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llit “‘rH'EliEererrs. TALKS AND SPORT
. . 1 I. it Architect in the House If you‘re dying to get hold of a sledge hammer, best get a bit of guidance first. For the price of a $25 donation to Shelter. an architect will come to your house and advise you on any aspect of a building project. Register at wwwarchitectin thehousecom or call 0737 229 7545.
* Concern Worldwide Public Discussion Broadcaster and journalist Ian McWhirter chairs a discussion to promote Make Poverty History. With former cabinet minister Clare Short. SNP deputy leader Nicola Sturgeon and Tom Arnold. CEO of Concern Worldwide. Exhibition Hall, Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow, Sun 26 Jun. * Out of Control in Dartur Jonathan Falla (pictured) has published Poor Mercy. a novel about a famine relief team in Dartur. As a former aid worker himself he asks why our society sends aid teams and what they actually achieve. Introduced by Catherine Lockerbie. director. Edinburgh International Book Festival. Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh. Wed 29 Jun. * Apocalypse Now? Religion and American Politics Celebrate Independence Day with a look at the relationship between end-of-the-world religious movements and American politics. Michael Northcott. author of An Angel Directs the Storm: Apocalyptic Religion and American Empire. St John '3 Church, Edinburgh, Mon 4 July
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Katharina Rohde discusses the project that led to her being nominated for ARCHIPRIX INTERNATIONAL, the prestigious student architecture prize.
urrcnt discussions in architccturc considcr
individual usc. guidcs to consumption and thc
appropriation of spacc as thc limits of what is possiblc in urban tcrritorics. th. appropriation and consumption do not imply a transformation of social and spatial rclations. In 2002/03. l was living and working in Caracas. and was ablc to noticc forms of urbanism that arc a part of a grcatcr social mctamorphosis.
(‘ollcctivc organisation and cvcr‘yday lifc in poor ar'cas of citics arc also about rcimagining idcntitics; about using crcativc cultural capacitics to rcmakc thc mcaning of placcs and cornmunitics. For mc it was ncccssar'y not to trcat C\pc‘l'ic‘llCCs of thc city‘s shack scttlcmcnts as onc-dimcnsional. but as part of thc city. and part of thc crcativc potcntial of modcrn urban lifc. l’laccs whcrc pcoplc build cvcryday livcs. imaginc artd rcirnaginc thcmsclvcs and makc homcs from which thcy sct out to ncgotiatc and changc city spaccs.
'l’hrough intcrvicws with thc local pcoplc. my idca was to dcvclop narrativcs rathcr than panoptic spaccs. 'l‘hrough nctworking small scalc clcrncnts in a storylinc. my aim was to activate artd rcspond to thc social fabrics of thc arcas. Spaccs should bc dcvclopcd that movc bclw'ccn formal and tcmporal approachcs. and proy idc a scaffolding for activatcs that r'cusc and rcinscribc into the urban fabric.
'l‘hc projcct ('irrui-us 23/0] has bccn dcvclopcd as part of my mastcrs work at thc lTnivcrsity of Strathclydc in 2004. In 200] l livcd in onc of (‘aracas’ biggcst shanty towns. thc community of thc 23/0]. lindcr thc dictatorship of l’cr'cr. Jimcnc/ in l952—58. lhc
\cnc/uclan architch ('arlos Raul Villanucya dcyclopcd and built a scric‘s of housing structurcs. llrc so-callcd ‘supcr blocks'. 'l'lic dcvclopmcnt of thc housing projch coincidcd with tllc growing shacklands on lhc city's hillsidcs. duc to thc migration of farmcrs from lhc cotrrttt‘)'sitlc. 'l‘hc idca thcrcfor'c was to cradicatc thc shacks and for'cc lhc pcoplc to livc in thc ‘supcr' blocks’. licfor'c thc blocks wcrc finishcd. lhc dictatorship was m'cr‘throw'n by thc pcoplc. who thcn .srjrrattcd in tlrcm and approprialcd lhc spacc for thcir own nccds. ’l'oday morc .sltacks havc sprung tip in bctwccn lhc blocks and arc still growing constantly.
'l‘lrc sitc l clrosc to study was \cry informal and dcnsc but by transforming spaccs within lhc C\lslillg str'uclurcs. such as thc walkways and thc roof lcvcls. and cslcndirtg usagcs of living into tcmporar'y intcrscctions of public and privatc ar'cas. l proposcd to dcyclop a sitc for cducation and thc production of tcslilcs as wcll as thc dcvclopmcnt of a local ba/aar in ordcr to distributc lhc products to thc corrununity.
My rcscarch focuscs on thc local and global tcstilc industry and its movcmcnts of r'csistancc. rcfcrring to swcat shop labour“ and thc changing clothing industry
'l'lrc projch was rccornrucndcd last ycar for lhc lntcr'national Bauhaus Award. and with sponsorship from lhc l-‘oundation Bauhaus l)cssau. I will bc ablc to work with local communitics in ('aracas with lhc intcrttion of documcnting slr'atcgics and rcalising idcas.
Archiprix 2005 candidates’ work can be seen at the Lighthouse until 7 August. See listings p27.
21% Jrirl- /' Jul 200:") THE LIST 25