the chaotic streets seem to fade away as the overgrown landscape dominates the setting. The perfectly arranged grass and flowers, growing between and over the tracks, creates patterns of varying heights, colors and textures. The original tracks, complete with their old writing and graffiti work, show that the architects truly embraced the past and incorporated it into its present condition. The compositional quality of the landscape transforms the whole atmosphere making it entirely different from the portion just down a few stairs.
Karen Cilento
Michelle Borth
The beginning parts of the Highline are beautifully designed. The overall aesthetic is very simple and yet, flexible as a variety of benches and seating are all different and yet all seem to belong. Handrails are engraved with the streets numbers, providing a map to those walking along. And, the walk provides perfect views of the Empire State Building, the Hudson River and Gehry’s IAC Headquarters. On the downside, there are also spectacular views into people’s apartments, galleries and conference rooms, as well as the exposed, and unappealing, meatpacking factories and rundown buildings. People walking along the line can come face to face with those changing their infant or interviewing their newest prospect. In addition, large billboards are angled directly toward those on the Highline. It would be a shame if the Highline became an advertising haven constantly annoyning those walking with the latest fashions or technologies.
Karen Cilento
Karen Cilento
Approaching one bend in the Highline, there is an amphitheatre condition with broad stairs allowing people to sunbath, read, or be at their leisure. The amphitheatre is stepped down toward the street, so those sitting are confronted by a large glass panel that focuses on the taxis whizzing by and the people dining on the sidewalk. Although the idea to isolate a busy Manhattan street is very enticing, it is a lot like DS + R’s tactic for their Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston. Rather than isolating the water as in Boston, the architects have merely flopped the city for the water to copy the effect.
Karen Cilento
Michelle Borth
It is true that some pieces of the Highline are still very much under construction. Some stair cases are far from being close to the elegant main entrance and the area under the residential tower needs some work, but all will come together in time. There is so much potential for the surrounding areas and within a few years, the area is going to be exponentially more popular than it already is.
Michelle Borth
Karen Cilento
The Highline was bustling with life as people enjoyed sitting, lying, reading and walking in this new atmosphere. It is a successful project that highlights New York as much as the actual Highline. It is truly a great treat for anyone.
Michelle Borth
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Via ArchDaily
Personal comment:
The NYC Highline garden coming to life! Don't miss it on your next trip to the city: close to the rising "hip" neighbourhood of the Meetpacking District, it will surely become another "must go" place of NYC...
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