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Practice led research by Xun Hern Liaw - narrative postcards from perspective of colonial museum acquisitions
AMBITIONS AND ORIENTATION Robert Brown Head of Architecture Contemporary practice is in flux; moving beyond the now-constricting boundaries of inherited definitions of the architect, students today enter a working environment in which they may pursue multiple trajectories, often simultaneously. Multi-disciplinary, crossdisciplinary, and research-informed increasingly define practice; this is not to mention the 50% of students who choose not to go into architecture, but engage in increasingly diverse roles in both related-design and non-design fields. Given this milieu, our ambitions for and the orientation of architectural history and theory have needed to change. The legitimacy of the canon, and equally the authority of the critique which would critique all but the author him/herself, are too limiting to today’s graduate who must operate in a charged and fluid environment. While not rejecting the capacity of either model, our intentions lie in enabling students to develop their capacity for creative, critical and strategic thinking. Within the act of generating a critical essay – a practice initiated in the first year of our BA, and rigourously reinforced all the way through the final year – students interrogate not only existing discourse, but equally expose for critique and transformation their own beliefs and ideas. In parallel to this aim, architectural history and theory has been re-positioned within the structure of the undergraduate program. No longer does it hold secondary status, rather it (and the other subject areas of the ARB/RIBA curriculum, namely technology, and communication and management) is seen as embedded within in and playing a formative role in a wider, more inclusive field of action. In this condition students’ pursuit of an inquiry in history and theory converges with the trajectories made in other subject areas, typically with but not limited to the design studio. Concurrent with this re-orientation is a willingness to challenge ourselves. We recognise and embrace the opportunity to test our students’ work, and our own praxis as tutors, by placing this work in the public domain. Such intentions are intrinsic to an underlying agenda in the school to be ever more ambitious in who we work with, where we work, how we work, and ultimately what we do. None of this of course would be possible without the contribution of a number of dedicated colleagues. A great deal of gratitude is owed to Professor Dan Maudlin, who initiated much of the current direction of the teaching of history and theory in the school. Thanks are also due to Richard Bower and Adam Evans for both their teaching, and in turning what began as a simple speculation between Dan and myself into a reality. Neither can the efforts of the architecture history and theory staff, nor especially the hard work of the students, be forgotten in enabling this body of work to come to fruition. I hope that you enjoy this document, and in the spirit of our ambitions, invite you to comment on the work. 3
Unrolling practice led research by Elizabeth Gilligan - till roll of supermarket food thrown away on one day
WHAT IS ARCO? Adam Evans
ARCO13 Editor in Chief
This is the first edition of a new online journal that celebrates the theoretical work of our first year to third year BA Architecture Students from the academic year 2012/13. The history and theory Modules in the Architecture Programmes at Plymouth University are coded ARCO, an acronym for Architectural Context, hence the title of this journal. Over the past five years, the ARCO stream in our School has developed from a conventional survey course of famous buildings, dates and architects to a more panoramic, lateral and discursive approach to thinking about architecture. Cultural context and critical theory is the underlying foundation for the work we carry out as architects. We believe that understanding, questioning and testing theoretical discussions from a panoramic and pluralist approach is paramount to the development and resolution of good architecture. From heavyweight thinkers such as Lefebvre, Bhabha and Gadamer to more contemporary theorists Till, Borden and Massey, understanding and exploration of a range of works across the fields of sociology, geography, philosophy and cultural studies feed directly into what we would frame as the history and theory of architecture. From first year, Students interrogate architecture through empirical means, precedent study and literature review, their work in ARCO supporting Design Studio as well as Communications and Technology Modules. In 2012/13 we piloted a Practice led Research project which is carried out during second year, where Students elect to execute work via a particular creative practice in order to explore theory, and some excellent examples of this work are included in this edition. In the final year BA (Hons) Architecture course architectural history and theory acts as a vehicle of exploration, reflection and discussion into the current wider spatial, economic, political, social and technological issues effecting everyday life. It is a platform from which ideas spring into individually focused research projects spanning from encounters with particular spatial problems to philosophical discussions and theoretical speculation. In the depths of January this year, we discussed how we could capture and disseminate this wide range of theoretical work. It always seems perverse that students put so much into not only the depth of study and rigour of their inquiry, but also energy and thought into the presentation of their output, for it only to be assessed and end its life in a storage box stuffed in the corner of some lecturer’s office. At this point we decided to create an online journal to applaud this work, which we hope will act as both a point of arrival and a point of departure for our Students, as well as offering the work included to a wider audience for discussion and debate.
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presentation of practice led research by Abigail Banfield - ‘the dwindling culture’ photographic studies
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ARCO13 Journal Editorial Team Adam Evans Richard Bower Dr Sana Murrani Professor Dan Mauldlin
Editor in Chief Editor / Creator Editor Editor
ARCO Teaching Team ARCO Year 3
Discursive Line of Enquiry
Dr. Sana Murrani Antony Aldrich Dr. Gursewak Aulakh Professor Daniel Maudlin Hilary Kolinsky Dr. Krzysztof Nawratek Richard Bower Dr. Giovanna Guidicini Simon Bradbury Adam Evans Denise Maior-Barron
Worldmaking of Architecture The Poetics of Place Landscape Urbanism and Cultural Politics Architecture Viewed Otherwise Planning, People, and Everyday Life Future City: Revolution, Religion or Catastrophe Multiplicity & Subaltern Praxis Architectural History: Inspiration, Exploitation, Limitation Critical City - The City as Social-Critical Identity Archi-Cultural Exploration + Engagement by Notorious Architectural Heritage Sites
ARCO Year 2 Adam Evans Richard Bower ARCO Year 1 Professor Daniel Maudlin Dr. Giovanna Guidicini
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Unwrapping practice led research by Abigail Banfield - ‘the dwindling culture’ photographic studies
CONTENTS BA Architecture year 3 - Dissertations The Subaltern Student of Architecture Prescriptive Architecture In Search of Conlfict Perception of Space though the Diasbled Body Shaping the Void The Journey to the Beginning Supernatural Narratives EnVOLVE Escaping to my Zimbabwe Fathoming the Poetic Significance of the Future City Building a New World on the Ruins of the Old Despotic Resonance and Casuistic Distinctions The Post-Olympic City A Place for Meeting: The Real and Percieved House or Home
Grace Quah Tom Paddock Daniel Romano Thomas Wild Samuel Launders Pippa Hale-Lynch Kathryn Mackrory Alexander O.D. Lorimer Alexander Wood Max Bontoft Joseph Copp Lilly Hein-Hartmann Elliott Ballam Sam Matthams Abbie Sobik
BA Architecture year 2 - Practice led research Home, perception, identity and movement Lift Party Clinging to the Mist The Regeneration of a Lie through Cultural Athens Dog Walker: An Exploration into spatial relations
Emily James Charlotte Madgwick James Vernon Nikolaos-Filippos Kalantzopoulos Alex Baker
BA Architecture year 2 - Line of enquiry essays The Disclocation of Culture The Subaltern voice Cultural Transformation The City; Temporality through Urbanism Supermarket Sweep More than just a Carbonara Tea Culture Under the Age of Globlaisation
Ryan Blackford Yannick Scott Nikolaos-Filippos Kalantzopoulos Andrew Healey Elizabeth Gilligan Angelika Mazzoli Taic Xun Hern Liaw
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My local, Image Chamber, BA Architecture design work: by Grace Quah
THE SUBALTERN STUDENT OF ARCHITECTURE Grace Quah nominated for 2013 RIBA dissertation [click here for full essay] Three years ago I declared to my friend that I intended to study architecture at university. She assumed I was going to spend three years digging for bones. I believe this is telling anecdotal evidence that suggests that there are widely misguided assumptions of what it means to study architecture (and archaeology for that matter). I am very close to the end of my three-year degree studying architecture and whilst some of my initial assumptions of an architectural education have been met, exceeded, and some fallen short, others have revealed much more of the nature of the professional education I had invested in three years ago.
Introducing the Subaltern According to postcolonial intellectual Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, the ‘subaltern’ can be defined as: ‘a position without identity’.1 Western culture conjures notions of the architect as professional expert. These notions pervade the minds of prospective students: they are desperate to identify with the romantic scientific notion of the architect’s iconic work displayed on a pedestal and the cult of genius. This leads to, in many cases, a decision to study architecture based on misguided assumptions of what architects actually do, and a compromise between a professional career and a creative vocation. In the situation of the ‘subaltern’ architecture student, who has become disillusioned with the state of the self- serving profession and design’s economic paradox, but who has been subjected to three years of studio acculturation, what are the student’s intentions for involvement with architecture? Is there a realistic possibility for design practice that eschews the notion of the architect or designer as professional? This essay has been part of an ongoing personal investigation into the potentials of pushing architectural knowledge beyond the limitations of the architectural profession and exploring and critiquing, a multiplicity of design and spatial practices. It aims to ultimately re-evaluate the discrepancies between initial perceptions and after thoughts of an architectural education, with the aim of pursuing my own cultural identity and graduate lifestyle.
1 Lecture by Gayatri Spivak called The Trajectory of the Subaltern in my work, at Colombia University 2008, [www.uctv.tv] accessed 12.11.12 11
Have you had your daily compliance?: by Tom Paddock
PRESCRIPTIVE ARCHITECTURE: TOWARDS A HOLISTIC APPROACH Tom Paddock [click here for full essay] This essay interrogates the western obsession with development through the analogous concept of western medicine. In response to the peripheral subaltern, there is an addiction to prescriptive solutions, particularly that of a standardised, universal solution and the instilling of a ‘standard of living’ hierarchy – with the western hegemonic power structure being the social norm and the ‘less developed’ countries succumbing to the highly contagious disease of ‘underdevelopment’. This medical dialogue also approaches surgical responses to development, with particular focus on slum development and regeneration. Transcending these approaches emerges the holistic architect, most notably the urban acupuncturist, whose value for the immune system that is people encourages social empowerment and a healthy urban organism. The medicinal approach to architecture had provoked many intriguing conversations, especially when considering ‘third world’ nations and western interventions. Notions such as addiction to prescriptions; a reliance on donors; gastric bypass and radical neurosurgery can all be related to Architectural approaches in the current discourse. However the holistic approach cultivates the urban acupuncturist, whose intentions are to ameliorate dependency on expatriate help, which is undoubtedly an integral requirement if we are to allow the subaltern to exist as ‘coeval others’.
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In Search of Conflict: by Daniel Romano
IN SEARCH OF CONFLICT Daniel Romano [click here for full essay] The autonomy of architecture is prohibitive to its intent, through its isolation from the environment it wishes to address. Collaborative practice can readdress this relationship through a realignment of the design process, no longer confining it to the exclusivity of the architect. Instead it becomes an active engagement, transformative in nature and inherent with innovation, social progression and the distribution of knowledge. This essay examines the complex and controversial issue of the role of the participant. No longer consigned to the periphery, participants become emancipated as active agents in the creation of frameworks that encourage difference. Recognising the role of conflict as a development objective, it argues that architecture needs to consider a dynamic model of participation. A model that entertains the notion of conflict as an enabler in environments that can sustain a dialogue between its participants and the authority of architecture. It also draws focus to the subsequent affect on the architectural profession as a foundation for forms of agency that resonate with the theoretical standing of architecture, in a mutually exploitive relationship.
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[Dis]abled access collage: by Thomas Wild
PERCEPTION OF SPACE THROUGH THE DISABLED BODY Thomas Wild [click here for full essay] This paper sets out to explore the negotiated boundaries between identity and the body within space in order to understand how the construction of space as an architectural form is interpreted. Social space can be seen as a set of unique experiences, which are embodied within a context such as the City. Consequently, it is the make up of these experiences, which form a sense of place through socio-cultural interactions within space. These fluctuating interpretations of space occur through the integration between body and object. In an effort to understand how the perception and interpretation of space for those restricted influence their personal space, an experiential account demonstrates how physical and mental interactions define space into a multi-layered concept; these are expressed through the body as sensory and emotive expressions of social space. The sensory integration between the physical and mental interactions in space provides accounts in order to understand how the somatic perceptions of individuals form unique perspectives of space. Space begins to [dis]able the body rather than disability restricting the body in space. The city has become an urban labyrinth of contested space that restricts the body from freely moving. Restrictive movement is sensuously experienced and determines the boundaries of personal space. The physical obstacles in perceived space are expressed through the rhythmic movements of travelling through space and begin to define both personal and social space.
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Front cover: by Samuel Launders
SHAPING THE VOID: An Investigation into the Self and Space in the Virtual Samuel Launders [click here for full essay] The time is 2:30am and as I approach the fourth hour of staring into my screens I begin to think about what this invested time has accomplished…Playing as a character within a virtual dimension I have hit the maximum level 5 times over and taken place in countless battles, yet I have no physical evidence of the time and effort that I have put into the virtual realm. Short of the migraine I can feel developing and the sleep deprived state I know I will be in, in the morning, I have achieved nothing in the real world...yet, again I find myself queuing up to play, to start a series of events which I have experienced over and over, to play against people across the world who I will never know, people who will never know any more of me than the group of pixels which make up my in game representation, my avatar. People who like me, are users. Who have found an aspect of their life over which they have complete control, within a world where there are no boundaries, no rules, and no limitations. In this world we are gods. I reach the front of the queue and the game begins, and despite knowing that my achievements in this world will never amount to more than a figure on a screen I don’t even think for a moment about turning it off… The use of Virtual Worlds as both an escape and as a tool for design and communication is a well-developed and globally used utility. As described in The Information Society ‘It surrounds us and we are part of it’1. With a vast number and variety of people logging on everyday these worlds cater to their needs and enable them, the users2, a myriad of opportunities. Ranging from websites like Facebook which enables a user to connect and share with friends globally, programs like AutoCAD which have brought Architecture into an age where designs previously only seen in imagined futuristic utopias are now being designed and built and finally to games like World of Warcraft, Second Life and Tera in which the user is able to entirely reinvent themselves through an Avatar3. This essay is written as a parallel narrative from 2 points of view; a fiction underpinned by theory and related praxis. The main body of the essay in the black text is the theory-based standpoint, whilst the orange text is my own personal experience of the virtual world [fiction]. The intention of which is to give an inner voice to the essay. The fiction parts of the essay are to be read independently from one another as they each recount a separate experience within the virtual.
1 Hassan, R, ‘The Information Society’ (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2008), p.VII. 2 ‘a person who uses or operates something’ in this context it is the use of the virtual world through a variety of mediums, Definition from Oxford Online Dictionary, http://oxforddictionaries.com [accessed 17/2/13] 3 ‘an icon or figure representing a particular person in a computer game’ Definition from Oxford Online Dictionary, http://oxforddictionaries.com [accessed 17/2/13] 19
Spectral Contact, The Minerva, Halloween, 2011: by Kathryn Mackrory
SUPERNATURAL NARRATIVES Kathryn Mackrory
[click here for full essay]
If we consider a building, space or site in it’s simplest and most acceptable form we primarily accept it as a physical entity or material manifestation. We understand a space, through it’s form and given function. When form and function are removed we attempt to seek a new translation and understanding of that space. There may be alternative elements that allow the reality of that space to become defined and subsequently experienced. Structures and architecture that exist outside our everyday value systems, such as ruins or uncalssifiable ancient monuments are often unrecognisable and unfamilar to their audience without the context of inhabitation or material completeness. Lack of reliable understanding of these spaces generates conjecture. Architecture and space without relatable or recognisable context can be considered alien, misunderstood. Without clarity of function and purpose neglected spaces can become new products with unnatural, or unfounded claims generating a new narrative. In the case of sites such as ruined castles and ancient stone circles legends form around the idea of extraterrestrial activity and spectral visions, which are then absorbed into the public conciousness via legend exchange, literature and the media. Recent action by governing heritage bodies has begun to adopt supernatural conjecture as a key tool in re-contextualising and communicating heritage spaces and buildings. This brings to light questions of the worth of form against the value of an inherent human interest in the unknown, spiritual and supernatural. This study explores possible explanations for the inclusion of these supernatural, postphenomenological elements as generators of response to a site or space. Focusing on ideas prevalent in post- structuralism, this study opens up a discussion into the presence of post- phenomenological and metaphysical elements and their effect on our understanding of space. With reference to the policies of English Heritage, this study addresses questions regarding the authenticity of experience and the concept of ‘heritage’.
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Front cover, interRail ticket: by Pippa Hale-Lynch
THE JOURNEY TO THE BEGINNING Pippa Hale-Lynch [click here for full essay] A critically descriptive prose narrative of transient spaces within Europe This essay captures three moments within a journey across Europe. The prose, constructed from memory, is a point of departure for critical interrogation of transient spaces using Henri Lefebvre’s spatial triad, explained in Production of Space. The first of these moments is the beginning of the journey, perception in a state of anticipation, in which the imagination entrusts experiential knowledge to fulfil the expectations to come. This is where heterotopia is introduced and becomes a vehicle for imagination, consequently experiencing the space before tangibly inhabiting it. The second, a conceived space of dreamlike tricks, is like a sponge, we absorb from all our senses the memories of the spaces we appropriate. Although questionably real, a conceived heterotopic space of a non-tangible nature, the apparent surroundings still have an impact upon our experience of that space, perhaps even more so in how we experience the everyday. The third is a discussion of lived space, a continuously changing journey of arrival and departure manifesting the stages of anticipation and invention. This part of the narrative brings up a dialogue of the way we live everyday, how each action and thought has implications upon the spaces and how we inhabit, move within, and between them. This continuation of spontaneity and prolonged evolution of space is what we seek and subconsciously crave. I will interrogate my experience of transience to understand how, using the subconscious child within, we alter and adapt our perceptions of space toward a playful discovery in the everyday.
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EnVOLVE front cover: by Alex Lorrimer
ENVOLVE Alexander O.D. Lorimer
[click here for full essay]
Towards an Optimised Architecture, According to Everyone who Lives in it. With digital technologies progressively facilitating active content creation over passive content consumption and artificial intelligences surpassing the human aptitude for complex problems, the role of a professional architect is becoming increasingly challenged. The power of the internet engagement economy has now been realised and the emergence of collective intelligence demands for a reconfiguration of the idea of architectural authorship. This text examines the effects of swiftly advancing technology on the practice of participatory design and design optimisation. Taking a necessary interdisciplinary approach with empirical evidence to support new ideas and social history to identify key trends, the significance of emerging digital technologies will be explored in their tendency and capacity to revolutionise collaborative practice. After considering the work of significant theorists and architects, such as Michael Speaks, describing the value of ‘design intelligence’ generated through autonomous feedback loops, and Michael Kohn, exploring the practical possibilities of virtual crowdsourcing and ‘in context’ communication, the need for a system of decentralised decision making will be suggested (one which also balances the many complex trade-offs inherent in the process of design). Looking still to digital technologies and the value of algorithmic intelligence in solving hugely complex problems (those involving large search spaces), a method for combining the powers of collective human intelligence and artificial intelligence will be proposed to facilitate the emergence of truly optimised and democratic designs. All of this work will culminate in the production of a pixel manipulation program, built around an interactive genetic algorithm, which could be used to co-ordinate input from a potentially unlimited number of people into a single and coherent piece of ‘ourtwork’ (a work of art evolved to satisfy the aesthetical preferences of all the collaborators involved). Designed by Alexander O.D. Lorimer, it is intended that this program will demonstrate how better we could use the technologies of today to facilitate optimised, participatory design. It may also suggest how in the near future this idea could have the capacity to transform the architectural or design professional into an irreversible vestige, by actively engaging and co-ordinating an entire population in the creation of their own world.
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Passport Stamp to Zimbabwe: by Alex Wood
ESCAPING TO MY ZIMBABWE Alexander Wood [click here for full essay] A consideration of identity, place & loss in a paradoxical world. Technological advancements and media portrayal in the Western world today is leading to an ever increasing detachment from place due to conscious and unconscious exposure to damaging material, which, in turn, forms negative, one sided perceptions of places we are otherwise detached from. “The evolution of media has decreased the significance of physical presence in the experience of people and events.” In particular this essay will look into the notion of the internalised object of comfort, a memory, or a physical object held as a touchstone to form the backbone of our identity. As a means to enquire into the above issue, I will conduct a study on Zimbabwe, Africa. Within this setting, I will categorize the forms of our relation to place under three character types; the resident, based upon the experiences and thoughts of travel writer Douglas Rogers, specifically in his book ‘The Last Resort’, the tourist, the foundation of which will be footed by my personal connection with Zimbabwe and a current position seen in the third character, the outsider, the person detached from experiencing the place first hand, reliant on media portrayal and other agencies for their views and understanding. In undertaking this quest, the essay utilises the argument put forward by Alex Tzonis and Liane Lefaivre in their title ‘Critical Regionalism: Architecture and Identity in a Globalized World’, and later Kenneth Frampton in his essay, ‘Towards a Critical Regionalism: Six Points of an Architecture of Resistance’, in a search for a critical regionalism as a means for the creating and maintaining the identities of place. As a result of this exploration, the essay suggests that the need for a ‘critical regionalism’ is apparent now more than ever as a means of championing the individual in an ever more globalized and consumer dependent world. This can only be achieved through a responsibility of us as individuals to see and question our experiences in a bid to rekindle our inner world.
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Tokyo. Shibuya 2002: Edited By Max Bontoft
FATHOMING THE POETIC SIGNIFICANCE OF THE FUTURE CITY: Max Bontoft [click here for full essay] A STUDY OF TOKYO As a result of a prior trip to Tokyo, the following essay interrogates and critiques methods of representation used to grasp an understanding of settlements at a city-wide scale. An Aerial Perspective, Social-historical Infrastructure: Adaptations and Politics, Experiential Interaction are the chosen avenues of investigation. Using the city of Tokyo as my example I try to grasp the poetic significance of the cityscape through these varied viewpoints. The megalopolis is the chosen backdrop on which these methods of representation are applied because it has often been considered a mystifying city due to its vast contradictions to global city Norms, both in terms of configuration and substance. The analysis is appropriate given the crucial times we all now find ourselves living in. The 21st century will see a great change in how cities are conceived, managed, and understood. Some theorists like Fredric Jameson even suggesting we could see the next stage of human settlement, following on from cave, hut, village, town, city and megalopolis, as we as a species adapt to the challenges that lie ahead. Considering this, a search for clues on where cities are heading through analysis of current conditions would seem apt, coupled with the scrutiny of the effectiveness of the methods used to undertake the examination. How dated are they? Can they still be applied to the cities of the future in the same way they were applied to those of the past? To conclude, the dissertation proposes that although overlaps occur between the methods, only one begins to battle with the complexities of today’s Tokyo and grasp its poetic significance-that of experiential contemplations. Only through the sustained process of collecting experiences through intimate interaction with the city’s intricacies found in everyday life can these things begin to be made clear. A phenomenological exploration uncovers the relentless pace of the city, mirrored by those who reside within it. It asks if trying to understand the city would be to rob it of its charm and the endless experiences it has to offer, yet it calls for new ways to represent the vast complex forms they have undoubtedly become, as the designer continues to strive towards achieving a deeper understanding of the actual effect of a design on the individual and the landscape it inhabits.
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Plymouth’s Abercrombie vsion imposed on to the plan of the old city: by Joseph Copp
BUILDING A NEW WORLD ON THE RUINS OF THE OLD Joseph Copp [click here for full essay] What can the societal pursuits of modernity; more specifically Lafayette, Detroit, Plymouth, UK and Brasilia, Brazil teach us concerning the ambition of utopias and consequent inhabitation of the everyday?
Societal Renovation This essay is situated at the point in the 20th Century whereby the societal transformation sought by modernity rested on the brink having seemingly faded from its initial reformist position. Transformative gestures of urbanism that characterised this period can be seen in a utopian light given their ambition to render a vision of a new society to that of the existing. The social utopias that came to fruition within the 1950’s offer an opportunity to examine the societal renovation when a new world is constructed upon the ruins of the old, hence modernism provides the medium for this investigation. Crucial to this is the presence of war that interjected the pursuit of modernity immediately prior to the fifties’; the intention is therefore to observe the social commentary that accompanies the birth of selected case studies, and in retrospect look to the ‘new’ relationship that has evolved between the society and the built vision. An observation of current everyday life aims to mobilise a portrait of such matters. Consequently, the text is to question what may be learnt from imposing a utopian vision by examining how and why certain aspects of these pursuits have proved successful and indeed others not. Ultimately, it is an exercise to observe the process of prescribing a new reality to a society through architecture.
Contextual Grounding Of utmost importance is the condition, out of which Mies Van der Rohe’s Lafayette development in Detroit, USA; Sir Patrick Abercrombie’s Plan for Plymouth, UK; and Lucio Costa’s Plano Piloto for Brasilia, Brazil have emerged. These have come in to being through razing to the ground of a previous incumbent, devastation by war, and beginnings from a tabula rasa respectively. This dictates the primary level of the tripartite discussion. Secondly, is the notion of scale to consider that takes its lead from Karl Manheim’s proposition regarding utopia and scale. These case studies serve to investigate the home, the street and the city plan; multiplicities of scale that one might experience daily, and are therefore coherent to the discussion of the everyday.
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Despotic Resonance and Casuistic Distinctions: by Lilly Hein-Hartmann
DESPOTIC RESONANCE AND CASUISTIC DISTINCTIONS1 Lilly Hein-Hartmann [click here for full essay] ‘A creative re-imagining of our profession is urgently required’.2 Learning from the work of sociologists, in particular, the work of Bourdieu on the field of cultural production, this essay highlights the all too easily accepted inescapable subversion of architects to the polity or otherwise, the notion that the architect is at the total mercy of the bourgeoisie clientele, and tries to understand the acquiescence within the profession to superficial ethics, such as when aesthetics alone is seen to be an emancipator and the production of architecture as a ‘pretty building’ is the resultant finial purpose, for example, ‘when “honesty” in structure and detail somehow fills a moral purpose’.3 It is this learned understanding of ethics within the architectural community that aids in the maintenance of the perfunctory autonomy that the field itself strives to conserve in order for selfpreservation. However, it may be this battle for autonomy that might cause the field to be without value; it is the false ethics that are de-valuing the field because the populous is slowly growing more aware of how separate and inappropriately extraneous architects are to them.4 Currently there is abundant unease within the field of architecture which has even some of the most prominent architects and professors fearful of the dawning of ‘the end of the species’.5 The further construction industry (i.e. housing) that affects all of the general populous but the current role (and as will be proven, traditional role)6 of the architect has no conceivable authority or cause to make a positive change because of the position it holds in the field of restricted production. The final chapters consider housing stock and proffer the possibility of architect-lead self-build strategies to aid the recovery of the dying market, to establish a new role for the architect as a political virtuoso. The guise of the architect is under scrutiny because without adapting and proving that architects can be valuable to society on the whole i.e. in the field of large scale production, the field will become obsolescent.7 1 ‘Despotic Resonance’ refers to the effects of the autocracy on architecture while ‘Casuistic Distinctions’ refers to the slightly moral disingenuous acts of those within the Hierarchy power play. 2 Robin Cross, ‘Architecture and Philanthropy’, Architects’ Journal, 13th January 2011, 233, no1, pp. 40-41. 3 Jeremy Till, Architecture Depends, (USA: MIT Press, 2009), p. 172. 4 Jody Brown, ‘Ten Reasons Why Architects Probably Won’t Fix It’, ArchDaily, (2011) <http://www.archdaily. com/174185/10-reasons-architects-probably-won%E2%80%99t-fix-it/> [accessed 28th December 2012] (para. 2 of 10). Also, Kelly Minner, ‘What will the architecture profession look like in 2025?’ 08 Mar 2011) ArchDaily, <http:// www.archdaily.com/118441> [accessed 18th February 2013]. 5 Stephen Hodder, pers. comm., ‘State of the Profession Symposium: Survival of the Species’, School of Architecture, Design and Environment / Plymouth University, Roland Levinsky Building, Room 206 /207, 13/02/2013,17:0018:00. 6 Peter Malpass, Professor of Housing and Urban Studies at UWE pers. com., via email (see appendix F). 7 Stephen Hodder, pers. comm., ‘State of the Profession Symposium: Survival of the Species’, School of Architecture, Design and Environment / Plymouth University, Roland Levinsky Building, Room 206 /207, 13/02/2013,17:0018:00. 33
front cover: by Elliott Ballam
THE POST-OLYMPIC CITY Elliott Ballam [click here for full essay]
The herd of “white elephants” left in Olympic host cities after the circus leaves town raises questions over previous approaches. How do we avoid this “post-Olympic curse”, has London cracked the code, and what is the future of Olympic Architecture? The following essay examines whether the architectural approaches installed at previous Olympic Games can be considered to have brought about bright futures for the cities that have played host to them, or have in fact ended up becoming future burdens. This review is timely given the recent London 2012 Olympic Games, and the new flexible architecture that was on display. The essay considers whether London has cracked the code, as it has been acknowledged that the venues look set to avoid the negative legacy that has become apparent in former host cities. In undertaking this exploration the essay takes in to account approaches taken by other grand temporary events, and investigates the argument put forward by Kronenburg about thbenefits of using temporary and portable architecture. The review also looks in to the work of Perryman, who suggests that reimagining the Olympic Games in a different format could help to prevent the “post-Olympic curse”. As a result of this study, the essay is able to suggest that the legacy planning and shift towards temporary venues and additional overlays seen at London 2012, as well as in the preliminary designs for Rio 2016, can be considered to significantly minimise the risk of host cities being left with expensive “white elephants” after the circus has left town.
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The Real and the Perceived: by Sam Mathams
A PLACE FOR A MEETING: THE REAL AND PERCEIVED Sam Matthams [click here for full essay] How can a heritage site ensure that its chosen presented narrative will effectively appeal to the public at a subliminal level? With the cultural trends within the process of heritage commodification now dictating a shift from the once traditional museological exhibition of objects, the newly emerging desire for stimulating narratives means that the heritage presentation is less reliant upon the actual ability of curatorial display, but focusing instead on the manner in which a siteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s message is conveyed. The following essay examines the structural composition of narrative implementation and the parameters that dictate its received meaning within its audience. The emphasis of the study is placed on identifying the key moments throughout the narrative process that initiate, converse and influence the relationship between a site and a visitorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s internal realm. In considering the inherent relationship between site and visitor, the study begins within the fields of ethnographic and anthropologic analysis, where the connections between the tangible reality and internal processes are investigated. This is achieved by utilising theories based on a duality of space perception along with the influential aspects of tourist gaze construction. This theorised analysis is then realised contextually, providing a breakdown of the practices utilised to implement and sustain the involved interactions between the visitor and site, with scenarios framed within praxis models. Ulteriorly, the investigation culminates towards its case study, the National Trust property of Cotehele. The final section builds and develops upon strategic points that are raised throughout such narrative implementation. The conclusions of the study emphasise the complexity of the issues needed to be taken into account within the contemporary heritage interpretation process, especially when using narrative implementation as an added layer to the already existent physical realm.
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HOUSE OR HOME? Abbie Sobik [click here for full essay] House or home? The difference is small yet significant. This document explores the many different aspects that are related to the ‘home’. Within this text, theories of home are explored based on an extended review of literature. They are studied and compared to each other as well as primary research that has been undertaken on what ‘home’ means to others. The home is considered to have a strong relationship with consumption. This document reflects upon the role of domestic consumption in the construction of individual and collective identities. Acquisition and use of objects is also discussed when considering how a psychological attachment is formed between the owner and possessions. The influence of the architect is examined with reference to case studies. It is queried whether the material and architectural attributes have an affect on what structures can be made into a home. In conclusion, this document proposes that ‘home’ is a psychological as well as a physical term built upon many elements one of which may be a house. This document will explore the difference between the meanings of house and home. According to the Oxford Dictionary the house is defined as “a building for human habitation, one that is lived in by a family or small group of people”1 and a home as “the place of residence where one lives permanently especially as a member of a family or household.”2 Although these are very similar and do not give a clear distinction there is a noticeable difference. It suggests that a house is a built form that contains your belongings where as a home is where you live your life and an emotional connection takes place. As the ‘home’ is so familiar, it has many different aspects to define and research. Each of these aspects will be examined to help understand what creates this emotional connection to define what a ‘home’ is and what it means to others.
1 ‘Compact Oxford English Dictionary’ [online] http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/house?q=house [10th November 2012] 2 ibid 39
Foster childrens’ drawings of what ‘home’ means by foster children: collage by Emily James
HOME, PERCEPTION, IDENTITY & MOVEMENT. Emily James Through movement, unfamiliar faces and development, ‘home’ or the ‘place of dwelling’ is often changed for children in foster care, a daunting experience. Is it possible to create an identity and attach to a new space with strangers or is ‘home’ always the memory of living with relatives and those who the attachment was formed with in early years? As a child ‘home’ seems to be the one place that offers familiarity as well safety and security, although this is not true for all, but the attachment with ‘home’ still remains strong. In accordance to Hill, ‘The concept of home is also a response to insecurity and the fear of change. The home must appear to be stable because social norms and personal identity are actually shifting and slippery’.1 When it is not stable and the individual is moved from their home to an existing home for another family this is a huge disruption for the personality and identity formed, this has to be developed and adapted into new surroundings. Supporting this Tabor says: ‘Home is a surrogate for, and extension of, the self and the body. A sense of home, however you define it, is as important self-identity as the persistence of personal memory’.2 When drawing home, is it the existing or does the personal memory become influenced, creating a vision of desire for those who don’t live at ‘home’, or is it just a social stage dependent upon age in which we develop? The loss of the iconic status and IDENTITY of HOME, the separation and MOVEMENT away from the caregiver and the PERCEPTION influenced by social norms all contribute to the insecurity and fear felt due to unfamiliar spaces.
1 Hill, Jonathan, ed., Occupying architecture: Between the architect and the user, (London, Routledge, 1998), p 11. 2 Tabor, Philip, ‘Home’, in Occupying architecture: Between the architect and the user, ed. By Jonathan Hill, (London, Routledge, 1998), p 218. 41
Before, during and after - video screengrabs: by Charlotte Madgwick
LIFT PARTY Charlotte Madgwick [click here to launch video] Can re-appropriating the space of a lift change behavior and attitudes of the users? From my prior observations people choose to behave in a un-offensive, passive manner, and treat a lift as a place to be anonymous. So much so that we automatically create as much space between us and the rest of the lift occupants as possible.This has been compared to arranging ourselves like the dots on a dice. What is it about a lift that causes us to behave like this? “If a place can be defined as relational, historical, and not concerned with identity, then space which cannot be defined as relational, historical or concerned with identity will be a non place.” This is a quote from Marc Auge’s Non-places. From my observations a lift is definitely a non-place. Lifts are standardized, they all have the same interiors, buttons and voice overs, you couldn’t tell one lift apart from any other in the world, tying in to Auge’s ideas of super-modernity.There is nothing to identify with in a lift, it is merely a place of transit that we forget about as soon as we leave. My hypothesis for this project was: Re-appropriating the space of a lift can break down the social boundaries, and change how people perceive it.To put this into practice I had a tea party in one of the lifts spanning 7 floors in the Roland Levinsky building, from 12.30 to 13.00 on a working day. I wanted the change the space into a social environment people could identify with, to prompt people from different subjects into having a conversation.With the addition of some streamers, cake and music people’s behavior in the lift completely changed and my predictions were correct. My inspiration for this came from Space Hijackers and Forced entertainment.Two groups who celebrate misuse of space and hijack architecture in a fun and informative way, from the perspective of those who try to reclaim control over their own environment.
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video coiver image: by James Vernon
My little sister Anna Vernon plays freedom personified. Is this freedom? When a child seems lost in heaven’s kingdom The sky was grey Over a city slain Sinking ever deeper Into our own misty water Where food is turned and tossed and chucked together Before being spat out, untouched forever Onto its walls and floors and lights Pink gummed skulls grind our everlasting rights The twisting purple fox Through barbed wires she tries to escape this box Save some colour darling For torn tails, horror and misunderstanding As I stumble into the darkness of my fear Followed closely, proud shadows of grace held so dear But all beneath derelict eyes Somewhere beyond these clouds and stars and skies If there is a king of this broken land Will he rise, fight, take my heart, head and hand If there is a God who knows my name Tell him not to take away this pain For its all I have and its mine So walk on by and let me shine
‘Choose life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a fucking big television, Choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players, and electrical tin openers. Choose good health, low cholesterol and dental insurance. Choose fixed- interest mortgage repayments. Choose a starter home. Choose your friends. Choose leisurewear and matching luggage. Choose a three-piece suite on hire purchase in a range of fucking fabrics. Choose DIY and wondering who you are on a Sunday morning. Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing sprit- crushing game shows, stuffing fucking junk food into your mouth. Choose rotting away at the end of it all, pushing you last in a miserable home, nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish, fuckedup brats you have spawned to replace yourself. Choose your future.’ — Irvine Welsh, writer of ‘Trainspotting’, novel.
CLINGING TO THE MIST James Vernon [click here to launch video] In summary I have named the film ‘Clinging to the Mist’ as it is reflection on how as a western culture we build our foundations upon temporary matter and false signs to freedom in the form of beauty, a ‘successful’ career, wealth, reputation, consumerism…etc ‘All architecture is but waste in transit’ — Jeremy Till, ‘Architecture Depends’. I find these are the things we hopelessly cling onto with the illusion that we can ‘purchase’ or ‘earn’ our freedom. It is a film that challenges our culture’s obsession with seeking what ‘we need’. This film deliberately emphasises our constant striving for more through seeking a ‘significant identity’. This is a cultural matter on a western scale, however the claim of an apparently ‘found freedom’ in Bristol is a claim I wish to put into perspective. I decided to make this message more dynamic using freedom as a personified character in a simplified yet abstract message around our miscorrelated link between money and freedom. The irony is that the things we hold onto or subconsciously depend on are the very things that bind our true liberty. ‘It is perhaps when our lives are at their most problematic that we are likely to be most receptive to beautiful things’, Alain De Botton, ‘The Architecture of Happiness’. It is only when we have nothing, when we have nothing to lose. Whilst researching, I looked into childhood, a dependence on seemingly nothing but the ones who love them — true freedom. This then drew my attention to the deeper messages of child literature. I saw the a ‘Bristol Old Vic’ Production of ‘Peter Pan’ — a haunting interpretation of the urban ‘Lost Boys’ I felt it strongly reflect our timeless search for a world of endless childhood freedom, a personal ‘Neverland’. I found similar themes in other childhood stories with a darker side to them such as ‘Alice in Wonderland’ by Lewis Carroll. The music for this film was very carefully considered and the lyrics were intentionally placed at precise moments of the film as a reflection to the city’s thoughts and freedom’s questions. It is the very idea of no limitations, boxed identity or dependency that allowed me to challenge the ‘3 min film’ brief, after all, what is freedom without courage? ‘Clinging To The Mist’ aims to challenge our notions and perceptions of freedom. My home is Bristol, a city I love and a city known for its laid-back lifestyle, edgy artists and powerful sense of freedom. In reality I believe this city of mine is broken; I believe it yearns for identity and I believe the people cry out for significance. In our culture we have a habit of building our freedom upon the foundations of temporary matter. Whilst making ‘Clinging To The Mist’ I journey through Bristol in a way that sees our world from a different angle. In doing so, I aimed to suggest our efforts in finding freedom through temporary matter such as work (ironically), consumerism, the arts, drugs, wealth...etc
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Video still frame: by Nikolaos-Filippos Kalantzopoulos
THE REGENERATION OF A LIE THROUGH CULTURAL ATHENS Nikolaos-Filippos Kalantzopoulos [click here to launch video] ‘’Since the start of the program, Greece has done a tremendous fiscal consolidation effort, one of the biggest fiscal consolidation that any EU country has done over the past 30 years(resulting in an improvement in the deadline budget balance of around 6 percentage points of GDP since May 2010), in the context of a substantial contraction in GDP and very difficult economic and political conditions. Greece has also made significant improvements to its monitoring and budget control procedures.’’ 1 Despite that effort ,the rest of the world still thinks that Greece is gradually transforming into a cauldron of rage. But is that the case? Questioning is the only act which can, intellectually, take you forward. Greece has a Bouquet of achievements to show to the world but they loose track in the general mess of the recession. We reached a time when human life does not have any value if it lacks national stamp. We let things drift away, because of the comfort we were enjoying, and reached a point when ballot boxes are beyond human lives. That however is against the main principal of Democracy, the common interest is above the interest of the minority. The film is about Mzia, a 36 years old woman from Georgia who came to Greece looking for a better future. It interprets how she perceives my city, Athens. The everyday difficulties she faces combined with the attitude of the inhabitants. Through her own eyes, the film deals with things such as how space manipulate us and how alternative spaces trap and deal with our emotions. How a city, with a cultural context like Athens, prefers to gather its minorities in specific areas, the historic city center, so the rest of the people don’t have to interact with them in their everyday life. It’s showing a missing opportunity to transform a problem into a solution illustrated by the fact that changes need a proposal, a scenario, or at least something desirable. Realizing that, instead of trying to cover the problem up, we should pull it out, express it, only then we will own it. Because, in the end, the higher the wall the more people will wait for you on the outside.
1
http://blogs.r.ftdata.co.uk/brusselsblog/files/2012/11/Greece_MoU2.pdf 47
Spatial Interaction: by Alex Baker
Wolf And Man: by Alex Baker
DOG WALKERS: AN EXPLORATION INTO SPATIAL RELATIONS Alex Baker Dog walking is not a subcultural act: it is perhaps best described as a chore of dog-lovers within mainstream culture. Dog walkers have no defining image, bar being found in outdoor spaces, with dog, and practically dressed for weather and terrain. Nevertheless, you could say that the practice of dog walking provides solutions for the physical and psychological needs of those who engage in it; like many subcultural practices. 1 “The things we can’t get out of often have unexpected value. ...my life has become bound up with this simple activity. Exercise? I get it walking the dog. Contemplation? I get some of my best thinking done. Companionship? I’ve made a great friend. Adventure? Every walk is different. A sense of eternity? Every walk is the same.” 2 The bond between a dog and its owner is perhaps at its clearest when on a walk. A lot is revealed about the levels of trust, mutual interest and respect for one another, whilst amidst testing surroundings of change, distraction and increased freedom. On daily excursions the dog and owner experience changing environments together. It is fascinating to observe to what depth a pair may examine their surroundings, and also the differences in observation within that pair, and if they try to communicate these findings with one another. “Social space implies a great diversity in knowledge. … Itself the outcome of past actions, social space is what permits fresh action to occur, whilst suggesting [or] prohibiting others” 3 Within cities, outdoor space is limited, so ‘round-the-block’ toilet walks are common alongside the exercise excursions further afield. Enjoyment comes from a walk with time to reconnoitre interesting places, with interesting clues of inhabitation and history. Sites like these can be anything from a populated park to an abandoned industrial ground. Some set out with no plan other than the hope of discovery. Others have rough routes/destinations which they can deviate from as and when their curiosity is provoked. Walks are very important social events for dogs. Not only do they gather information and communicate via scent, but they also encounter other dogs which often instigates an event. These can create some very unusual social situations for the owners, and if these situations are repeated, they themselves begin to form their own social network. This mixed media collage lloks to explore these points in more detail. 1 Hall, R L. and Sharp, H S., “Wolf and Man” Academic Press INC, 1978 Behaviour and Culture 2 Zeaman, John, ‘“Dog Walks Man”: A Six Legged Odyssey’ , Hamlyn,(2011), Introduction (p.7) 3 Lefebrve, Henri, The Production Of Space : Social Space, (Oxford: Bickwell 1991) Pg 73 49
Photo - Brick Lane: by Ryan Blackford
Š Author
THE DISLOCATION OF CULTURE Ryan Blackford [click here for full essay] This essay is a study of two of London’s most prolific cultural ‘hotspots’, Chinatown and Brick Lane. The study intends to provide comparisons between these two very different places and determine the mechanics that have shaped what they are today and where they are headed in the future, particularly in regards to contested territory between majority and minority. By suggesting an analysis of these conflicts and posing questions in relation to cultural theorist Homi Bhabha’s ideas of ‘location’ of culture, the essay suggests a movement instead towards the notion of a ‘shared’ territory as opposed to a ‘contested’ one; “What is theoretically innovative, and politically crucial, is the need to think beyond narratives of originary and initial subjectivities and to focus on those moments or processes that are produced in the articulation of cultural differences.”1 Personal interpretation of these issues has lead me to follow a line of enquiry that is based around ‘how’ these places are different rather than ‘why’. The resultant focus of this approach is based around the analysis of [in]formal monuments; representations of conflict, tension and appropriation that are manifest within the urban environment. These monuments form the basis of the investigation, providing a resource that can easily be tapped into in terms of identifying how demographic groups relate to each other. I believe that it is through these [in]formal monuments that the realities of these spatiocultural mechanics become apparent, not necessarily through the media, common perceptions and formal architectures. It is becoming increasingly relevant that culture, and indeed the value of culture, is being consumed rapidly as a resource in the society of today. The question of whether this consumption and homogenisation is sustainable is covered extensively, particularly in the context of the ‘ethnic enclaves’ such as Brick Lane and Chinatown. Cultural sustainability and the role of the Architect or City Planner within these mechanics and processes are questioned and analysed in the hope of preserving the rich tapestry of diversity and multiculturalism that London has to offer for both majority and minority.
1 Bhabha, Homi K., ‘The Location of Culture’ (London: Rouledge - 1994), p.1. 51
Peripheral Banlieue collage: by Yannick Scott
THE SUBALTERN VOICE: Perceptions and Representations of the French Banlieues Yannick Scott [click here for full essay] Extensive industrialisation throughout France amid the Nineteenth and early Twentieth century resulted in labour shortages in many major French cities. Subsequent immigration from surrounding European countries as well as colonial societies in the Maghreb region of North Africa ensued, expediting the growth of industrial working class communities1 living in peripheral suburbs known as banlieues. Post World War II, French governments encouraged immigration between the Maghreb region, notably Algeria, and France in order to facilitate urban reconstruction and economic growth. However, repercussions of a nation at war exposed France to overcrowding and housing shortages. Consequently, many families, predominantly but not exclusively migrant, were forced to live in bidonvilles, ephemeral ‘in terms of both the quality of materials used and the legality of their existence’2. The period that followed, commonly termed ‘les trentes glorieuses’3 gave rise to substantial suburban growth in which over ‘three million’4 habitations à loyer modéré (high-rise social housing properties) were constructed in an attempt to confront the housing crisis and replace bidonvilles. Unfortunately, the duration of this economic prosperity was limited, ending in conjunction with the 1973 oil crisis which had considerable impact upon France, who were heavily reliant upon oil for electric generation5. The sequential economic recession, accompanied by factory closures and unemployment, also exacerbated underlying notions of social deprivation and segregation within banlieues. The location of these housing developments, formerly praised for their convenient proximity to industrial workplaces, now became unsuitable and impractical in light of recent circumstances. Low income and unemployed residents, unable to afford relocation, experienced a decline into both geographical and social isolation. Peripheral French suburbs have since become evocative images of social and physical marginalisation, criminality and violence, synonymous with recent riots and accentuated by their critical position in French popular discourse. This essay aims to explore the significance between said representations and issues of national identity, integration and subaltern communities within France and how inherent, stigmatised perceptions of French banlieues might be changing. 1 Mcneill, T, ‘Les Années banlieues’, Murray State University, http://campus.murraystate.edu/academic/faculty/ tsaintpaul/banlieue.htm, [accessed 11 April 2013]. 2 Barros, F, ‘Bidonvilles: from colonial policy to the Algerian War’, Metro Politics EU, http://www.metropolitiques. eu/Bidonvilles-from-colonial-policy.html, [accessed 11 April 2013]. 3 Knapp, A, Wright, V, ‘The Government and Politics of France’, (London: Routledge, 06 April 2006), p. 24. 4 Mcneill, T, ‘Les Années banlieues’, Murray State University, http://campus.murraystate.edu/academic/faculty/ tsaintpaul/banlieue.htm, [accessed 11 April 2013]. 5 Unknown, ‘History of Nuclear Power’, XTimeline, http://www.xtimeline.com/evt/view.aspx?id=53242, [accessed 11 April 2013]. 53
Brick Lane, photograph, taken by Nikolaos-Filippos Kalantzopoulos
CULTURAL TRANSFORMATION Nikolaos-Filippos Kalantzopoulos
[click here for full essay]
No one is purely one thing. Labels like Indian, or woman, or Muslim, or American are no more than starting points, which if followed into actual experience for only a moment are quickly left behind. [...] Just as human beings make their own history, they also make their cultures and ethic identities.1 Nowadays, an era characterized by globalization and population movements, nourishes that transformation to occur. Societies are in an on going process of cultural interaction. That cultural transformation has obvious signs in a country like England. A country in which, due to its colonial policy and economic growth, many immigrants, with different cultural identities, come for a better future. Hence, minorities are trying to preserve their cultural identity and simultaneously be part of a different society, a mass with different origins and distinctive traditions. Such contrastive interaction of cultural identities will be discussed, using the Jamme Masjid mosque in Brick Lane, London, as a starting point.
1â&#x20AC;&#x192; Said, Edward. Culture and Imperialism. London: Vintage, 1994, p. 407 55
Temporality in Plymouthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Urban Environment : by Andrew Healey
THE CITY; TEMPORALITY THROUGH URBANISM Andrew Healey [click here for full essay] Temporality “tem·po·ral·i·ty” /,temp’ralitē/ Noun The state of existing within or having some relationship with time. 1 This observation of temporality was discovered through my own design work within the city of Plymouth, and the idea of a temporality defining site in the city centre. A finding which caused extensive movement mapping across the city; an analysis built from the ‘user group’ - cyclists. A collective which constitutes part of the larger demographic of transient city inhabitants. “The everyday establishes itself, creating hourly demands, systems of transport, in short, its repetitive organisation. Things matter little...” 2 Borrowing heavily from lefebvrian theory, I used the text Rhythmanalysis alongside this analysis to focus my research towards urbanism and its relationship with the notion of temporality. This essay is primarily an analytical observation of the urban context; considering the temporal underpinnings of (urbanism) modernity. Suggesting a theory of homogeneous temporality which may be bound socially, spatially or within the act of consumption. Whilst raising the notion of a transient city, the essay also begins to question the effect of potential stimulus and catalysts on urbanism within the suggestion of temporality. Effects which may involve romanticising the ‘new’, production of pseudo ideals or rhythmic consumption.3 What then, does this mean for urbanism?
1 Definition of temporality allows a clear anchoring of time within the context of this essay. Bringing together its effects (along with other stimulus’) on the city. 2 Henri Lefebvre, Rhythmanalysis; Space, time and everyday life, (London: Continuum 2004) p.7. 3 Henri Lefebvre, Rhythmanalysis; Space, time and everyday life, (London: Continuum 2004). 57
Egg Equation collage: by Elizabeth Gilligan
SUPERMARKET SWEEP Elizabeth Gilligan [click here for full essay] When was the last time you walked around a supermarket with just one item? Supermarkets are fast becoming, one of the largest consumer machines around. Feeding our need to buy everything about a supermarket invites you in. But where are all the products from,what is their story?Why as a consumer are we not shown this? What is being hidden ? This essay try’s to explore this journey with the everyday product of eggs. From farm to family. This research explores the role of the ‘others’ in the production and distrubution of eggs. Using Actor Network Theory, I was able to un-cover the social interactions of humans with the ‘non-humans’ in social life, real world situations (that surround egg production) whilist simutaneously looking into the real world egg wastage reports of a supermarket and the procedures that they have in places for eggs. All of this has aided my research and lead me to disect egg boxes and the marketing stratergies used to sell them. This lead me to question how eggs are cultivated and why they are no longer local produce but instead farmed on large scale. How ethical are free range eggs and what does free-range really mean? This essay is structured around the idea of a supermarket trip so that I can fully analyse each part of the supermarket and the supply chain that brings the eggs into an isle. “We are not encouraged, on a daily basis, to pay careful attention to the animals we eat. On the contrary, the meat, dairy, and egg industries all actively encourage us to give thought to our own immediate interest (taste, for example, or cheap food) but not to the real suffering involved.” 1
1 Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson. The Face on Your Plate: The Truth About Food. London: W. W. Norton & Co. 15 Jun 2010 p1-288. 59
Contrasting carbonara recipes: by Angelika Mazzoli Taic
MORE THAN JUST A CARBONARA Angelika Mazzoli Taic [click here for full essay] Cultural products are part of cultures that are indeed in a relentless state of becoming, ceaselessly encountering, altering and been altered by other cultures. In the attempt of studying of the origins, meaning and perception of a particular culinary and cultural product such as the very simple pasta alla carbonara, a discussion emerges about the identity, rituals and change. The starting point is the (not only) Italian obsession of finding the authentic version of the history of the origins and the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; recipe. An obsession that discloses question about who we are and where are we going. The ritual of the everyday, performed through the making of a dish, preserves and discloses the meaning and value of an identity. An identity that is lived and remember through a daily reiteration of a series of haptic experiences of odours, temperatures, sounds and textures, that are shaped and informed by the environment in which they take place. The ductile nature of these entities, that keep informing and moulding each other, encountered in the so called phenomenon of globalization, the unforeseen menacing threat of obliteration. Yet, the same reason as the success of the meaning of ritual as a best selling point for multinational corporations is the so desperately craved but never entirely uncovered mystery of the authenticity and identity.
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In this essay, I will examine the diversion of the new tea culture from the traditional, and its significance, locally and globally through analysing Bubble Milk Tea. While we are enjoying the blowing wave of the new culture, have we missed anything in between the massive gap among the two cultures and generations?
Cha: by Xun Hern Liaw
I was astonished and amazed at the same time when I first encountered the tea drinking culture in the United Kingdom the moment I stepped into the nation for my tertiary study. Its rich culture which everyone drinks tea as a habit has made me re-think of the cultural background where I was brought up, tea culture as such, that best represent my ethnicity. While the Chinese generally perceive tea drinking as a hobby to mould oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s personalities, it is a common phenomenon today that â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;young people do not drink teaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;.
TEA CULTURE UNDER THE AGE OF GLOBALIZATION Xun Hern Liaw [click here for full essay] Contrary to tradition, culture is formed and at the same time transformed which strongly depends not only on one’s cultural background, but also the activities one practises in a specific group of people in a society over a period of time. Homi Bhabha suggests that all cultures are in an on-going process of transformation; even the word ‘Culture’ itself has undergone a series of transformation till how we perceive it today1. In the technological era of 21st century where everything emphasises on efficiency when completing an intended task or purpose, time, cost and effort have become important factors. The one with less time, effort and cost is widely preferable. Taking one of the cultural products in the Chinese/Taiwanese society, Bubble Milk Tea is chosen to support Bhabha’s statement of hybridity. For Westerners, the name might sound new, interesting or even weird, not only by the term bubble, but the way it is being consumed- ice cold. It is non-other than black tea with milk or cream, sugar, and tapioca jellies.The drink originated from Taiwan during the 1980s and became the nation’s drink not long after. Upon buying the drink, you will be given a thick straw (where its diameter is twice or trice larger than the ordinary one) to suck out the “bubbles” from the vacuum sealed plastic cup. However, the term “bubble” refers to nothing that bubbles nor floats on the surface of the milk tea, rather it is the tapioca jellies that sink to the bottom of the cup. The unique combination of ingredients is regarded as the fusion between the East (local tapioca pearls and tea from China mainland) and the West (addition of milk/cream in tea and its final step of preparation which is similar to cocktail). Despite the eminence of cha since Shang Dynasty in the Chinese society as well as the whole world, tea drinking culture seems to be fading day by day, generations by generations in the Chinese lifestyle. Opinions from Chinese younger generations happen to coincide that ‘young generations do not drink cha.’ In other words, cha is only consumed by the elderly. They opt for the alternative- Bubble Milk Tea, a sweet, cold, fast, and reasonably priced beverage. Confronted under the circumstances, the culture is at its brink of extinction from the younger generations. Drawing on the scenario, this essay will examine the diversion and the rising of new tea culture in the Chinese society. Have we or have we not missed anything inbetween?
1 ‘Culture’, Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture (Accessed: 29/4/2013) * For better understanding, the term cha (the purest form, without adding milk or sugar i.e. Chinese tea, floral tea, green tea etc.) is used throughout the essay to differentiate from English tea or milk tea. ** It has always been a controversy to discuss if Taiwan should be part of the province of China. However, discussions on the issues are not meant to be made in this essay though ideas which frame on Taiwan is based on itself as a country on its own. 63
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