ARC453 Course Journal

COURSE JOURNAL Aiza h Ba khti ya r | 10 0214 9 6 4 0 Cou rs e I ns tru ctor : Tara B i s s e t A R C 4 53 HI

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CONTENTS

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i. Lecture Notes

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ii. Readign Notes

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LECTURE NOTES

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LECTURE 2 • Language plays an important part In the way we refer to ghettos or slums.

• The word itself has a negative connotation • Often suggests that it is something that has to be fixed • When the industrial revolution happened, people lost their jobs and so there was an influx of people into the city. Since these people couldn’t all find jobs, they took up stigmatized jobs • People started dying of poor living conditions.

• Some reform movements did come about like the beatric web- Fabien society

o These adopted in a sort of empirical research

o They went to each house to see what people needed

o But their intentions weren’t the best.

o The Fabien society believed in eugenics … are u serious?

• As in some people shouldn’t be having children which became the Nazis way to rule • Charles dickens:

o I remember reading about him in middle school and I still remember scenes from Oliver twist that left an impression on me • The first banlieus were in Paris

o These were mostly on the outskirts of the city

o In the core, the rich people lived • French rap- interesting comment by the Lebanese student in the class • Charles ledoux: • o Responsible for the gates so he could tax the farmers who came into the city • Zataari refugee camp

o Syrian refugees coming to Jordan, just km from the Syrian border

o But outside the Jordan core • Africville, Halifax

o Given 500 dollars to leave :O • Gentrification of the Lower East side of New York

o Poor living conditions. Walls were literally falling

o The city had everyone leave from here • The city ended up selling the properties to a non profit for a dollar

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LECTURE 3 • Jane Jacobs оо An advocate for learning about cities through observation rather than having a master plan imposed onto a city оо She also protested the plan for Bostons, North end that envisioned demolishing the confused neighbourhoods and replacing it with straight lines. оо he was interested in understanding what creates a rich neighbourhood • CIAM оо Why does talk about CIAM never end in my 4 years of universitye corb was trying to fix the social housing crises in almost a void- he didn’t really consider the site of the context • Casablanca: оо Bidonvillas on the exterior of the city became the solution for the Moroccan who were under colonial French • Bernard rudofsky оо Moma Exhibition оо Documenting informal and formalized architecture • Really tired this lecture

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LECTURE 4

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Participatory Architecture • Housing solutions have been thought of a way top down process of total control.

• There is a lack of community involvement in planning by the design process, Especially in low social housing • Nabeel Hamdi:оо a pioneer in participator Architectureоо lived in London, оо taught At MT оо won several awaits. оо He believed that architects should give agency to those the building is designed for.

• Habitat Marocain- by not making use of regional materials. He wanted to retain some sort of aesthetic quality оо Hamdi didn’t really care about the aesthetic and that it should be determined by the people using the building • He wrote a book called small change, in it he saw more importance in small scale change than the large scale projects • Wealthier people’s wealth didn’t trickle down to the poor people- he thought оо Instead he supported the trickle up effect. оо Something an insignificant as putting a bus stop could market micro economies оо He talks about street lighting- and how teenagers would use it as a space to study • Hamdi tried to answer the question of what a community is• Within a village u a re looking at several diff types of community

§ A community of culture,

§ A community of work

§ A community of place- in terms of identity • Architects and NGOs often imagine a community that doesn’t really exist.

So basically there are a bunch of communities that operate within a place.

It cant really be generalized to one community • In a group of 100 people, power dynamics in a community, give power to a small minority of people. Assuming that the small group represents the entire community is often the mistake these designers make • owing communities- killed the micro economies in the example she gave for a village • True participatory design comes from understanding the layers of communities within a place.

SHERRY EINSTEIN • She’s against the theatrical displays of people being involved in the design process- the idea of tokenism оо SideWalk labs- is an example of this? оо The townhall meetings • Back to Hamdi: 3

оо Meti Handmade school in Bangladesh- won the aga khan award of architecture оо Hamdi has been quite influential with his work • A lot of his legacy is seen in other peoples work • Anna Heringer is one architect who is heavily inspired by him • She likes the idea of helping people build for themselves. So provide professional help to build but not build FOR them • he mandate was to help the people get trained to build, and use only local materials(earth and bamboo) • The construction materials used in this area were not construction proof. She thought the workers to make brick instead of just using mud.

• She brought in an European way of constructing roofs- a bit analogous technique • Education was not supposed to be western- the aim was to make the children • The womb like, cave like structure is meant to be hugging the children HASSAN FATTY • He wrote Architecture for the poor • He believed that modern architecture needed to return to humanitarian • He thought that the modern home was too individualized • He thought that people were become homogenized • That modern European architects were coming and make 20 story high social housing which he thought was a colonial language being brought again in the time of decolonization • He was based in Egypt • He worked with le corb, • He thought that material, programs weren’t suited to non European climates.

• He thought this sort of design was another form of colonialism • He was a modernist himself but wanted to re frame the ethos of modernism • People were building their homes in the language of the colonist • He was designing for a community of people who were living on some tombs • He thought the local people to build sustainably- to understand the wind pattern • People didn’t like this design, because they felt they were bing controlled • He loved the language of purity of earth. People still brought the ornaments JOHN TURNER • Probably the biggest figure in participatory architecture 4

• The main argument-that housing is best provided and managed by those who inhabit it.

• He is referred to an anarchist architect • He basically says that state owned social housing does not work • • He says that the global north has a lot more to learn from global south in terms of social communities.

• He was a radical guy -people should have completely autonomy on their finances • He is writing at a time when there are a lot of social housing programs going on • He said “you must build with a community and not FOR them • Your questions become different if you think like that • He said housing is verb, not a knownоо He is looking at the process rather than the aesthetic of the building • El Salvador: оо Kind of community hubs in every neighbourhood. оо 24 families within a block who have their own ‘mayor and thus their own representation оо Yellow staircase is iconic for the village оо Micro economies-having businesses at home оо They conceived a space that would later be developed for transportation • Infrastructure became key. People were so organized with what they wanted • People insisted on underground wiring, only the wealthiest communities in Lima had underground wiring. Which is exp in the present but is beneficial in the long run because it prevents stealing electricity оо It was conceived as a city in its own rite оо The government couldn’t ignore it оо The government then actually got involved with the designer NGOs and urban planners

• People had also organized themselves.

• There were so many people and they were self organized, they were relatively crime free • In Peru, there was also Previ development group оо The most l ambitious social housing ever built оо The buildings are diverse because each of the planners were al lowed to build their own version of it.

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LECTURE 6 BYKER WALL: • The Interior is quite playful. Very unlike the architecture in Modernism • It winds around • He uses a lot of exposed wood, to allow ppl to paint it, • He was trying to make the place less institutionalized.

• People were encouraged to be in on the design of these • Usually the door numbers are very institutionalized. Like in coop housing also оо As in these places like social housing and coop housing are owned by the government.

• This compared to last week in Peru: оо Relocation is a problem оо People were self organized.

• Think about relocation? What does it mean and what does home mean.

• Does the relocation continue Saids idea of exile • ERA <- check this out. They are looking to maintain large scale social housing.

• Medically faculty housingоо He would invite students to like a party, which was where he was working. оо He was recording how students were experiencing the room as an embodied space CITY WITHIN A CITY • We see examples of repurposing buildings • Lets take Chandigarh for example оо The way people use this space is different from how le corb imagined it • Ponte city: Johannesburg, south Africa оо They look like exiles, but they aren’t оо People are using hacked electricity as an example South Africa, in the 1950s, • The planning conditions laid out a matrix.

• A partied- is a separateness- severely affects how people live оо Basically non white inhabitants should live separately from non white оо And he said that planning should account for this оо This guys wasn’t African. He was German- this is post holocaust • These townships that were created for the non white still exist.

• In the 1950s, the larger areas were inhabited by just white people unless u were a worker class.

• The outskirts would be mostly the migrant community- the working class • Gandhi said he was treated differently depending on what he wore • A whole lot of segregation 6

Larger homes vs the smaller homes picture from Africa she showed us оо Racial profiling. оо The buffer zone- is a visual element that reinforces the segregation оо It creates a story about people on either side of the buffer оо There are huge boats of either side of the buffer оо Urban was seen as something inhabited by the Dutch colonizers all planned public spaces were in the cities оо Ponte tower • The townships on the other hand had no public buildings, • Johannesburg: Ponte tower оо 1975, a year after it was built 1976, the segregation started to develop. оо Lots of people said that the tower was really dirty. Dangerous, the services were suspended for a decade оо 7 stories high garbage, elevator stopped working оо It has nothing to down with the building living there, but actually just a lack of services оо The pool managed to stay clean оо Nelson Mandela was freed, another activist also moved tot the 24th floor because that is where he could afford. оо He said this was only the place that felt like a non south African place. оо It symbolized a place where people could start over оо Think of it as an arrival city Tower of David, Caracas: оо 45 stories оо He was a developer who dies in the middle of construction оо The building was unfinished near the top floors оо ‘so long as there are empty buildings in the city, there should not be homeless people” оо Gym on the top floor. Bar bells from the elevators that were never finished оо On every single store there was a micro economy of some sort оо A taxi service that brought people to the top most floor оо Labour of love. -brick wall paper over brick wall оо People within the building said they were okay but the govt said it was dangerous, people were falling and insecure. So the Chinese investor made everyone move out. оо There are different ways of perceiving an entrance. As safety but accd to the govt, it was a fire hazard. оо The tenants had said they felt secured though, in terms of tenure.

Basically there were two sides of the story so who decide what is right for the living situations • Urban think tank

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LECTURE 8

• Started with some statistics of displaced people. 25 million were refugees • 1 person is displaced from their home every 2 seconds • We have entered an era of a camp • We will look at оо UNHCSR Camps, оо camps by NGOs оо and informal camps • Its almost like an enclave or neighbourhoods.

• They are becoming ghettos within and in the outskirts of the cities • They are a form of a hybrid city threatening to become a permanent neighbourhood • Since they are illegal they are easily displaced for the 2nd time -• The people who live within these camps do no have the same rights as the people living within the city • The right to have rights- the article • The idea of camps is normalizing which is problematic • Who is responding to this crises?

• UNHCR is perhaps the only one responsible but there are many NGOs, architects and government officials advocating for this • UNHCR started in 1950, in the after math of the 2nd world war for the millions of Europeans who had lost their homes • It had planned to run for 3 years but it never stopped running • In the refugee population, 85 percent of the refugee population inhabit developing countries like Pakistan, Lebanon etc, not US and Canada MOMA exhibition - attempt to bring awareness to the refugee crises оо The curator was Shawn anderson-uni of Sydney оо Critiques offshore detention and refugee facilities оо The camps in Jordan, there is no consideration of material or the environment. The metal tents in the dessert оо The imagination of the inhabitants, how people brought place into these metal tents. оо Ayal Eisenman - surveillance architecture- they were able to exactly see how the people lost their livesоо The video was in support of organizations demanding people in the government take responsibility for the lives. оо Industrial designer- Swedish - pitched his idea to ikea after seeing the tents in Pakistan оо Ikea0- takes 4 people 8 hours оо Updated UN Maslow’s chart of human needs • There is no single solution and every refugee has to be looked at individually • Like windows-might allow ventilation but issues of privacy • The instruction to make the ikea tent was actually useless in most cases • The woven map by women of the refugee camps in Algeria:

• There was a focus on the refugee experience more than the architecture 8

there • Designer tents: more than shelters: оо Very engineered оо The lattice like structure was very quite innovative оо It was able to offer flexibility to the size of family and different functions оо Daniel Kerber is mandating that refugee camps are temporary оо This assumption is actually quite problematic Rudofsky: • There is a pastoral aspect that glamourized the impoverished people • There was a lot of critiques of MOMAs involvement in this crises • What design can do- refugee challenge- Netherlands competition • Free market getting involved in the crises of refugees, allowing the government • to cut funding on this issue--> get out of jail card • While we are creating storage units for refugees, refugees are building camps оо So people have argued that we should be planning for cities.

But this is problematic too оо The permanence of refugee camps CASE STUDIES: Tanzania: build your own refugee camps- so they build them as temporary place • The government worries that if they make the refugee too comfortable, the bandits will hijack passing vehicles • Plastic sheet under roof- the only thing given by the UN • The use of this material also affects social interactions оо People didn’t wanna touch each other • In the 1990s, there was a global shift for planning for refugee camps оо So called burden sharing? оо In Tanzania- the influx of refugees were crazy, people fromrwanda, congo оо The shift occurred from self surviving economies to re patriotism оо The language of burden often trickles down to the refugees • Not on maps-these refugee cities are not represented at all • The fences are pre-established by the UN оо Separating people based on where they came from оо Led to xenophobia and fear of other refugees оо This hate and fear of the refugee is built into the planning of these sites оо The preestablished sectioning by the UN has resulted in ghettos • Unregulated camps9

оо People arriving as illegal migrants оо We are allowing for the blurring to occur- between refugee and the citizen • Palestinian refugee camps in the 1940s оо Many people were displaced and living in the dusty dessert оо They wanted to come back to Israel but it wasn’t quite possible оо So there were people trying to stabilize these places оо What initially started as camps have now become the cities of Gaza or the cities of the west bank

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LECTURE 10 Micro economies: • Refers to the kinetic city as the bazaar- the moving changing • All Indian cities are kind of like 2 cities within the same city.

• Its monumental, made of concrete materials, this is the static city and the kinetic city, its very ephemeral, made of plastic sheet, scrap metal and waste that’s recycled.

• The informal bazaars pop up- this is an example of the static and kinetic city marry each other • People crop out the kinetic city in photographing the Crawford market, Mumbai • The static and the image of the static tries to recodify the life of the kinetic.

Housing in Mumbai: • 60 percent has no access to formal housing, • Ahmedabad slum regeneration is an attempt to formalize the informal housing system of Mumbai Architects ask how can represent a city that is constantly changing: • Its really interesting to see a foreigners perspective on this • The idea of wires hanging and pirating electricity is so bizarre to the prof, yet so normal to people who live there Dharavi, Mumbai: • It houses 6 generations and has existed since the British colonialization • According to the UN its a slum, because it doesn’t have adequate clean water and electricity.

• Never the less, it has its own thriving economy, • A system D economy- families working in this- the economy generates 1 billion dollars the government doesn’t want to disrupt this.

• The global economy excludes 2/3 of the people in the economy, which includes the informal economy- this is such a big economy that it could take over the US economy.

Livelihood: • An Austrian research article actually considers bribery, begging and small theft and legitimate incomes.

• People engaged in this neighbourhood engage in forms of livelihood that the generations 10 y generations ago would be? They were the lowest class. They worked in forests before the British came who then regularized the forests. They then moved to Mumbai, оо Recyclers:

They recycler 80 present of Mumbai’s waste

U think of slums as containers of unfavourable people оо Dharavi sits on valuable land(since 1980) оо The bandra kurla complex sits in the centre of an important intersection оо Swanky residential building.

• Slum rehabilitation authority: 11

оо They don’t want disrupt the economies, they approached the economy and asked the women to organize the people to be re housed in these concrete buildings. Many people wanted to stay in their housing community. But the omen were able to convince everyone.

• The relocated people were given these homes • The downfall though, who takes care of the slums, it turned into looking a lot like Pruitt igoe • Only brown people would pull shit like this , not gonna lie (i am brown, not being racist) Rehabilitation units in south Mumbai: • People didn’t want their businesses ruined in name of getting better homes • Dubai -based development program • Giving agency to the developers, who wouldn’t listen to the people who live there.

NORMAN FOSTER: • Circulation is encouraged to move through it • They created mid rise buildings, that interpret the existing amenities of daravi • They have a step like feature, using the roofs even UDRI • The concept of livelihood planning- hamdi and chamber- they say that architects don’t really listen to communities or the people who live there.

• A competition was held- felix, a Dutch firm- the fame is on! оо Incremental design, over time- not a massive infrastructure dropped into the neighbourhood. оо With consent and change over time. оо Eliminate the land value TEDDY CRUZ: • Incredible contrast between extreme poverty and luxury • He proposes infrastructure, architects need to help provide frameworks for these recycled homes

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LECTURE 11

tting killed because of global warming

all proportion trying to keep the traditional nomadic life

ontext of Vietnam

onomies.

n now agriculture

don't really have a say in the design of their city

unity within the larger city. oogle maps.

nal perception. Was very interesting om the larger city dentity.

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• Presentation Group 1 • Microcity typology оо Hand- crafted places. оо In Mongolia, ulambatar оо Cold city, so the life stock is getting killed because of global warming оо Waste disposal is a concern. оо Mostly young people but a small proportion trying to keep the traditional nomadic life • Kim lien city оо Micro city, the social political context of Vietnam • Brasilia оо There is so much historyоо Oscar Neymar • Los Angeles: оо Why do they become micro economies.

• Detroit оо Predominately black population now оо Alot of abandoned houses оо There is a resurgence of urban agriculture оо Also in art and culture. оо Urban renewal, but residents don’t really have a say in the design of their city • What is a city? Then what is a micro city? оо Its like an enclave or a smaller community within the larger city. оо These things often don’t appear on google maps. оо The external perception vs the internal perception. Was very interesting оо The idea of systems was different from the larger city оо The autonomy and the community identity. оо The relationship to the external city

LECTURE 12 Presentation Group 3 • District 9 • Realistic example • Looks of a slum without actually being one.

• People are able to experience life as third wold slum conditions • The representation of slums • Boston north end оо The population was at its worse in the beginning оо Immigrants from all over the place like Italy and Irish оо The north end retains old and classic quality оо Old stuff is replaced by restaurants • Slab city: оо No amenities, power lines but there are people who call it home оо People have also moved here to learn how to live off the grid оо This includes hippies mostly оо There are some rich people with solar panels to generate electricity. оо Anything with a roof is used for a house оо City of anarchy: • Symbolization: оо In Hong Kong he imagines a virtual city оо Cyber punk: »» The cinema loves this, sci fi concept. The aesthetic. Of a packed space. And the world of Robocop »» The western image of the city »» Dharavi is shown in slum dog millionaire »» These things are often fetishized in western culture »» District 9 and homeland- setting for dystopia. »» The wildness is subjective in the context it is in • Informal Settlements- process of informality: оо Used key words to organize their case studies оо Informal ---> formal оо Nostalgia to imagination оо Cool idea оо Shatila refugee camp: • Lebanon is the largest refugee population < - very sad оо Started as camp of tents- now developed into more concrete buildings оо Christian president killed by the Muslim population оо This made the camp really popular оо All they use in reinforced concrete. Every floor is built from a different material оо No columns . Electric wires and steal electricity оо No sewage -streets therefor very unhygienic. Mainly pedestrian roads оо They are forced into black market because they are stripped away from their rights to work 14

оо They have hoped to return home. оо They express their feelings through graffiti »» Yasser Arafat was trying to liberate their country »» Naji al ali- arab cartoonist. Created character-- handala • Texas colonies: • Inuit housing: оо Canadian govt did some massive shit. оо And killed their sled dogs оо Then offered social housing sub standard • Bangladesh оо Population is crazyоо Art as a sentimental reminded to connect or reconnect with their past identity• Pacification: оо Cops were placed and often innocent lives were taken оо Typology- no formal typology except the flat roofs similar to Lebanon оо Its like a collage of different blocks and no specific height оо Navigation is hard оо Adam Curtis hyper normalization оо

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LECTURE 13 • We had indigenous grad student come talk to us about his experience as one of the very few in the Country • It was very interesting when he said his generative design was inspired by his language and how every word in his language is a verb • This was the first time I heard an indigenous person speak and it is partly my fault for being so caught up in my own life to not hear of other experiences, but I am actually so happy that he was brought in for a mini talk.

• Their culture sounds so in tune with the ‘mother earth’ • The example of the water was cool but i found the ‘sorry’ example made me a new perspective on life. Living a life in where you are conscious of the repercussions of every action, so u don’t need to apologise for the dumb things u may do

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READING NOTES

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Dear Professor, I have completed at least 2 of the 3 readings assigned every week. I have them in point form so I can easily recall what the reading was about. I find this more useful than writing an analysis, because each time I read these summaries, I see them with a fresh perspective.

Thank you for a wonderful class. I really wish there was a solution to all the things we talked about this semester Best, Aizah P.S: I have attached a list of all the readings below. The ones highlighted in yellow are completed.

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April 17, 2019

11:51 PM

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Said, Exile

WEEK 1 The original idea of Exile means banishment (181). However, Said argues that Refugees, Expatriates, Emigrants are all as a matter of fact, in a state of exile. Nevertheless, Exile for him is not just the physical act of banishing people from a place. Instead, it is a state of being an outsider to another group. Thus, the use of the concept of Exile in Said’s’ Reflections on Exile is analogous to the way diasporic communities orient themselves in a new place. Said infers that concept of Exile has been romanticized and is considered heroic in history. This is problematic because it diminishes the challenges experienced by the exiled community. There is a sense of ‘constant estrangement’. (170). He sets up a binary between the idea of Nationalism and Exile. Nationalism is “an assertion of belonging in and to a place”,(175), a group brought together by a set of common beliefs, languages, culture and customs. All nationalisms ‘begin from a common estrangement’ and have a hostile feeling and inferiority to outsiders (176 ). On the contrary, exile is the solitude experienced outside the group. Thus, Said suggests that there is a strong relationship, yet a schism between the two groups. The concept of being in the state of exile also increases the distrust for the outsiders, ‘where every sympathizer is an agent of some unfriendly power”(178). ‘They do not have armies… but are often in search of them”. The ‘isolation and displacement’ also prevents the exiled to make an effort to get acclimatized to the community because there is a constant feeling of everything around the being is temporary and ephemeral. He concludes that the exiled must not be resentful with their fate. Instead, they must understand the fact that everything is dispensable. This detachment from ‘home’ will keep the exiled rational and moral in their thinking. In the end, Said quotes Wallace, that the state of being in exile is like longing for the summer in the winter. (put this somewhere, Said often uses exile as a Noun which is interesting because it is like a state of being rather than a verb-“the exile is always out of place” (180))

Said includes Refugees in the group of communities that can be considered in Exile. Refugees inhabit different parts of the world today. They flee oppressive forces and seek political asylum in other countries often with just a bag of belongings, but with tremendous amounts of emotional baggage.

In the particular case of refugees, the traditional idea of Exile and its meaning of banishing people by those in power is not applicable. It is instead the oppressive forces as stated above that forces them into exile. As Said mentions, exile is not always the worst possible option. In a lot of cases, the physical act of being in exile may save lives. However, in the traditional sense of exile, the exiled do not choose to be in that state. The refugees being forced to exit their homeland, creates a sense of Nationalism. Thus, affinities to groups start to manifest and by Said’s terms, there is a feeling hostility and jealously towards the ‘other’ group. For refugees, there is a sense of unity that comes from being unwillingly displaced from the same land, having to leave their culture, language and most importantly their home. On the contrary, the host country unites on the belief that the refugees are the ‘outsiders’ amongst them. These affinities thus promote hostility between the groups, creating a sense of distrust. All of this constitutes Said’s’ notion of the state of mind of be-

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ing in Exile. Furthermore, Encampment also leaves refugees with an imminent feeling of being able to return to their lives, their status and their place. The place of diaspora becomes a transient and is framed as a mere location of survival or a temporary solution- which is often not the case. As a result, refugees lack the desire to integrate into their hostâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s culture and system.

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Gilbert, The return of the slum: Does Language matter?

WEEK 1

• The word slum has had a negative connotation to it, but the UN uses it to raise awareness of the Urban crises that result in such slums • The anti slum initiative has gained more traction because of the negative connotation • Interesting perspective - removing slums is not a solution. Slums in a way are a self regulated housing system.

• The author goes on to describe what a slum is and high lights that it could mean different things in different countries.

• This is in a way a recurrent theme in the course. These Urban issues rent homogenous s one solution can not fit all.

• The author also describes the slum as a figment of the mind which is a very new idea to me. Due to globalization, there is increased awareness of better standards of living and thus more places will begin to be considered slums.

• The language game - whatever the objective is, the author believes that there are people in the UN who are genuinely trying to improve lives of low income people.

• ‘The word “slum” is like the word “dirt”: evocative, disapproving, and indefinable except in the context of our expectations of what should be’.

• The author talks more about the term itself, the origin and its meaning today.

• Another perspective: • Of course, it was not the slum that made the people, but the people that made the slum. However, slums do make the behaviors of the people worse. The conditions in a way encourage ill trade.

• A slum is only a slum in the eyes of the people who don’t live there. Interesting how this connects to Said’s ideas of the other.

• What i understand is that the concept of slum only exists in relation to surrounding context. It will only exist if there are better living conditions elsewhere. When people start to compare the two areas.

• Furthermore, the author talks about the repercussions of slum removal and how the schemes have actually failed to improve living conditions for the people.

• Interestingly, anti slum initiatives shouldn’t mean actually getting rid of slums but must mean providing better services to people living in these areas to elevate them from these conditions.

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Hall, The city of Dreadful night

WEEK 2

• This writing is about the condition of slums in Victorian London.

• James Thomson’s’ poem sparked the headlines as a journalist titles is IS IT NOT TIME? • It was the most influential writings of the time and was the basis for a new legislation • The writing was able to take the reader inside a slum- good writing can actually do this really well, so considering that the audience of this paper were the bourgeoise, it was inevitable that it would gain some traction or response.

• The writing evoked a movement like no other before in the Victorian Era. • The root cause that resulted in such form of a settlement was extreme poverty • Often corrupt local govt.

• Charles booth tried to understand what was causing this poverty that came from extreme unemployment.

• This was a bottom up approach to understand the root cause of such living conditions, rather than the top down approach that the government was employing to mitigate this crises.

• He understood that the gap between the bourgeoise and the poor was extremely wide, because of no source of steady income.

• The situation was similar in New York, However, the government there tried to regulate private development.

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Cartenda, Places of Stigma

WEEK 2

• This reading talks about the stigmatized places which require policing as they house dangerous people • In a lot of ways, the gilbert reading is similar tot his one. Both housing situations, the slum and the ghetto are stigmatized areas • Its also similar to Said’s notion of the other that causes the self conception. This creates a boundary - both social, and physical.

• In terms of the physical boundary, people from the other side of the boundary are often barred from getting jobs when they put their addresses on their resumes.

• Distinction between banlieue and American suburbs. One has negative connotation while the other has positive in terms of the quality of life etc.

• Social boundary that existed inside and outside of the banlieue- where the white and the ‘camel face’ -ed person lived.

• As said mentioned- there was a sense of distrust for the other group • Interesting how media perpetuates the negative stereotype of the banlieue

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Celik, Ordinar y and third world

WEEK 3

• Celik talks about team 10 (CIAM- ALGER) and GAMMA and their call for humanistic architecture - their focus on bidonvillas • Their plans were theoretical and not as innovative.

• The representations of the two groups depicted the every day life of these places with the sporadic use of color to account for the richness of daily life.

• However interesting how Van Eych’s depictions of the African architectures was very close to orientalist thinking. They often formed part of the formal compiotion • His representations also often deleted the messiness of the everyday life, shooting highly sculptural structures that sat in perfect natural environments.

• These groups were essentially disapproving the cold self centered arrogant style of European modern architecture, in favour of one that was more entwined with the everyday life of space.

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Hecker, The Slum Pastoral: Helicopter Visuality and Koolhaas’s Lagos

WEEK 3

• This article talks about the slum condition of Lagos that Koolhaas observed from the aerial view.

• Lagos appeared to be an embodiment of disorder at massive scale • It is interesting however, that something so disorganized still worked.

• Koolhaas himself admitted that his perspective of the city was that it was ad hoc and informal settlement. Instead he noticed that it was a ‘city of processes’- a manifestation of the 21st century urbanism.

• He regarded the city as a ‘form of collective research, conducted by a team of 8 to 25 million” • It seemed like the way of life in the city prompted creativity and agency to its citizens.

• Even though it constantly seems that the city is bound to doom, it has been thriving contrary to the belief of ‘pessimist development planners’ • Despite the near-absent traditional infrastructure, the city is ‘one that works’ according to koolhaas.

• This article was more about the perspectival views from the helicopter and the ideas of sublime but I found those less interesting that the aforementioned observations.

• The sublime: a sort of delightful horror, a sort of tranquility tinged with terror when faced with the grandeur of nature or works of art. Is this what i feel when i visit a museum.

• It was interesting however, the views from the helicopter revealed ‘intense transportation, crumbling cloverleaf highway systems and roadways that disappear into infinite or rather the distant haze of smog’.

• Furthermore, this traffic congestion is integral to the micro economies. The bottlenecks actually allow time for the microtransactions to occur.

• These views are a form of essentialism - in the way they reduce people like ants, cars and beetles.

• Using ideas of the sublime and this aerial infinite view, Lagos is almost anti-apocalyptic. The slum scapes point to the future. This in my opinion is a very interesting way to put it for a city- that just works. Reducing everything to the bare minimum, questions the need for infrastructure and policies in modern urbanized cities.

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Fathy

WEEK 4

• Fathy proposes every place has a certain typology of architecture which is very distinct to its place- it becomes recognizable as say Syrian Architecture • However Egypt lost its typology.

• The question then becomes, can planners and architects find the lost style of architecture in a certain place?

• Especially in trying to import modern European designer styles from abroad using materials the contractors don’t really understand how to use is troublesome- seen in the way the construction was already depleting without being fully built.

• In doing so, it also poisons the genuine tradition of a place.

28

Hamdi

WEEK 4

• Hamdi starts off describing a place where everything seems self regulated and organized, from electricity wires to water delivery. All illegal stuff but it works for people.

• The tone here almost makes it sound like this is normal • Is there a way to fix this way of life? To better the standards of living so that people don’t have to steal electricity or water • Maybe build a managed building?

• The building example they say was impressive, a perfectly reasonable response to the needs of local inhabitants, so it seemed • Words like empowerment - is this the saviour complex of NGOS and community affairs management?

• This reading also talks about Informal systems and micro economies in a way • How little business emerge from word of mouth- especially the carers who could connect people • Home based work generated about 50 percent of household income • Clinics that had been to trained to become practitioners • The kinds of communities: оо Capra writes, that the more engaged these informal networks are, the more sophisticated the networks are and the better the organization will be to evolve in response tot het changing circumstances. оо Community formed because of external threat-communities of resistance оо Communities around work-communities of practice оо Communities of culture. оо Community of interest- people gathering around issues of common concern etc -eg fighting local developments initiatives.

• Community of place and the subdivisions • Much of the world around us can be explained in terms of command systems and hierarchies

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Brillembourg, A. Navarro

WEEK 5

From Product to Process: Building on Urban According to this article it seems that architecture is returning to itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s humanistic responsibility as seen in the way libraries are being built in low income neighbourhoods The goal has become to give the inhabitants of lower social background better access to services and infrastructure The urban think tank aims to design bottom up. Something that works in New York may not necessarily work in Caracas because the cultures are so different.

One cant also think of the informal city in a bubble. It must always be thought of in relations to the formal city So what the think tank does is create a framework and hands it the municipality who manipulate or use it in the way the local community sees fit.

The author says that the biggest obstacle is getting governmental support when dealing with informality. The best way then is to show the mayor to short construction time so that they can such projects under their belt for political capital. This means the at the projects have to be simple repeatable units Lessons from the past : â&#x20AC;&#x153;we cannot de-politicise the question of informality, solely focusing on packages of physical transformations. â&#x20AC;&#x153; Like most architects and designers today, the UTT also highlights the importance of acknowledging complete internal hierarchies of race, gender and local aesthetics - basically being more ethnographic in your research Its critical to not only produce the image of social good but to actually positively affect the everyday lives of the people of the informal city

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Miyoshi, A borderless world

WEEK 5

• This was an interesting read considering it was given for an architecture course.

• In the beginning the author gives a history of colonialism оо Its sad that the colonialized space cannot reclaim autonomy and seclusion once it is decolonialized • What i found most interesting is the fact that there is a difference between • multinational companies and transnational companies оо The multinational coorp is one that is head quartered in a nation and operates in a number of countries- but tied to its home country оо The transnational coorp isn’t very closely tied to its home country necessarily., its ready to settle anywhere and exploit any state including its own for the profit.

• Imperialism and transnationalism: оо The imperils invaders are not welcomed by the host country or the developing country- borders are ignored to their own advantage оо Capitalists and transnationalism.

• Transnationalism rationalize and execute objectives of colonialism with greater efficiently and rationalism • The reading also suggests that the cold war had nothing to do with nationalism. Instead, it was an expression of the hate of the rich against the poor. оо That the war was fought on behalf od dominant cooperate structure rather than the US, with little regard of the native people • Its often the case the TNC requires its employees to be loyal to the coorportation identity before their national identities.

• The revises immigration reform actually gave priorities to skills rather than ethnicities. The TNC especially were allowed to claim a quota from this category- the need for a pool of skilled worker then creates the transnational class.

• Interestingly, Reich writes that wealth is accumulated where managers and technicians carry out research and development, not where the cooperation’s or manufactured goods originate- isnt this similar to the idea of colonialism though? Extracting wealth from the host country • So the extraction of wealth becomes the key goal of those transnationalist corporations - the people in the locality don’t really concern them • In this, we see a lack of regulation from the host country is how these corporations treat the local employees.

• The author writes about the factors that cause the high concentration of investment in Western Europe. оо High interest rates in Europe оо The mergence of US tax laws favorable to overseas profits оо Comparatively low cost of skilled labors in Europe. оо The emergence of European economic community 31

Agier, from Refuge the Ghetto is born

WEEK 6

• The author starts off re-orienting what the readers notion of a ghetto is to a space that houses the population of people who have uncertain futures.

• Agier describes the place of ghetto forming from a place of refuge.

• I never thought of a place of refuge in contrast with hospitality- hospitality would be a place welcoming the people where as a place of refuge is a place people would make for themselves to find asylum • The author write inductively, which is interesting because most authors would deduce certain conclusions • Talks about the current refugee crises in the world.

• Encampment on the move- the makeshift architecture of these places • Self building districts - architecture from natural resources • The idea of the favelas, migrants aiming to establish themselves within a city by settling near the borders • Page 6 kind of relates to the theme we were talking about in our presentation-.the idea of permanence. The author talks about the transformation of space in terms of the social and cultural changes and potentially new political forms that emerge in the camps. Often people in these camps try to recreate the culture that they had in their places of origins, using only the materials that they find locally. This is true in the shopping street in the camp that i did, that replicates the street in Syria.

• Often within these camps, micro urban communities emerge • Former ethnic differences stop people from different ethnic background to intermingle. They go as far as to fence their neighbourhood from the other migrants.

• There are attempts to symbolically appropriate random places, reflected in the names that the inhabitants have given to these places. Its really sad actually<- how these migrants are nostalgic of the places of origins • So camps are emerging as spaces that researchers don’t quite understand because of their self regulating quality • These camps are set up with the intention of not lasting for a very long time, yet these camps form an identity of ‘place out of place.0 • There is a gap between the theoretical camp - as a spatial political waiting zone and the continually changing urban and social realities of the camp. The social realities are actually quite similar to the urbanization process of outskirts of any city • Thus the distinction between city dwellers and refugees is getting blurred.

In the sense that the only difference is that refugees remain non citizenscity dwellers without a city.

• This relates to Zataari camp in Jordan. Very heavily actually.

• Heterotopia spaces- other spaces accord to Foucault • Double locality exclusion -interesting idea where the refugees are neither here nor there. Being forced out of their homelands and not welcomed by the city of arrival 32

• Exclusion thus, includes being excluded from the social and political structures • Ghetto is also used by the inhabitants of these refugee camps as a way of self assertion.

• Places of refuge usually include abandoned parking lots, abandoned builds etc.

• The people also end up as workforce for the host city.. Whattt? They dont get paid?

• Relating imprisonment and refugee camps.

• The walled asylum is the implementation of an extra territorial fiction- a re-creation of a place out of place within the cities • Ghetto - as a place of banishment • Referred to as banlieue are kept on the boundaries of the city • The world of illegal and clandestine aliens • The author talks for about 2 pages about this relationship to a ghetto

33

Brillembourg and Hubert Klumpner

WEEK 7 • Essentially this article highlights the incredible resilience of squatter communities.

• The Urban Think Tank partners with the local communities and transnational firms to implement social initiatives to better the lives of the poor.

• It seems that these squatter communities have an incredible innate ability to use the limited resources they have available to them and the ‘failure of urban governance’ to survive or rather, thrive.

• They cobble together their own off-the-grid solutions to infrastructural shortcoming, like pirating electricity or getting water • However, the location of some of these informal settlements is at great risks because of the self built structures.

• The Urban think thank, aims to not only work with the inhabitants of these squatter settlements to develop useful strategic interventions, but it also tries to reframe how others perceive the notion of these slums • The author sets up a dichotomy between informal and formal settlements as they both inform each other. It makes sense that the dynamic nature of informal settlement informs the formal, as it cant simply be equated as poor or illegal. Its a legitimate type of settlement- just not the ideal ‘living conditions’ • However, I don’t see the author explaining how the formal informs the informal.

• Slums are embodiment of ingenuity and resilience. They just work.

• We saw this quite a lot in all the case studies that we did, that leaders don’t fully understand the problem of these informal settlement. They often think the solution is to rehabilitate the inhabitants of slums.

• This more often than not , doesn’t work because the inhabitants react in unpredictable ways.

• Also, we notice that the relocation is to the peripherals of the city. Why do leaders almost push these people out?

• There are also the injustices that come with living in slums ( a derogatory term in most peoples minds) оо inhabitants don’t get a say in political decision making оо Participatory design is rare • Often in cities the multiple layers of decision making- approvals needed to make something happen going through the various channels, by the time the policy is made, the situation on ground is quite different, changed.

• Slum dweller international (SDI)- composed of community based organizations in 33 countries оо Pro-poor cities оо Provides info on how to better involve inhabitants of informal settlements in decision making оо Promote the idea of bottom -up planning rather than top-down agencies to achieve long lasting goals • UTT approaches the problems of the city through a multidisciplinary approach and heavily focusing on involvement from community members they are working with 34

Informal city, Caracas

WEEK 7 • Industrialization brought with it a massive influx of people from the country side into the city. оо The city is divided into the 3 tiered arrangement оо The rich, оо The favelas (bidonvillas or slums) • Official formal labor force • The footprint of urbanization is big even if the city is expanded vertically( to get energy and resources to these high rise buildings) • The idea that big cities function as nodes where as in reality, these big cities are divided into formula nd informal cities. ооThe formal cities have access to security in food, education etc. ооThe informal city or the slums don’t have this security • The people who live in the informal city are part of a viscous cycle where women are most affected by this poverty • High birth rates increase this population and low tax receipts keep have the government keep them in chronic neglect of infrastructure • Corruption is a method of private appropriation of public goods - i never thought of corruption like this- its a good way to put it • Actually the author says, that the informal city is divided into two- the gated community and those excluded. Of courses, the gated community would feel fearful of the other. Said’s whole argument comes into play • Disorder is the rule of informal growth.

• Informality is an expression of structural adjustment to global market forces • The author writes that in order for the people of the slums to feel included in the society, they take up very bad, often over exploited jobs to avoid the stigma of exclusion. оо This act increases the moral or supportive economy оо So in a certain sense, this could be a scheme of the formal government to get informal forms of money in terms of aid or donations оо This creates the alternative economy of a place • Thus the author suggests that the informal places within a global space are much more than spaces to house the excluded people. They are actually an informal alternate form of economy though the collective efforts of NGOS to un-exclude the people in this barrios or favelas. This is often not enough and must be supported by world organization.

• This is a very unique perspective on the informal settlements- how they contribute to the nations economy. Its a very complex system, yet easy enough to understand why it hasn’t been removed till now.

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Brillembourg and Hubert Klumpner

WEEK 8

• The author talks about globalized cities and how the importance of the central core of the city has diminished.

• He writes that architectures’ biggest failure is its inability to give meaning to the modern city • Ill be honest though, I found both of Martins reading quite complicated to keep my attention focused on the text. Even though I read the last weeks’ reading also, I have no idea what he talked about in that.

• He does use complicated philosophical ideas to talk about the city like not just the sublime, but the mathematical sublime.

• I am therefore going to leave out the in-detail analysis of this text along with the other Martin reading.

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Mehrotra, Mumbai

WEEK 8

• The emergent Urbanism of Mumbai is the result of high density brought about by the influx of migrants in the 1950s and the lack of urban spaces • The author breaks down urban cities into the kinetic and the static city. оо Static being the steel, concrete and brick of the city - this is the formal fabric of the city оо kinetic being the informal city in motion- showing the supportive lives • Alot of the Indian events are actually part of the kinetic life of the city.

• I found it very interesting how the author described the life of a city and how the inhabitants interact with the fabric to be as important as the built structures itself.

• Being from Pakistan, I have seen this kinetic city first hand- ‘meanings are not stable, spaces get consumed, reinterpreted and recycled’ is an accurate depiction of what every day life looks like there - its very similar to India • Furthermore, the static city provided the illusion of a disciplined ‘Victorian facade’ , but the interior of the street space in from could have a bazaar within- this makes the city more adaptable to changing economic and social conditions. I • The author also talks about the informal economy, for example the dabba walls- exemplify the relationship between the formal and the informal city. The train system plays an important role in this informal economy to function- it too is an example of kinetic space that blurs the distinction between the formal and informal city • Interestingly, the author sets up a dual relationship or a binary between the formal and informal city. While kinetic part of the city confidently makes its way into the modern, carrying local information, the static grounds it to the ‘macro-moral’ order • What the local Indian people have done and what is similar to my observations in Pakistan, is that they have found innovative way to make their places competitive in the global market. They have found ways to make the systems they function in work. No matter, the poor drainage channels, or pirated electricity from cables etc.

• Thus the kinetic city is described by the author as a twitching organism, transient or temporal.- often as a strategy to defeat eviction (lol)

37

Patrick Stewart, Dissertation

WEEK 9

• This reading is about the experiences of an indigenous architect and what practicing architecture is for him, the troubles he has to face as an indegioniuns architect and his design process. In the end Patrick’s talks about what he thinks the role of an architect is.

• There was obvious discrimination in the treaty making as the indigenous didn’t have say in what was decided.

• Similar to Doloria’s reading, Patrick writes the government makes policies that look at the world from the western point of view, completely neglecting what the indigenous view of the planer is. The western point of view sees the planet as a resource they need to extract from - as an example - the extraction of oil in new Brunswick • Being one for the first few indigenous students to be allowed to attend uni, Patrick is able to see the injustices of more so, the systemic oppression, racism and colonization in the western education system • In his practice, Patrick tries resist western norms of the status quo by privileging indigenous culture.

• He often collaborates with the elders of his community to design his proposals- this is all to incorporate the different languages , cultures and customs and to use planet earth in a respectful way. Because for them if the environment is destroyed, the people too are destroyed.

• Patrick also mentions the glass ceiling he faces as an indigenous architect. Even though equally qualified. He writes about he has trouble getting approval from the city hall to build designs that incorporate indigenous cultures. They say it is too exotic or doesn’t fit into the surrounding context in terms of materials and the aesthetic.

• (He also designed the floor to represent the fire pit and it is used today as a meeting / • gathering place)--> cool architecture project incorporating indigenous culture. оо He has set up values for himself to operate by. оо He includes everyone in the deign process. He facilitates these relationships оо He gives strong consideration to the environment ensuring that energy conservation and materiality respect the site they are in оо He considers the cultures of the shared community. The people and the youth. оо Any project here is like a community project оо His relationship with the client is very long lasting, it doesn’t just end when the project is done. оо He shares not just the material wealth with dinners and what not, but also the information, the talent and energy with the community he is building in. So he isn’t just a consultant there.

In conclusion he writes, architectures must be thought of as a sacred process 38

Deloria, Indian Af fairs

WEEK 9

• The author begins with criticizing the superiority complex of white man.

• The problem with while man is that whenever Indian reservation has his hand on good land, minerals or timber, the white man has to dispossesses the Indian of it.

• That white man doesn’t understand law and culture and the manner in which they appear to describe the interworking’s of groups or men- they continue to have some notion of what man should be, dismissing what they actually are.

• The author talks about how the white man thought that Indian reservations should be broken into farming plots and tribal assets should be divided among the tribal members • The Indian should be become white farmers to make them ‘better’ or that they had to be saved • Soon tribes of the west had unwittingly or perhaps wittingly become victims of the policy.

• The author goes on to describe how this land distribution policy was just another modern scheme of grabbing land from the Indians- a systemic exploitation of people during the 20th century. Unfortunately no one could question these governmental policies • The pueblo lands act was perhaps the only rare instance of law being used to defend Indian rights to land and communal existence rather than to despoil them.

• The author talks about the turn of events for the Indians • When the War on Crime began, indigenous lands were able to receive funding as well because they were thought as the same as cities and counties. The Wounded Knee incident marked an era of radicalism by indigenous people to protect their rights.

• The big question though is, does an expanding technology give to one group of men the divine right to force on another group of men behaviour patterns, laws values and concept s that would be foreign to them?

• The comments of these white men are actually ridiculous - stuff like ‘one can trace the absence of law when applied to the Indians’

39

Mumford, What is a city

WEEK 10

• The city is a stage for social action • Seems like jane Jacobs, Whyte and every one agree with Mumford on the idea of urban space as a stage • Thus the idea of a city as a mere container of physical structures has been investigated throughout history • The idea size of the city should be a function of the social relationships it serves • This means there is also an optimum area of expansion beyond which, instead of benefitting the city growth tends to paralyse.

• He believes that such limitation on size density and area should be put in place to get the most rational economic and civic planning.

• Limitations on height fore example have already been put in place in a lot of cities of the world. Even thought this doesn’t control population itself it gives administrators the opportunity to multiple the number of centers in which population is housed.

• Polynucleated city - cluster of nicely spaces and bounded communities • Not my favorite reading actually. Especially because the author presents his ideas as empirical, when they are actually from speculation of based off personal opinions. Like the city should be this or that.

• It may be true that his ideas are well accepted by humanist urban planners but for some reason I don’t get its relation with the course topics we have been covering.

40

Martin, City, Countr y World

WEEK 10

• From the first Martin reading- Financial Cities • Ill be honest though, I found both of Martins reading quite complicated to keep my attention focused on the text. Even though I read the last weeks’ reading also, I have no idea what he talked about in that.

• He does use complicated philosophical ideas to talk about the city like not just the sublime, but the mathematical sublime.

• I am therefore going to leave out the in-detail analysis of this text along with the other Martin reading.

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