ARCHITECTURE JOURNAL
N O W.
We are living in a world best defined by its inability to balance progress and destruction.
Editorial
It is important to understand how, as both architects and individuals, we fit into these clashes of interest and the role we can take to promote change. As individuals, our decisions are unlikely to be able to have a meaningful impact on the environment - but what difference does an industry-wide approach such as Architects Declare make? Or, importantly, what can we do to better our lives and the lives of the people around us? To do this, we must ask ourselves how our lives are being affected by things such as: pollution, technology and the economy.
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“The memory of everything is very soon overwhelmed in time� Marcus Aurelius
Unfortunately, 2020 is inevitably going to go down
The
in history for one thing - coronavirus. It may not
consequences globally but it has also forced us,
fit in with a typical architectural theory narrative
for once, to stop and evaluate our existence. It has
but I decided to completely engage with this and
coronavirus
pandemic
has
had
terrible
given opportunities for the world to discover what
let it occupy the space in my magazine relative to
happens when the globalist society we have been
the space it is occupying in all our lives. Alongside
working on for centuries is completely torn apart
this, is the most important struggle of our time -
and to experiment with important concepts, such
saving the planet.
as working-from-home. It has also reminded a lot Coronavirus has had significant impact on the
of people how much they value social interaction
environment. With industry and trade forced to
and the company of others. It is with this
an almost complete shut-down during the COVID
perspective that we must move forward.
pandemic,
this period will also prove to be a
significant indicator to what degree we are able to salvage our dying planet.
It is the greatest
test of our capacity to reduce our consumption. The economic collapse will also present us with another great obstacle moving forward - wherein we must ensure leaders choose a sustainable path out into economic prosperity and not simply fall back on non-renewable resources such as coal and industrial production.
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Contents 6 Time For Work
A short text with illustration by Thomas Lemon reflecting on how our organisation and approach to work has adjusted in response to COVID-19.
Architecture nd Environmentalism 8 Beyond the Pandemic An interview by Thomas Lemon with Dr. Jon Goodbun reflecting on the implications of COVID-19 on the environment and how architects should act in response.
The Curious Case of Japan in the 16 COVID Times An article by Callum McCrow examining Japan’s response to COVID-19 and why exactly they found themselves on a different trajectory to the response of the world.
26 Planet Maker Revisited
An text by Thomas Lemon reflecting on the successes and failures of his 2019 travelling design studio with RMIT and TU Delft, Planet Maker.
30 Architects Declare Explained
A short text by Thomas Lemon assessing the effect of Architects Declare Australia and understanding what exactly the movement is and what they are doing.
Review: The Water Dissapears 34 Eventually
A review by Thomas Lemon of Thomas Woodman's dance performance: The Water Dissapears Eventually, performed as part of Melbourne Dance Festival 2019.
Amazon Workers Safe to Assume 36 Work Unsafe
A short-essay by Daniel Bickle-Lazarow examining the ethics of Amazon's work practices and radical efficiency and optimisation in the background of the coronavirus pandemic.
40 Balenciaga F/W Show Review
A review by Yuchen Gao of Balenciaga's runway show exhibiting their 2020 fall/winter collection which highlights the environemtal effects of the fashion industry.
Time For Work
Time For Work APRIL 2020
With almost all physical places of assembly now closed, we are left to rely on technology to perform our work duties, study, shop and to fill a social and cultural void. Within the last month, we have been transitioning towards a virtual existence. We can now visit a museum or zoo1, partake in fitness classes, as well as study or work - online, from our own homes. Our homes, previously mostly limited to the fulfilment of our daily routines, are now the location for all elements of life. The way in which we distinguish these activities can no longer be defined by moving from one place to another, or separated by a daily commute. This line between work, leisure and the domestic was already blurred2 but social isolation restrictions have made things markedly harder to define. If current predictions are to be believed, working-from-home will become much more common post-lockdown but for some it has been a difficult adjustment.3 This shift in household activity may change the way we design and consider the home, in order to create the physical and psychological boundaries that previously existed between work, leisure and the domestic. Although, long before the invention of the office in 17264, the traditional homes of the Ancient Greeks and Romans (although very different) both distinguished between work and leisure ambiguously and this was primarily executed within the mechanisms of time5. Time, for those who are not privileged enough to have a dedicated home office, has similarly been the primary way in which many are able to distinguish between work and leisure throughout the current period of lockdown, in the face of endless distraction and concurrent domestic duties. As working from home continues beyond the pandemic, into the future, it seems likely that society will rely less on the built environment, distance and physical space for work. On the other hand, the impact of enforced isolation on anxiety, and loneliness has highlighted the need for ‘socially connected, vibrant public spaces’.6
1 https://www.kidsnews.com.au/technology/take-a-virtual-tour-around-theworlds-best-sites-galleries-zoos-museums-and-even-mars/news-story/5717c73be2321b a8dcfeedf35bf4d9c8 2 https://techtalk.gfi.com/survey-81-of-u-s-employees-check-their-work-mailoutside-work-hours/ 3 https://www.smh.com.au/business/workplace/working-from-home-a-newnormal-for-many-but-it-s-no-cure-all-20200406-p54hh0.html 4 https://k2space.co.uk/knowledge/history-of-office-design/ 5 AURELI, Pier Vittorio; GIUDICI , Maria Shéhézade. (2018) ‘The Form of Otium: Labor and Leisure in Ancient Greek and Roman Domestic Space’. in: Marina OteroVerzier (ed.), Work, Body, Leisure, Rotterdam, Berlín: Het Nieuwe Instituut, Hatje Cantz Verlag GmbH, pp. 155-162. 6 https://theconversation.com/reconnecting-after-coronavirus-4-key-wayscities-can-counter-anxiety-and-loneliness-136606
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“We need to do differently, and very differently, at that. One of the problems of contemporary capitalist development is that it makes us all poorer by depleting and destroying environments... yes it adds commodities to the world, but these are generally designed to quickly fail or become redundant, which is a part of the design of scarcity actually - whilst environments are permanently depleted.�
Architecture and
Architecture and environmentalism beyond the pandemic Interview with Dr. Jon Goodbun Dr. Jon Goodbun is now based in Athens, Greece where he runs Rheomode, a small experimental studio working at the intersection of architecture, technology, art and ecological pedagogy. He remotely contributes to the MA Environmental Architecture and the cross-college PhD programme at the Royal College of Art in London and similarly runs a research seminar at the Bartlett. He has published widely on questions of architecture, urbanism, environmental design and systems thinking, and is currently working on a book called ‘The Ecological Calculus’, which builds on his doctoral thesis ‘Critical Urban Ecologies: The Architecture of the Extended Mind’.
Jon is a family friend and I hadn’t had a chance to speak with him since starting my architecture degree. Considering his unique academic positioning, I spoke to him in April, as I wanted to hear what he had to say about the role of the architect during and beyond the multifaceted crisis we are all experiencing.
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Interview with Dr Jon Goodbun
Thomas Lemon: Hi Jon, thanks for taking the
from the communities (indeed not just human
time to speak to me. I’ll start with a broader
communities) and users of those buildings, needs
question. How do you think architects will need
to be questioned.
to adapt in the economic aftermath of this global pandemic?
The simple fact is that there is no future worth having on the basis of our current models of
Jon Goodbun: The key fact to remember here
extractive and consumer capitalism, which is
is that this pandemic, terrible as it is, is not the
based upon violence and domination: of both
biggest problem that we are facing right now:
each other and the broader web of life within
our biggest problem remains global heating,
which we exist.
the climate crisis, and the broader collapse and degradation of ecosystems around the planet. In
TL: Your research has centred on scarcity,
fact, the pandemic is better understood as one
as a concept. How does this factor into the
of the effects produced by the destabilisation
exploitative
and reduction of diversity and complexity of the
industry?
nature
of
our
economy
and
planetary ecosystem. And in all of these cases, we need to think about our responses to these
JG: I was a part of a design research collective
problems in terms of social and ecological justice.
project that looked at questions of scarcity in
These are not simply technical problems – and
relation to architecture and design, a few years
treating them as just technical or design problems
ago. We produced a couple of publications which
is, in fact, a part of the bigger problem.
I think have stood the test of time quite well so far – a special issue of Architectural Design
Yes of course architects have an important
journal entitled ‘Scarcity: Architecture in an age
role to play but equally, most of the decisions
of depleting resources’, published in 2012, and
about building happen long before architects
then a small book called ‘The Design of Scarcity’
are involved… the site, the client, the budget, the
published in 2014 by Strelka.
programme of use, just the entire logic driving building development, which is in almost every
The question of scarcity has multiple dimensions.
case, directly or indirectly, capital accumulation.
It is a question of actual resource scarcities, literal
Almost every major decision has been made
limits to the quantities of given minerals on the
before architects are appointed and whilst on
planet. But it also enables us to understand how
occasion these decisions can be investigated and
most scarcities are actually socially produced –
shifted, on the whole, the very division of labour
in fact deliberately socially produced – to enable
that separates the design of buildings from
markets to function, and geopolitical power to
the making of buildings etc, and the decisions
be deployed. So whilst circular economy thinking
about building and urban and planetary space
can help to manage the first kind of scarcity, only
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social and political change can really affect the
within existing just in time commodity flows. One
second, and a shift to a more ecologically sensitive
of the things that we know from cybernetics and
and socially useful production, which doesn’t
systems theory is that highly efficient systems
externalise all sorts of costs and resources.
have very low flexibility in any kind of deep sense. And one of the things that we know from climate
There is still, in general, a flow of violently
studies is that we are now entering a period of
extracted resources from the so-called global
extreme instability – so in a basic sense, we need
south to the economically dominant centres
to
of power, and a flow of waste in the opposite
and systems… we need to start building in lots
direction. These relations are central to how
of spare capacity and redundancy… especially
global capitalism is currently working, whilst there
into whatever we define to be core and essential
are some interesting shifts being signalled – for
services and systems. And yes, whilst there are all
example, Holland saying that they will try to use
kinds of reasons that it makes sense to use ‘local’
this moment to reorganise their economy on a
materials in many contexts, it is just as important
more circular basis, what we are generally seeing
for workers - including architects - along existing
is those in power using the crisis in a disaster
global commodity supply chains to be forming
capitalist mode, and reinforce existing patterns.
new solidarities and new forms of collective
Architects, in general, are peripheral to all of this…
awareness at this moment.
start
encouraging
‘inefficient’
economies
construction sites and development plans are in general more likely to stop or delay rather than
There is a proposal that I sketched out for Derailed
become ‘better’, and architects will work with
last year – in the context of some Environmental
whatever systems they are told to work with,
Architecture research work at the RCA – to
although they can play a progressive role in at
take Andean lithium workers and community
least imagining and visualising other modes of
activists that we are working with, in Chile, on a
existence and other forms of spatial development.
long-distance train and boat journey following the lithium through the port at Antofagasta and through China and beyond, meeting with and
TL: In the path out of this pandemic, supply-
picking up the various other lithium workers
chain restrictions may force architects’ hands
along the journey. (Derailed Lab is an occasional
in returning to locally-sourced materials and
nomadic teaching and research vehicle, which
production methods. Could this form part of a
uses long-distance train rides to take ‘geopolitical
solution to the current model?
sections’ across the planet.)
JG: Exactly what ‘local’ resources are in a context of global capitalism is complicated. One of the things that COVID has shown is the lack of robustness
Shift
Interview with Dr Jon Goodbun
TL: One positive from this period of extreme
capitalism use this crisis to actually reinforce
instability has been the sharp reduction of
themselves, by for example removing existing
pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Is this
environmental legislation as is happening in the
the first real example of the possibilities of a
US and China, and no doubt soon in Australia and
coordinated global climate effort?
elsewhere, in order to facilitate ‘recovery’! And by creating vast new quantities of public money and
JG: Yes it is very interesting to see what the effects
handing it over to large corporations, as we have
have been, and the crisis certainly demonstrates
already seen.
that quick changes to economies, and the damage that they do, can happen. However, one
At the same time, the media is and will prepare
of the things that is so concerning actually, is that
populations for a new wave of ‘austerity’ whilst
even the level of shutting down of production that
rebooting fossil fuel and extractive industries,
the pandemic has resulted in is still producing
and new forms of surveillance and control. Any
nowhere near the level of emissions reduction
crisis
needed in for example just meeting the Paris
– and COVID will hit unevenly – affecting the
Agreement. So yes, there is an interesting raising
poorest and most vulnerable hardest, and that is
of awareness of how quickly some systems can
because, in an epidemiological sense, poverty is
start to repair themselves, and also it reveals just
an existing pre-condition that through pollution,
how easily we can change economic systems
poor nutrition, stress, etc means that the poorest
if the urgency is there… but equally, it shows
sections of society, both within every country,
the scale of the changes required to meet the
but also globally, will suffer and die in the largest
demands that the environmental crisis – which
numbers… and that is what we are seeing.
always
amplifies
existing
inequalities
incidentally will make COVID look like a mild cold – actually requires.
We see that in construction… architects and the cognitive disciplines shift to working from home,
TL: Do you think we will continue to see reduced
while builders – in London for example – are
emissions in the aftermath of COVID-19?
expected to continue working.
JG: What we are facing now is the most
TL: Does this pandemic show us that simply
phenomenal political struggle… it should be clear
doing less might be a more effective response?
to anyone who can think that we simply cannot allow things to return to the previous normal. We
JG: Yes – well, doing less damage, rather than just
need to try to use this moment to unseat and
doing less. But even doing less doesn’t really help…
marginalise those forces that are busy destroying
it just delays at best the same damage. We need
the planet. Will that happen? – unlikely… already
to do differently, and very differently, at that.
we are seeing the most criminal forces within
One of the problems of contemporary capitalist
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development is that it makes us all poorer by
existing extractives capitalist production wreaks
depleting and destroying environments… yes
upon the planet, people and the broader web of
it adds commodities to the world, by these are
life… that is the kind of thing that we are involved
generally designed to quickly fail or become
in on the MA Environmental Architecture course
redundant, which is a part of the design of scarcity
that we set up at the RCA in London recently. And
actually – whilst environments are permanently
then there is just trying to make the design and
depleted. So the degrowth movement – I don’t
construction that does happen, and also that
like the name ‘degrowth’, it is confusing – but
could happen, more sophisticated in terms of its
the growing body of ideas associated with that
environmental design, using passive and clean
is certainly interesting, and actually is about
technologies where possible and so on. The MSc
a different kind of growth, driven by different
in Architecture and Environmental Design that I
imperatives…but it barely scratches the surface
helped to set up at the University of Westminster
of the scale of changes that we need to see.
is oriented in that direction.
Yes, I think that this crisis is giving people a
TL: Thanks again for your time. For those
chance to reassess what their values are… but
of us in architecture who are interested in
the point is that it really doesn’t matter unless we
environmentalism, who are some architects/
take power away from those forces and systems
theorists we can learn from?
that currently have it… JG: Well the movement is certainly going to miss TL: Large-scale ‘green’ projects are often a
the radical architect Michael Sorkin who died as a
lot less sustainable than they seem. Is there
result of COVID in New York recently. His mixture
space for environmentalism in commercial
of political, social and environmental engagement
architecture?
was a wonderful example of how architects can engage with the world.
JG: Of course, by definition, the mainstream environmentally
conscious
is
In terms of understanding some of the key
barely anything of the kind, simply because it
principles behind environmental design thinking,
reproduces
models.
I was fortunate a decade or so ago to be the
But that doesn’t mean that there isn’t work for
teaching assistant of Ezio Manzini, the important
environmental architects to do… and this falls
environmental service design theorist, and the
into a few categories… firstly there is a kind of
industrial chemist Michael Braungart, one of
environmental forensic work that needs to be
the co-authors of Cradle to Cradle, an incredibly
done – using architectural, spatial and other
significant book that really launched the whole
analysis to reveal the uneven development and
circular economy concept. There is much that
inequalities,
we can all learn from in both of their respective
capitalist
and
architecture
development
violence
and
damage
that
Shift
Interview with
projects still today. And I often recommend Fritjof
absolutely essential for understanding what is
Capra as an introduction to ecological systems
happening at the moment – both in terms of her
thinking in general.
absolutely key theorisation of what she termed ‘disaster capitalism’ – which describes the way
More broadly there are many wonderful teachers
that whole sections of the most criminal sectors
and voices that we can learn from. There are
of corporate capitalism have set themselves up
incredible bodies of knowledge contained within
to exploit exactly the kind of crisis now unfolding
Indigenous cultures around the planet, and those
and to use them to funnel vast quantities of public
voices must be allowed to speak loudly. There
wealth and democratic power into private hands.
are also fantastic insights contained within the
(So, for example, the COVID finance deal that
anarchist and green left movements – the reading
Trump recently pushed through, is rightly being
of Marx and Engels as ecological thinkers going on
described as the biggest theft in global history,
at the moment is incredibly powerful and useful,
with 90 percent of its funds going straight to the
as is the continuing relevance of anarchist and
very richest.) But also I’m thinking of Klein’s work
social ecology theorists such as that of Murray
as a part of the emerging discourse around a
Bookchin and Colin Ward, who have influenced
Green New Deal (GND). This is perhaps the most
the
movement.
important discussion going on right now, and one
The whole engagement of feminist theory with
that architecture and design students absolutely
ecological thought and science more generally –
must be keeping up with and participating in.
contemporary
Permaculture
Donna Haraway, Karen Barad, Anna Tsing and so on – is absolutely essential.
The
GND
discourse
asks
what
kind
of
reorganisation is required to rapidly transition In my own work, I have found the work of the
our current national and global economies onto
ecological
Bateson
a footing that both mitigates against increasing
incredibly useful for thinking about the way that
the unfolding environmental crisis, whilst dealing
ecological systems broadly conceived – in which I
with questions of climate and social justice.
would include both the living biological web of life
Unfortunately, two of the main politicians who
on this planet, as well as our social and technical
had embraced Green New Deal ideas – Jeremy
systems – are always cognitive and semiotic
Corbyn in the UK, and Bernie Sanders in the US
systems in various ways.
– have both recently been defeated and so, right
anthropologist
Gregory
now, it can feel like the future is indeed bleak (and This allowed him to propose the powerful thesis
it is interesting that groups such as Extinction
that when we damage ecological systems, we are
Rebellion have spent so much of their effort
actually damaging our own minds.
dealing with the sense of ecological grief and mourning that we all increasingly feel). But still,
And of course, someone like Naomi Klein is
the GND discourse is still a massive step forward,
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and a vital and vibrant area of discussion, although one that needs to widen its references and to find multiple new articulations, beyond the political imaginary of depression-era USA (i.e. the original New Deal). This is something that I am writing about at the moment.
Beyond all of that, I’d just recommend just getting involved in actually understanding how biological systems work through growing food – and watching these processes carefully, and exploring how environmental technologies work by building DIY heaters, coolers and the like. These kinds of practices and trainings are just as important as the theoretical and activist work.
Shift
The Curious Case of Japan in the COVID Times:
Where it all went wrong for the Abe administration
WRITTEN BY CA L LU M M CC R OW
This article answers two seemingly paradoxical questions. First, how did Japan control COVID-19 for so long while defying WHO protocols? Second, given that success, why have they recently lost control of the virus?
On the 25th of March, Japan announced that the Olympics would be postponed till 2021. The next day, 40 new cases of COVID-19 were found in Tokyo, a record increase in infections.
For many people, this confirmed their worst suspicions about the Japanese government’s response
to
the
coronavirus
epidemic.
For
months, the country’s experience with COVID-19
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had defied expectation. Japan, similar to South
Conspiracy Alone?
Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan, had
So how is it that Japan’s case count is so much
experienced a far slower spread of coronavirus
lower than other countries, given its minimalist
than its western counterparts.
approach to preventative measures?
Yet where most east Asian nations stilled the
The most common theory is that Japan’s unusually
spread of coronavirus with various combinations
low levels of testing reflect a deliberate strategy
of early border closures, intense testing regimes,
to suppress infection numbers, motivated by
aggressive
significant
a desire to host the olympics in 2020. There is
social distancing, the response of the Japanese
some evidence for this thesis. Japan’s number
government has been to do… not much.
of deaths due to COVID-19 is suspiciously out of
For instance, the Japanese government has,
alignment with its number of cases, usually a sign
against WHO instructions, done some of the least
that only the most severely afflicted are being
tests per capita in the developed world.
tested, resulting in undercounting.
Similarly, Japan has put only minimal effort into
Australia, for instance, by the 29th of March, had
social distancing. While the country was ahead of
3,809 confirmed cases of COVID-19, and 14 deaths.
the curve in closing schools and cancelling public
Japan meanwhile, had only 1,693 confirmed cases
events on March 2nd — shops and restaurants
of coronavirus, but a worrying 52 deaths, more
remain open, while working from home is rare. As
than twice as many as Australia, even though
one Japanese journalist puts it:
they had half the number of cases. Similarly, by
contact
tracing
and
the time South Korea had the same number of The contrast between Beijing and Tokyo is
deaths as Japan, they had three times as many
striking and unflattering to Japan. Downtown
confirmed cases. In fact, Japan’s death to case
Beijing is deserted as people try to avoid
ratio looks quite a lot like Italy’s did at one point,
spreading the virus by staying home. Tokyo
which isn’t the most comforting of comparisons.
looks like business as usual, with trains and subways still packed.
Yet it seems highly unlikely that under-testing
The messages have been mixed. Media remains
alone would explain Japans’ low COVID-19 case
optimistic, reporting that the virus is mild and
count. Japan was one of the first countries to
will likely taper off as summer arrives. Only
import COVID-19, hitting more than 100 cases mid
healthcare workers are voicing real concern,
February, before Italy, and well before the United
while the public struggles to judge how to
States. Since then, both of those countries have
protect itself from this ‘very mild’ yet deadly
seen their case numbers explode, Italy with their
virus.
health system overwhelmed, and the US now
Shift
The Curious Case of Japan in the COVID Times
leading the world in infections. Japan, in contrast,
it’s not obvious that the culture in Japan is actually
has seen only a gentle, if persistent, increase in
more ‘hygienic’, rather than simply being better at
cases.
policing its slobs in public spaces.
Flushing Out Culture
Realistically, the most relevant form of hygiene in
If under testing alone cannot explain the divergent
the fight against COVID-19 is handwashing, with
outcomes between Japan and other countries
soap, for a long time. Some do claim that Japan’s
with slow and small responses to COVID-19, then
culture of cleanliness extends to the lavatory. Vox
what can?
for instance, cites a survey on handwashing which claims that only 15% of Japanese people don’t
The most common set of explanations are to do
wash their hands after using the toilet, compared
with culture. From Reddit threads to news articles,
to 40% of Americans.
Japan is portrayed as a place where people are just naturally more hygienic than those in the
Unfortunately, survey data on handwashing is
West. A whole set of cultural traits are often
famously inaccurate, with upwards of 50% more
lumped together. Japanese people wash their
people claiming to wash their hands than actually
hands more, clean their shoes, don’t spit, wear
do. Handwashing surveys are better as a proxy to
masks, don’t litter, obey government instructions,
national honesty than hygiene, and you can bet
heck, even their own health minister said their
that if people were going around claiming that
policies
COVID-19 spread in China because people there
were
successful
because
Japanese
people were “sheep”.
are unhygienic and don’t wash their hands, Vox would be making the exact same criticisms.
Ideally, we would be able to identify which of these behaviours are more than mere stereotypes, and
The truth is that when it comes to handwashing
actually reliably slow the spread of COVID-19.
with soap, most of the world is pretty disgusting,
There is reason to be skeptical of many of the
and Japan is no exception. The specific numbers
specific claims in the “Japanese people are clean
vary a lot between observational studies, but
and obedient” narrative. As noted earlier the
almost all of them put the number of people who
government’s mixed messages mean that even if
wash their hands with soap after going to the
the population is particularly obedient, they don’t
toilet below 60%, no matter what country you
know what to obey. Furthermore it’s not clear that
pick. This WHO study for instance, suggests that
some generalised sense of cleanliness is useful
only 22% of people in Japan wash their hands with
in fighting COVID-19. The virus doesn’t spread
soap (compared to 52% in the states by the way).
through litter or shoes. Even the extent that
Which might explain the weird number of google
cleanliness does prevent disease from spreading,
searches for people complaining about a lack of
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soap in Japanese bathrooms.
greeting of bowing is far more hygienic than the handshake. That sort of change makes a
Even when people do wash their hands, they don’t
big difference when you aggregate it across a
do it well, with “as many as 80% of individuals retain
whole population. Using some incredibly spurious
some disease-causing bacteria after washing”. So
numbers, the average person in the will shake
the next time you go to a business meeting/party/
hands 15,000 times in their life, or 15 times a
volleyball meeting, remember that at least one in
month. Japan has a population of 127 million, and
two people’s hands are literally covered in fecal
COVID-19 has been around for two months, so by
matter.
avoiding handshakes over that time period Japan has prevented 4.2 billion possible opportunities
Can’t Touch This
for COVID-19 to spread — which is pretty truthy,
All of which makes handshakes a particularly
but you get the picture. While leaders like Boris
intriguing greeting. Offering them makes people
Johnson were busy catching COVID-19 by shaking
like you, and a good handshake will make it more
hands with infected hospital patients, Japan was
likely you get that dream job, which is unfortunate
slowing the spread of coronavirus with the simple
for millenials, because they’ve been told to “get a
act of the bow.
grip” on their weak handshakes. You also want to be careful because if you shake for too long (more
Face Off
than three seconds), people will start looking
A more recent cultural habit, but possibly no less
pretty anxious.
important is the normalisation of mask wearing.
Yet if germs wanted to invent a human greeting
Mask wearing has been controversial in the West,
by which to spread, they wouldn’t do much better
with many deriding them as unnecessary and
than the handshake. For this reason, even before
unhelpful, encouraging people to wash their hands
COVID-19 there was a movement to remove
instead (which has pretty limited effectiveness by
handshakes from a hospital setting, (even doctors
the way, only 53% of people washed their hands
aren’t hygienic, with less than 40% obeying correct
more frequently during the swine flu pandemic).
handwashing
more
As more evidence came out that masks actually
germs than high fives or fist bumps, and those
were useful, they switched to saying that we
“good strong handshakes” where a salesperson
should reserve them for healthcare workers,
crushes your hand while looking you dead in the
which is fair enough, but a non-issue in Japan
eye are particularly effective at transferring their
where the wearing of surgical masks has been
feces to your skin.
widespread for some time.
All of which is to say that Japan’s traditional
SlateStarCodex has already written an excellent
protocols).
They
spread
Shift
The Curious Case of Japan in the COVID Times
post on why mask wearing is actually helpful — the
Religion is Good for Spreading More Than Just
summary of which is that masks are especially
Ideology
helpful at preventing outgoing droplets from ill
Travel across the Sea of Japan, and you’ll see
patients from infecting others. They are also, to a
hints of the answer.
lesser extent, useful in protecting healthy people, especially in crowded spaces. Crucially however,
South Korea is now widely lauded for its response
when the norm is for everybody to wear a mask,
to COVID-19, but only a few weeks ago it was the
it is easy for the sick to do so as well, without the
source of the world’s biggest outbreak outside
cost in terms of social stigma. While we don’t know
of China and Italy. Indeed, the fact that the virus
exactly how effective masks are at preventing
spread so far in South Korea was something of
COVID-19, we do know that actions which don’t
a surprise. Having experienced both SARS and
make a huge difference on an individual level can
MERS the country was, like much of east Asia,
be very impactful when a whole population agrees
relatively prepared for COVID-19.
to engage in them. Mask wearing is no exception. Up till February 17th, it looked like South Korea had Drops of Jupiter
the virus under wraps. They had only 31 cases of
Taken in tandem, mask wearing and bowing are
COVID-19 and 30 of them had been successfully
powerful ways of slowing the spread of COVID-19.
traced and quarantined.
But Japanese culture cannot just be reduced to a set of norms around eschewing physical contact
The 31st case however, escaped the net. On the
during greetings and hiding the nose and mouth
18th of February Patient 31 attended a church
in public.
meeting of near 10,000 members, even though they were experiencing flu like symptoms. By 22nd
It is also about fitting lots of people onto trains.
February, 1,261 attendees of the church reported
As has been pointed out elsewhere, it is absolutely
symptoms of COVID-19. Within three weeks, South
bizarre that Japan has not been harder hit by
Korea went from 31 cases to more than 7000.
COVID-19 given that the WHO guidelines for social distancing call for four square metres of
To the Japanese government, this story is typical
space between people… Yet trains in Tokyo get so
of how COVID-19 spreads. On their government
crowded during peak hour that people have to be
websites they claim that while on average COVID-19
stuffed in by officials. How is it that mask use and
spreads to two people from each person who is
hand shake avoidance are able to compensate for
infected, 80% of infections do not infect others.
flaunting the advice on social distancing?
This means that unlike seasonal flu, which tends to spread in a pretty even way, COVID-19 transmits through large clusters, created by ‘superspreaders’.
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From the Japanese government’s perspective,
Do Viruses Dream?
this 80% has huge implications for how best to
This infection model also points us to the third
fight COVID-19. If only a small number of people
reason Japan has been so successful at slowing
are responsible for the vast majority of cases,
COVID-19. While Japan has still not reached the
then we can fight coronavirus by targeting the
levels of social distancing seen in many other
20% of people who do infect others, while the lives
nations, they did suspend both large scale
of ordinary citizens can continue with minimal
gatherings and schools as March began — well
disruption. By figuring out why what differentiates
before many places in the West. While these
superspreaders from the average citizen, the
suspensions may not seem particularly significant
government could avoid expensive policies like
relative to the lockdowns now occurring around
broad scale testing and social distancing.
the world — there is some evidence that large
And as it turns out, superspreaders are not
scale gatherings are an important vector for
defined
between
the spread of COVID-19 in the early stages of an
themselves and other people. Rather, it is to do
outbreak. Aside from South Korea’s experience
with location and behaviour. COVID-19 is much
with patient 31, the acceleration of outbreaks in
more likely to spread in some places than others.
Europe (a champions league game), Iran (prayer
From the same government website:
at Qom), and India (one man leads to 40,000
by
biological
differences
being quarantined) have all been linked to large The locations where mass infections were
gatherings.
confirmed so far are places where the following three conditions were met simultaneously: (1)
Furthermore, because of the exponential nature
closed space with poor ventilation, (2) crowded
of COVID-19’s spread, social distancing measures
with many people and (3) conversations and
taken early have an outside effect on the speed
vocalization in close proximity (within arm’s
with which the disease spreads.
reach of one another). Even though Japan did not implement particularly It’s the third of these criteria which explains why
intense
the densely packed and poorly ventilated trains of
compensate by being speedy and strategic with
Tokyo do not lead to infection outbreaks. Nobody
the restrictions it did put in place.
social
distancing,
it
was
able
to
talks on the train — not even on their phone — and of course, everybody wears a mask. Conversely, a
Success Sows Seeds of Failure
mega-church where people shake hands, hug, and
So Japan implemented modest but efficient social
talk in close proximity is a dream infection vector
distancing, normalised the wearing of face masks,
for COVID-19.
and eschewed the voluntary exchange of germs via handshake. This explains why, for weeks, the
Shift
The Curious Case of Japan in the COVID Times
country has seen such a gradual increase in cases
at home instead of encouraging them to head to
relative to countries such as Italy and the US.
hospitals prevents the disease from making its way through the medical system. This is a valid
What it fails to explain however, is why Japan has
concern given what happened to South Korea
seen such a surge in cases over the past week. If
during the last outbreak of MERS where a single
all of these national traits were slowing the spread
patient infected 28 people across various hospital
before, why are we suddenly seeing exponential
visits.
growth in Tokyo? More strangely, the Japanese government has The answer lies in the unusual path Japan has
also been unwilling to do widespread testing
taken to fight the virus. The Japanese government
throughout the community. Initially, this was due
decided very early on in the fight against COVID-19
to a lack of tests, but Japan now has far more
that total suppression was not a viable option, and
capacity than it uses. The government’s claim is
instead decided to opt for mitigation. Essentially,
that it wants to avoid an influx of false positives.
it accepted that people would catch the virus, and
Essentially, it seems to think that while tests
wanted to flatten the curve. It’s unclear exactly
are broadly reliable, even the small likelihood of
why Japan chose this path, but it is better placed
incorrect results leads to lots of false positives
than other countries around the world to do so.
when you begin testing large sections of the
Japan has the highest number of hospital beds
population. This, in turn wastes medical resources
per capita than anywhere in the world, by a long
on unnecessary contact tracing, and creates
shot, and is excellent at treating pneumonia,
panic.
which is the main way COVID-19 kills.
Why this is a concern for just Japan, and not South
In order for this strategy to be successful, the
Korea, Australia, or the WHO is unclear. Regardless,
government decided that conserving medical
instead of following the WHO’s exhortation to
resources was key. The main policy implication
“test test, test”, Japan has adopted a strategy of
being that the government would place limits on
controlling infection clusters.
testing, and play down the risk of the virus. Partly, this was to ensure that not everybody with flu
Essentially, the Japanese government seems to
symptoms would rush to the hospital, wasting
believe that it doesn’t have to trace or prevent
both tests and precious protective equipment for
literally every infection. Rather, they explain in
medical staff. In some ways, the decision makes
their policy documents that:
sense. Hospitals in New York and Australia have faced just this problem, backlogs of patients with
“The important thing is to minimize the spread
minor illnesses seeking unnecessary tests for
of infection in the country by preventing one
COVID-19. As an added benefit, keeping people
cluster of patients from creating another cluster”
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To balance the spread of infection clusters against
The fact is that even as the outbreak in Hokkaido
the desire to conserve medical resources, the
was being suppressed, it was obvious that Japan’s
policy of the Japanese government has been that
strategy was based on spurious statistics, deeply
only those presenting with very severe symptoms
flawed, and ultimately unsustainable.
of infection, and direct links to known cases, are tested. If someone does turn up positive, the
Let’s first look critically at the theory underlying
government has plenty of resources to engage
Japan’s response. Many of the policy documents I
in aggressive contact tracing and localised
came across while researching this piece cited the
shutdowns.
“fact” that 80% of people infected with COVID-19 do not spread the disease to others . Remember,
This is the strategy that was successfully used
this statistic undergirded their whole response,
in Hokkaido, where the Sapporo Snow Festival
because if the disease mostly transmits through
attracted more than two million attendees, and
superspreaders,
became the source of the largest outbreak in the
through the cracks didn’t matter, because they
country (is this a familiar story yet?). A state of
probably won’t spread it at all.
then
a
few
people
slipping
emergency was declared, schools were closed, infections were located and quarantined, and
Unfortunately, the statistic is deeply implausible.
within three weeks the outbreak was controlled.
The one paper I found investigating the variance of COVID-19’s R0 across people suggested that
Everyone’s Got A Plan Till They’re Diagnosed
while superspreaders can exist for COVID-19, they
With Pneumonia
are not the main transmission vector. It is also
The Japanese government took this as a sign that
quite strange that none of the many, many papers
their cluster control focused method was likely
investigating the R0 of COVID-19 noticed the quite
to be successful. They stuck with it, and Japan’s
important fact that 80% infected people fail to
case count stayed low relative to the west.
spread the disease. Similarly, no other government
So why then, have things suddenly gone so wrong?
or health body has made this statistic part of
Tokyo has seen its new cases skyrocket over the
their health policy, just Japan. Possibly because,
past few days, each day beating the previous
frankly, it simply defies common sense. There
record
estimates
is fairly broad consensus that on average, each
suggest that Japan is undercounting it’s infection
person with COVID-19 infects about 2.3 others.
numbers by a factor of five. A government panel
If 80% of people don’t transmit the disease to
said that infections were “rampant”, an emergency
anyone, then the remaining 20% must be infecting
task force has been convened, and the odds on
more than eleven people each. That seems
Tokyo entering lockdown increase every day.
especially ludicrous given that there is solid data
for
new
infections.
Some
from Wuhan indicating that the most common
Shift
The Curious Case of Japan in the COVID Times
location for transmission of COVID-19 is the home.
In The Harshest Soil The Virus Blooms Brightest
Either those 20% of people absolutely love dinner
The early implementation of moderate social
parties and large polygamous families, or there is
distancing — combined with a culture of mask
something wrong with Japan’s statistics.
wearing and a strong sense of personal space around the hands slowed the spread of COVID-19
Even if the superspreader theory was completely
in Japan. Unfortunately, those same policies
correct however, Japan’s cluster control strategy
and
was equally flawed in implementation. Essentially,
to get away with a pandemic strategy that
because the system is reliant on activating when
was based on bad data, poor logic, and worse
somebody tests positive in a hospital, it has
implementation. Under-testing, a deliberate part
difficulty locating outbreaks amongst people
of that strategy, prevented the government from
who do not end up in ICU, which, as it happens,
being accountable, meaning that just as COVID-19
represents a pretty significant chunk of COVID-19
was taking root in the country, people began
cases. Up to 50% of all people diagnosed with
abandoning the very social distancing which
COVID-19 are asymptomatic, while young people
protected them in the first place. One hopes that
in particular often experience extremely mild
Japan has managed to retain plenty of medical
symptoms. This means that outbreaks can rip
supplies with their conservative approach to
through young populations before showing up in
fighting COVID-19, because soon, they might need
a hospital, by which point it is too late for small
them.
cultures
also
allowed
the
government
scale interventions. *Originally
posted
on:
https://medium.com/@
The systematic under testing also had the effect
cut tlefishification/the-curious-case-of-japan-
of lulling the Japanese population into a false
i n - t h e - c ov i d - t i m e s - w h e r e - i t - a l l - w e nt - w r o n g -
sense of security. Because confirmed cases grew
2d0194b6d779
so slowly for so long, social distancing measures were being relaxed or ignored, even as the virus gained momentum and spread through the population. On the weekend of the 24th of march, thousands attended events like the Hanami cherry blossom festival or martial arts shows in Saitama. Just days later, cases started to rise in Tokyo. Sound familiar?
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Shift
The Curious Case of Japan in the COVID Times:
Planet
SHIFT SHIFT SHIFT S H I FMaker T SHIFT
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Planet Maker
How to simulate the future planet? RMIT Travelling Studio
In 2019, I went with RMIT to TU Delft to work with The Why Factory on Part 2 of the Planet Maker project. Planet Maker was an attempt to simulate and evaluate many possible futures, on a global scale. Primarily through visualisation of data on a sphere, representing Earth, we speculated on how
Studio Leaders Ben Millbourne (RMIT) Vivian Mitsogianni (RMIT) Winy Maas (TU Deflt/T?F) Felix Madrazo (TU Delft/T?F)
The idea of investigation in my group, Health and Body,
2019
was that the human body could be the changing factor in
our world may change in the future.
our attempts to rectify or minimise the effects of climate change.
Our idea of proposing the human body to be the changing factor in the effort to address emissions was to highlight the absurdity of pursuing global change by forcing lifestyle changes on individuals, as opposed to pursuing and campaigning against the actions of mass-industry - who, in all acounts, are the real offenders in the climate emergency.
Shift
Planet Maker Revisited
-029
The
data
we
put
into
“Can we simulate possible scenarios which can change the planet? How do we script those future planet scenarios? What do we need to know to achieve this? Who are our key planet actors? How do we test their needs and capacities?”
the
visualisations was (although made to look like it) in no way accurate. We tried our best to get the numbers to work but felt that it was more important to deliver an important message and were content with
producing wealth at any cost and
pseudo-science, particularly if it
driven by a culture which values the
served to attract attention.
ego disproportionately against the eco.
In the end, the project required many hours of work to achieve
Propositions such as “What if...
perfect
we
everyone in the world ate Nutella?”
really didn’t know the kind of world
do nothing to alter the notion that
we were attempting to visualise to
it is the individual who must take
begin with.
action on climate change - rather
visualisations,
when
than industry, who could solve many As a class, we proposed that the
of the problems Nutella creates
way to achieve systemic balance
simply by changing their recipe and
between the eco (the planet) and
production methods. What it does
the eco (the individual) was to find
achieve, is to highlight that there is
harmonious solutions, wherein both
a problem in the first place.
parties could benefit. It was a highly
Top: Laura Walters and I speaking to
optimistic approach but if I were to
Reflecting back, this project was an
approach this topic now, I think ‘ego
interesting experience and if it did
vs ego’ is an interesting mechanism
nothing else, it at least highlighted
to do it with. Decisions which harm
the fact that our decisions today
the planet are in every case driven
will have a significant impact on our
by the ego of an individual intent on
world future.
Winy Maas, prior to presentation. Bottom: Screenshots from the final presentation.
Shift
Architects Declare
Explained
Architects declare explained
Architects declare explained: why architects are declaring a climate emergency and what that means In July 2019, a group of Australian architects followed their peers, in the United Kingdom and Norway, in declaring a climate and biodiversity emergency. Included among the 31 founding signatories in Australia were 11 Australian Institute of Architects’ Gold Medallists and Glen Murcutt, Australia’s only Pritzker Architecture Prize winner. Less than a year later, in June 2020, the Architects Declare Australia website lists an evergrowing 912 signatories.
Shift
Architects declare explained
The declaration is as follows:
“The twin crises of climate breakdown and biodiversity loss are the most serious issue of our time. Globally, buildings and construction play a major part, accounting for nearly 40% of energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions whilst also having a significant impact on our natural habitats.
For everyone working in the construction industry, meeting the needs of our society without breaching the earth’s ecological boundaries will demand a paradigm shift in our behaviour. Together with our clients, we will need to commission and design buildings, cities and infrastructures as indivisible components of a larger, constantly regenerating and self-sustaining system.
The research and technology exist for us to begin that transformation now, but what has been lacking is collective will. Recognising this, we are committing to strengthen our working practices to create architecture and urbanism that has a more positive impact on the world around us.
We will seek to: – Raise awareness of the climate and biodiversity emergencies and the urgent need for action amongst our clients and supply chains. – Advocate for faster change in our industry towards regenerative design practices and a higher Governmental funding priority to support this. – Establish climate and biodiversity mitigation principles as the key measure of our industry’s success: demonstrated through awards, prizes and listings. – Share knowledge and research to that end on an open source basis. – Evaluate all new projects against the aspiration to contribute positively to mitigating climate breakdown, and encourage our clients to adopt this approach. – Upgrade existing buildings for extended use as a more carbon efficient alternative to demolition and new build whenever there is a viable choice. – Include life cycle costing, whole life carbon modelling and post occupancy evaluation as part of our basic scope of work, to reduce both embodied and operational resource use. – Adopt more regenerative design principles in our studios, with the aim of designing architecture and urbanism that goes beyond the standard of net zero carbon in use. – Collaborate with engineers, contractors and clients to further reduce construction waste. – Accelerate the shift to low embodied carbon materials in all our work. – Minimise wasteful use of resources in architecture and urban planning, both in quantum and in detail.
In Australia, we as architects are aware that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have long espoused the cultural, social, economic and environmental benefits embedded in the holistic relationship of Caring for Country.”
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What does it achieve? The above declaration is undeniably admirable, and if all 911 signatories (including most of the largest firms in Australia) do adhere to the statements made in the declaration, then a massive shift in the sustainability of architectural practice, as a whole, is inevitable.
Unfortunately, within a year of operation, the strategies and outcomes for Architects Declare Australia (A.D.A.) are still ambiguous. It is impossible to evaluate its success without any real evidence to work with. Some architectural practices have used A.D.A. branded Instagram posts to declare, for example, that they utilise “100% GreenPower by 30 Jan 2020” but exactly how many of the signatories have achieved this, and their accountability if they did not, is unclear. According to social media, the group is also working for some time on ‘a guide to going carbon-neutral’ but this has yet to become public.
In an online webinar, A.D.A. spokesperson and award-winning Australian architect Caroline Pidcock explains that “instead of relying on governing bodies or associations to take the lead, it urges each architect to take responsibility for action in their own lives and practices”. Currently, this is the only real option. In a perfect world, the A.D.A. could utilise the platform to monitor the efforts of architects who have signed up to this declaration. Realistically, this would require an impossible amount of administrative work for an organisation led primarily by volunteers.
In the United Kingdom, RIBA (The Royal Institute of British Architects), has also declared a climate and biodiversity emergency. Alongside this, they have produced the ‘2030 Challenge’, a well-researched, sciencebased sustainable outcome target and metric table. The Australian Insitute of Architects, on the other hand, moved quickly to simply endorse the declaration by A.D.A. and has been quiet on the matter ever since.
Comment On the whole, A.D.A. is doing really important work and without them, sustainability efforts across the industry of architecture would not be making much progress. Their declaration has been incredibly important in defining a clear pathway for sustainability for practising architects in Australia, and in creating a cohesive movement and vision. In the future, I would like to see more openness in how they are planning to achieve their targets and for them to utilise their platform to hold architects to account who are working against their targets and best-practices. Importantly, I imagine that they would benefit hugely from more engagement and support from the Australian Insitute of Architects.
Shift
The Water Dissapears Eventually
Review: The Water Dissapears Eventually ★★★★★
DANCE PERFORMANCE BY THOMAS WOODMAN
Themes of temporality and ‘human-non-human'
Squirming,
interaction
leave trails of water on the ground - as icecubes
are
performance
explored
in
soundtracked
this and
energetic guided
by
ambient noise and lo-fi technology.
crawiling,
contorting
movements
are dragged and manipulated intermittently reminding us of how immediate and animated the performance is.
This 40-minute solo dance performance shifts in momentum through dynamic and drifting
What could be seen as a bare gallery, lacking in
sections guided by the technology at hand. Ice
sound and atmosphere sets the perfect contrast
cubes, water, a de-tuned radio and an e-reader
for a monochrome figure to display their pure
prompt and advise the choreographer/dancer
physicality and stamina in a gripping, sometimes
through the performance. What manifests is
shocking
a series of fluid, trance-like expressions and
performance.
sequences.
and
often
uncomfortably
*all photography by Thomas Lemon
intense
-035
Amazon workers safe to assume work unsafe WRITTEN BY DANIEL BICKLE-LAZAROW
Large
scale
machinery
is
dangerous.
The
industrial revolution introduced machinery to workers which allowed them to work the land at a previously unimaginable rate. With new forms of technology comes new safety hazards and protection from these risks determines which workers live and die.
In 1885 at the famous brickworks in Brunswick, a 16 year old boy lost his life working with machinery. The newspaper Mercury and Weekly Courier reported “...a terrible machinery accident occurred at the no.2 Hoffman’s Brick Company’s works, Brunswick, the sufferer being a youth sixteen years of age named John Delahunty. The unfortunate lad was employed clearing out dirt from underneath one of the rolling tables, when he lost hold of his shovel, and , in endeavouring to regain it, became entangled in the powerful machinery, the result being that his
-037
right leg was torn away above the knee joint.” This
looking technology” it caught the attention of the
is by no means an unusual story for it’s time, and
public unlike most patents that fly under the radar.
it’s unfortunately one of many examples available.
The patent was to claim ownership of a piece of technology that would protect a factory worker,
In the 21st century, Amazon’s technological
not by making the innovative technology safer,
innovation is speeding ahead as rapidly as the
but instead to simply enclose the factory worker
brickworks in Brunswick was in the 19th century.
inside of a metal cage then provide mechanisms
By using drones and robots to collect packages
for the worker to operate pulleys and levers from
when an order is made online, the company is able
inside the cage.
to offer some of the cheapest prices available for online shopping.
Determining whether or not this machine is an effective
Through
this
streamlined
process
of
and reasonable measure to keep the
online
workers safe is hard to judge without an in depth
delivery, Amazon has become a household name
knowledge of how Amazon warehouses work,
for shopping. It’s founder, Jeff Bezos, has reaped
however what has shocked the general public
the rewards, becoming one of the richest people
more clearly is it’s similar aesthetic to a prison
on the plant with a net worth of over $110B, nearing
cell. It might be fair to criticise this reaction as
the same sum of money that the Australian
a superficial way to view technology; whether
government has commited to the JobKeeper
it looks oppressive as opposed to whether it
scheme to bail out companies employing almost
actually is oppressive. Conversely it could be
one third of the Australian population during the
interpreted that the aesthetic of something isn’t
COVID-19 pandemic.
meaningless because it provokes memories and understandings of learned experiences, meaning
Amazon is now the 7th largest private employer in
if you want to design a prison it shouldn’t look like
the world, employing 798,000 employees totalling
a prison.
more employees than the entire population of some small countries such as Luxembourg
While both of these analysis’ are interesting and
(interestingly the single largest employer in the
probably both correct to a certain extent, what
world is the American military with 3.2 million
might instead be the key to understanding why this
employees). The importance of safety in their
form of cage-safety equipment has garnered so
warehouses has become a significant issue to
much attention, instead of a forklift driver’s cage,
contend with.
could be commonly understood sub standard
Safety equipment has just as many innovations as
working conditions of Amazon employees.
the machinery that it’s keeping us safe from, but when Amazon filed for a patent in 2016 for “forward
On the 30th of March, right in the middle of the
Shift
Amazon workers safe to assume work unsafe
Covid-19 crisis, Amazon workers in New York
comes to a measly $28,446 per year, far below the
walked out of their workplace and refused to
minimum wage of workers in Australia.
continue working due to Amazon not providing a safe workplace. “Strikers at the JFK8 warehouse
If we take the background information about
in Staten Island demanded Amazon temporarily
Amazon into account, it offers us a clearer
shut down the large facility for cleaning, after
picture as to why the safety equipment is
reports of multiple employees testing positive for
viewed so negatively by the public. But perhaps
Covid-19”. The Guardian reported the story after
the more important lesson to learn from taking
multiple workers in the Amazon warehouse tested
the broader situation into account is that the
positive for Covid-19.
viewer of the safety equipment is neither naive for simply reacting to the aesthetics of the
Amazon has been considered an essential service
cage, nor is the rationalist critic intellectually
so that shoppers can reduce risk of infection by
superior
shopping at home and not exposing themselves,
implications of the equipment.
however unlike many other professions, little to
layman’s reaction is the most profound because
no support has been offered to Amazon workers
they instantly understand that Amazon is not to
to keep them safe. Bezos wrote [Amazon has]
be trusted. They don’t need a higher education
“placed purchase orders for millions of face masks
to realise the simple truth that even when
we want to give to our employees and contractors
Amazon
who cannot work from home,” but very few have
safety equipment, they ultimately couldn’t care
been fulfilled.
less about the well being of their employees.
for
considering
might
be
only
effectively
the
practical
Instead, the
implementing
Amazon workers work to fulfill quotas that prove their productivity, however whilst the 1.5 meter distancing rule still applies at their workplace, no reduction in their quota has been established. They have also not offered sick pay for workers that need to self quarantine. Nor have they been offered medical expenses paid for if they were to contract the virus in a country with a severely lacking public healthcare system, putting workers working pay check to pay check between a rock and a hard place if they show minor symptoms. This lack of help is compounded by the fact that the median wage of all workers at Amazon
1 Mercury and Weekly Courier, 28 August 1885 2 https://www.forbes.com/sites/bil lions/2018/09/04/jeff-bezos-is-18-billion-richer-as- amazons-market-cap-briefly-hits-1-trillion/ 3 https://craft.co/amazoncom 4 https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/ americas/amazon-worker-cages-warehouse-en closure-metal-a8537876.html 5 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/ mar/31/amazon-strike-worker-fired-organiz ing-walkout-chris-smallls 6 https://www.inc.com/bill-murphy-jr/ jeff-bezos-open-letter-amazon-employees-coro navirus.html 7 https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/04/01/ dtw1-a01.html 8 https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/2/17927478/ amazon-minimum-wage-15-dollars-increase-ber nie-sanders
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Shift
Balenciaga FW 2020
Balenciaga FW 2020 Review WRITTEN BY YUCHEN GAO
Demna
Gvasalia,
Balenciaga’s
director
both in the clothes and stage set curates a
presented his 2020 fall/winter collection in
sinister tone, whilst the model glides on water
Paris. The inspiration for the season blends
under a sky of hellish fire, waves and lighting. The
Demna’s personal experience and his concern
oversized LED screen hovers over the stadium
of the environmental effects by the fashion
as the water reflects and warps the visual. The
industry of today into one. The collection
audience is unabe to escape and must embrace
focuses on the direct link between the fashion
the disastrous conditions.
industry, consumerism, and the production of masses of waste that will inevitably lead us to
There is a strong silhouette and an extremely
the end of our existence.
visible reference to uniforms within this collection. Demna always had a fascination with workwear,
Demna offers a peak into the post-apocalyptic
which has been translated this season through
world, submerging a portion of the amphitheater.
materiality, edge conditions and small motifs.
The two-front rows of seating are inundated with
The garments encapsulate the understanding
water, forcing the audience to be immersed within
of priest’s robe, nun’s habit and football jersey,
Demna’s creation of the fearful and ominous.
motifs that are easily recognized by the audience.
The shades of black throughout the collection
The uniform references are just subtle enough
-041
to
avoid
the
collection
looking
“costumey”, but instead it explores the
idea
of
social
politics
and
constraints within this workwear.
“I
had
in
my
a
a
lot
of
research.
country
clerical
wear
come
from
I
where
the
Orthodox
religion has been so predominant,” he
“I
said.
went
to
church
to
confess every Saturday. Back then, I remember looking at all these young priests and monks, wearing these
long
robes
and
thinking,
‘How beautiful.’ You see them around Europe
with
their
beards,
hair
knotted back and backpacks. I don’t know, I find it quite hot—but that’s my fetish.”
Parallel to the workwear, Demna’s
the near future whether they will
religious
actually deliver on the promises
motifs
are
extremely
recognizable. Growing up in Georgia,
of sustainability.
his memories of the Orthodox church and
catholic
traditions
shaped
Although the collection carries a
his design. His own fetishization of
strong
Catholicism
moments
one does wonder if their words
of religious purity, femininity and
are accompanied with any actions.
ostentatiousness.
This
navigates
environmental
fashion
many
other
empire, major
amongst
houses,
mentioned
utilises
their
theme
of
in ways which does not create a
environmental consciousness, they
sustainable industry. I’m willing to
will be donating all of the chairs
remain hopeful and wait to see
used
children’s
next season, perhaps they might
centre and water to the city of
address the issue of sustainability
Paris as grey water. We will see in
more directly.
that
to
in
has
further
the
show
to
Shift
and
still
also
Balenciaga
materials
message,
resources
The End.