Urban Atlas Project by Urban Parsons

URBAN ATLAS PROJECT

THE URBAN ATLAS PROJECT Sabrina Dorsainvil and Luisa Múnera Parsons the New School for Design School of Design Strategies New York, New York MS DESIGN + URBAN ECOLOGIES GRADUATE THESIS - 2014

THE URBAN ATLAS PROJECT - Sabrina Dorsainvil and Luisa Múnera

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

Curiosities . 1

Curiosities . 2

30 The Situation 34 Our Method 42 The Urban Atlas Project 74 Our Process 109 Bibliography

MS DESIGN + URBAN ECOLOGIES THESIS - 2014

THE URBAN ATLAS PROJECT - Sabrina Dorsainvil and Luisa Múnera

INTRODUCTION This project has been developed by the collaborative work between Sabrina Dorsainvil and Luisa Múnera. As members of two separate thesis groups, Rethinking the Block, focused on exploring alternative approaches to pressing housing concerns, and Everyday Urbanities, centered around ideas of informality, everyday life and issues of street food vending, the cohesion of interests was surprisingly intuitive. After multiple conversations about our individual research and investigations we began to unearth a common narrative that spoke to both of our interests. Working as a collaborative team has allowed us to build and develop a cohesive and complex framework informed by each of our perspectives.

“THE ONLY REAL VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY CONSISTS NOT IN SEEKING NEW LANDSCAPES, BUT IN HAVING NEW EYES.”

Marcel Proust

A truly meaningful discovery doesn’t come from learning new things, it instead comes from discovering new aspects and perspectives of things that are already familiar to us. This idea is very much connected to the process we have been undergoing in the Master of Science in Design and Urban Ecologies program at Parsons the New School for Design. We have been challenged to step beyond our comfort zone and really begin to question the physical, social, political, historical and economic makeup of the city that we inhabit and contribute to. We were told that the city was complex and filled with contradictions and in order for us as designers or residents, to address some of the most pressing issues in our cities we would have to unlearn what we thought we knew and collaboratively piece together our imaginaries to create alternative futures.

We wanted to make the idea of unpacking the city through new eyes accessible beyond academia. Only by being immersed in the program did we see a disconnection between theory and practice. We struggled through the first weeks of the program trying to ground our interests in the theoretical context of radical, traditional or progressive thinkers. The space created by the DUE program allowed us to become knowledgeable about various perspectives, while retaining a critical eye and crafting our own theoretical practices. Often, the opportunity to question the ways things work in the urban is thought to be a luxury for a select few situated in some form of power. We wanted to overcome the boundaries created by institutions and the language they carry by placing theory in real time and real space. Pulling from research collected from the Rethink the Block and Everyday Urbanities group, we collectively decided to work toward developing ways in which residents and local artists could explore the urban in new ways and imagine possibilities for the future of their neighborhoods.

MS DESIGN + URBAN ECOLOGIES THESIS - 2014

THE URBAN ATLAS PROJECT - Sabrina Dorsainvil and Luisa Múnera

CURIOSITIES . 1 WHAT ROLE CAN AN ARTISTIC PLATFORM PLAY IN A MORE INCLUSIVE AND SUSTAINABLE URBAN ECOLOGY? HOW ART COULD BE USED AS A TOOL OR STRATEGY TO COUNTER THE SPECTACLE OF THE CITY?

The speculative and aggressive nature of New York City real estate forces many populations to have a transient existence in the city; their residence is constantly in flux. Artists have been used as pawns to stimulate cultural and economic development in blighted neighborhoods. The process of investment for some and displacement for other occurs swiftly and in the blink of an eye, nothing is the same. According to Henri Lefebvre, The Right to the City stresses the need to restructure the power relations that underlie the production of urban space, shifting the power away from state and capital and into the hands of the urban inhabitants. A strong emphasis is put on the working class population; they need to achieve social and political change. These forces are what are needed to renew the city so that active inhabitants have an active and inclusive role in the discussion, planning, creating and producing of their city. My thesis research began while I was part of Rethinking the Block, a housing focused research group. My entry point into this pressing and complex issue was to look at the role of the artist in the context of the changing city. What is his relationship to the city he is a part of? How can his practice be used to contemplate, comment or critique the systems that are at play within the city to create a more sustainable urban ecology? I wanted to learn from their everyday strategies employed to create a realm that is inclusive of both practice and lived experiences. What does it mean to be an artist, an artist activist or a citizen artist? Artists operate within a larger context in which the capitalist system exploits their practice. With every dominant narrative there is always a counternarrative that looks to challenge the perceived norm. Throughout history, various artistic movements began to challenge and interrupt the dominant narrative by creating alternative ideologies, strategies. A common generalization is that artists are part of the process that leads to the displacement of marginalized populations.

MS DESIGN + URBAN ECOLOGIES THESIS - 2014

Historically, they have been known for entering industrial, abandoned and neglected neighborhood for the opportunity to develop their practice.

The neoliberal city has constant forces that are at play and contribute to the exclusion of many citizens. Privatization, market forces, speculation and power in the hands of few are tactics that have been employed to create a city of exclusion. There are multiple histories that can be traced as counter narratives to the practices and ideologies of the neoliberal city. The history of the ‘artist’ and their relationship to the neoliberal city became an entry point by which to investigate the counter narratives that exist but are often times forgotten in our official flattened history. I defined my research to investigate the lineage of art as a social practice and how this practice can be looked at as a tool or strategy to investigate and reveal the counter narratives that respond to dominant narratives. I was interested in the redefinition of arts practices and focused on artistic movements that looked to reach beyond the instant gratification of the artist as producer. Some of the movements highlighted are the Situationist International, Fluxus, Institutional Critique and contemporary Socially Engaged Art practices. These groups revealed common threads of collective practices, learning through the everyday and the desire to blur the boundaries between the producer and the receiver.

I was particularly interested in the work that has become commonly termed as ‘socially-engaged art’. Mapping art based movements reveal collective stories, they reveal boundaries and limits that challenged their place in the city and the development of their practice, they encountered spaces where relationships and control were strained, they developed a network of like minded practitioners that worked as a collective in both their practice and living framework. Their alternative approaches to both creating and living set up a way to envision a future practice and a future system in which to live in and contribute to. Art has evolved beyond an expression of a representation of a historical romantic past. The rise of industrial capitalism, scientific knowledge, standardization and individualization began to get challenged by the artist as a man of the world; his practice is his lived experiences. What does it means to be an artist, an artist activist or a citizen artist? Artists operate within a context where the capitalist system exploits their practice. The citizen artist looks to challenge and expose the processes of the mainstream narrative and the perceived norm. Modernism radicalized the notion of art; it was no longer about creating aesthetically beautiful work removed from the context in which it was produced in. In The Painter of Modern Life, Baudelaire writes, “The ‘painter of modern life’ becomes less important than the social conditions he observes and records.” One of the most influential groups coming out of Europe was the Situationist International, co-founded by Guy Debord. Debord conceived of various methods and tactics as will as wrote the Situationist Manifesto, known as The Report on the Construction of Situations. Overall, Situationist theory, which is anti authority, tried to integrate diverse fields of theoretical disciplines into a critique of capitalism as a mode of production. In their expanded interpretation of Marxist theory, the SI claimed that the effects of capitalism go beyond social alienation and an obsession with commodities has spread itself into every aspect of life and culture.

THE URBAN ATLAS PROJECT - Sabrina Dorsainvil and Luisa Múnera

Fundamental to situationist theory was the concept of the spectacle, a unified critique of advanced capitalism of which a primary concern was the progressively increasing tendency towards the expression and mediation of social relations through objects. The Situationist International identified capitalism’s web as being detrimental to social and cultural relations. Another important concept of situationist theory was the primary means of counteracting the capitalist spectacle through the construction of situations. Situations, were conceived as interventions on the everyday routines, entertainments, advertising and production of capitalism. Through tactics such as detournement, the Situationist International turned capitalist expressions and mass media iconography against itself in an almost humorous manner. “Capitalism has invented new forms of struggle (state intervention in economy, expansion of the consumer sector, fascist governments) while camouflaging class oppositions through various reformist tactics and exploiting the degenerations of working class leaderships…” “We must call attention, among the workers parties or the extremist tendencies within those parties, to the need to undertake an effective ideological action in order to combat the emotional influence of capitalist methods and tactics. On every occasion by every hyper-political means, we must publicize desirable alternatives to the spectacle of the capitalist way of life, so as to destroy the bourgeois idea of happiness.”1 Fluxus originated as an attempt by George Maciunas to fuse “cultural, social and political revolutionaries into a united front and action.” The group promoted collective work that was designed to challenge the systems and ideologies that divide the audience from the artist. Fluxus and Happenings artists further elaborated by focusing on tearing down the hierarchal wall between the art system that decides what is considered art and the audience that inactively receives their prescriptions, and replacing it with a shared participatory relationship between audience, artist and art. Artists associated with the movement began producing material and happenings that were more political in nature; these works allowed

for the free-flowing and open exchange between audiences. Fluxus art had an anti-art and anti-commercial focus with aspirations towards a more collective social practice. A do it yourself attitude was inherent to the diverse mediums that were utilized. There was a great dissatisfaction with the outsourcing to commercial. Conceptual and performance artists moved into a critique of the power relations regulating the market promotion, institutional legitimization and historical ambiguity of artists. Artists employed various tactics that challenged the mainstream practices in relation to accessibility, consumerism and speculation to name a few. Ideas of shared property and creating social infrastructures that sustain creative practices were employed by artist groups. Groups searched out ways in which their practice could become more accessible to the public; to begin to blur the institutional line that has been placed between the artist and the audience. The artist is not solely a ‘specialist’, he is a ‘man of the world’. The citizen artist is influenced by the memories, histories, situations and conditions that he encounters in everyday life; the citizen artist is also a member of the audience.

“Creating consciousness through concrete examples that place the social reality of a site at the forefront of political discussion.” (Urban Think Tank). I believe this quote represents the way in which citizen artists today are working; a new practice is unfolding. This practice goes beyond the walls of a museum or gallery. These new practices are becoming increasingly site specific so as to highlight the reality of now.

1 Passage extracted from The Report on the Construction of Situations by Guy Debord

MS DESIGN + URBAN ECOLOGIES THESIS - 2014

DOMINANT NARRATIVE CAPITALISM

FORMALISM INDUSTRIAL CAPITALISM INDIVIDUALIZATION

MODERNSIM

STANDARDIZATION SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE SPECTACLES OF CAPITALISM CONSUMPTION

SITUATIONISTS

EXPLOITATION

COMMODIFICATION

~1957

CENTRALIZED POWER

REZONG NEIGHBORHOOD COMMODIFICATION

SPECULATION

FLUXUS

INACCESSIBILITY

DISPLACEMENT

~1965

INSTITUTIONALIZATION MARKET REGULATION CONCEPTUAL

COMMODIFICATION POWER RELATIONS

~1971

DISPLACEMENT SOCIALLY ENGAGED

POLITICAL REPRESENTATION CAPITAL INFRASTRUCTURES COMMODIFICATION GENTRIFICATION

SYSTEMS

FUNDING STRUCTURES ART MARKET

CAPITALISM DISPLACEMENT

SPECULATION

PRIVATIZATION

THE URBAN ATLAS PROJECT - Sabrina Dorsainvil and Luisa Múnera

COUNTER-NARRATIVES

PARTICIPATORY MODELS

CHARLES BAUDELAIRE DIALECTIC KNOWLEDGE

WALTER BENJAMIN

ADVOCACY PLANNING

LIVED EXPERIENCE

PARCIPATORY RELATIONSHIP

ANTI-AUTHORITARIAN

GUY DEBORD

UNITARY URBANISM

LIVED EXPERIENCE DETOURNEMENT

INSTITUTIONAL CRITIQUE

DS CHALLENGE IDEOLOGIES THAT SEPARATE ARTISTS FROM AUDIENCES

EORGE MACIUNAS

COLLECTIVE PRACTICES & COOPERATIVES

SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURES

ENCLAVES

SHARED PROPERTY

ARTISTS TENENTS ASSOCIATION ARTIST WORKERS COALITION

PUBLIC REALM

COLAB

ACCESSIBILITY INSTITUTIONAL CRITIQUE

HANS HAACKE TRANSPARENCY

ART AS TOOL

SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURES

RICK LOWE COLLECTIVE PRACTICES & COOPERATIVES

CHALLENGE IDEOLOGIES THAT SEPARATE ARTISTS FROM AUDIENCES

JEANNE VAN HEESWIJK POLITICAL ACTION

SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURES

WILLIAM POWHIDA

AROLINE WOOLARD

BARTER EXCHANGE

W.A.G.E

ALTERNATIVE SCHOOLS TRADE SCHOOL

COLLECTIVE PRACTICES & COOPERATIVES OURGOODS.ORG LIVED EXPERIENCE

MS DESIGN + URBAN ECOLOGIES THESIS - 2014

DOMINANT NARRAT CAPITALISM

FORMALISM INDUSTRIAL CAPITALISM INDIVIDUALIZATION

MODERNSIM

STANDARDIZATION SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE SPECTACLES OF CAPITALISM CONSUMPTION

SITUATIONISTS

EXPLOITATION

COMMODIFICATION

~1957

CENTRALIZED POWER

REZONG NEIGHBORH COMMODIFICATION COMMODIFICATION FLUXUS

INACCESSIBILITY

DISPLACEMENT

~1965

SPECULATION

INSTITUTIONALIZATION MARKET REGULATION CONCEPTUAL

COMMODIFICATION POWER RELATIONS

~1971

DISPLACEMENT SOCIALLY ENGAGED

POLITICAL REPRESENTATION CAPITAL INFRASTRUCTURES COMMODIFICATION GENTRIFICATION

SYSTEMS

CAPITALISM

Artists Tenants Association was FUNDING STRUCTURES working to prevent the eviction of ART MARKET New York City artists from PRIVATIZATION DISPLACEMENT non-residential buildings.

THE URBAN ATLAS PROJECT - Sabrina Dorsainvil and Luisa Múnera

AIR allowed up t SPECULATION reside in a factor changing its Cer pancy.

TIVES

COUNTER-NARRATIVES

PARTICIPATORY MODELS

CHARLES BAUDELAIRE DIALECTIC KNOWLEDGE

WALTER BENJAMIN

ADVOCACY PLANNING

LIVED EXPERIENCE

With money from the NEA & the Kapland Fund ---> Fluxhous Cooperative PARCIPATORY RELATIONSHIP

ANTI-AUTHORITARIAN

GUY DEBORD

UNITARY URBANISM

LIVED EXPERIENCE DETOURNEMENT

INSTITUTIONAL CRITIQUE

HOODS CHALLENGE IDEOLOGIES THAT SEPARATE ARTISTS FROM AUDIENCES

GEORGE MACIUNAS

COLLECTIVE PRACTICES & COOPERATIVES

SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURES

ENCLAVES

SHARED PROPERTY

ARTISTS TENENTS ASSOCIATION ARTIST WORKERS COALITION

PUBLIC REALM

COLAB

ACCESSIBILITY INSTITUTIONAL CRITIQUE

HANS HAACKE TRANSPARENCY

SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURES

RICK LOWE

ART AS TOOL

COLLECTIVE PRACTICES & COOPERATIVES CHALLENGE IDEOLOGIES THAT SEPARATE ARTISTS FROM AUDIENCES

JEANNE VAN HEESWIJK POLITICAL ACTION

to two families to WILLIAM POWHIDA ry building without rtificate of OccuCAROLINE WOOLARD

SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURES BARTER EXCHANGE

W.A.G.E

ALTERNATIVE SCHOOLS TRADE SCHOOL

COLLECTIVE PRACTICES & COOPERATIVES OURGOODS.ORG LIVED EXPERIENCE

MS DESIGN + URBAN ECOLOGIES THESIS - 2014

DOMINANT NARRATIVE CAPITALISM

FORMALISM INDUSTRIAL CAPITALISM INDIVIDUALIZATION

MODERNSIM

STANDARDIZATION SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE SPECTACLES OF CAPITALISM CONSUMPTION

SITUATIONISTS

EXPLOITATION

COMMODIFICATION

~1957

CENTRALIZED POWER

REZONG NEIGHBORHOOD COMMODIFICATION

SPECULATION

FLUXUS

INACCESSIBILITY

DISPLACEMENT

~1965

INSTITUTIONALIZATION MARKET REGULATION

Disinvestement by governing top CONCEPTUAL down stakeholders ---> Displacement ~1971 of marginalized groups

COMMODIFICATION POWER RELATIONS

DISPLACEMENT SOCIALLY ENGAGED

POLITICAL REPRESENTATION CAPITAL INFRASTRUCTURES COMMODIFICATION GENTRIFICATION

SYSTEMS

FUNDING STRUCTURES ART MARKET

CAPITALISM DISPLACEMENT

PRIVATIZATION

THE URBAN ATLAS PROJECT - Sabrina Dorsainvil and Luisa Múnera

SPECULATION

CA tr

COUNTER-NARRATIVES

PARTICIPATORY MODELS

CHARLES BAUDELAIRE DIALECTIC KNOWLEDGE

WALTER BENJAMIN

ADVOCACY PLANNING

LIVED EXPERIENCE

PARCIPATORY RELATIONSHIP

ANTI-AUTHORITARIAN

GUY DEBORD

UNITARY URBANISM

LIVED EXPERIENCE

Founded on the principle that art-and the community it creates-can be the foundation for revitalizing depressed CHALLENGE IDEOLOGIES THAT SEPARATE ARTISTS FROM AUDIENCES inner-city neighborhoods.

DETOURNEMENT

INSTITUTIONAL CRITIQUE

EORGE MACIUNAS

COLLECTIVE PRACTICES & COOPERATIVES

SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURES

ENCLAVES

SHARED PROPERTY

ARTISTS TENENTS ASSOCIATION ARTIST WORKERS COALITION

PUBLIC REALM

COLAB

ACCESSIBILITY INSTITUTIONAL CRITIQUE

HANS HAACKE TRANSPARENCY

SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURES

RICK LOWE

ART AS TOOL

COLLECTIVE PRACTICES & COOPERATIVES CHALLENGE IDEOLOGIES THAT SEPARATE ARTISTS FROM AUDIENCES

JEANNE VAN HEESWIJK POLITICAL ACTION

SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURES

WILLIAM POWHIDA

artist/ activist

BARTER EXCHANGE

W.A.G.E

ALTERNATIVE SCHOOLS

COLLECTIVE PRACTICES & COOPERATIVES AROLINE WOOLARD ransdisciplinary

TRADE SCHOOL OURGOODS.ORG

LIVED EXPERIENCE

MS DESIGN + URBAN ECOLOGIES THESIS - 2014

THE URBAN ATLAS PROJECT - Sabrina Dorsainvil and Luisa Múnera

CURIOSITIES . 2 HOW DO PLANNING PROCESSES AFFECT THE AGENCY OF COMMUNITIES TO MAKE DECISIONS?

I have personally been rooted in my interests about the way in which we interact with each other, objects, and environments. At the core of this broad base are the tangential experiences and emotions attached to those experiences. In the context of the urban I then wanted to discover the emotional landscape of the city itself. I wanted to understand how we navigated our spaces while recognizing our attachments or detachments. I even employed my curiosity in asking several community organizers how they navigate their groups with the natural politics of inescapable human emotion. I could not imagine emotions being separated from any context. How then could it be detached from the city? There are constraints to living and producing in the city. I found myself connecting to street food vending in regards to the ethos of the organization Vamos Unidos1 employed education as a tactic reminding vendors to think beyond immediate needs and to recognize that the fight for economic justice, racial justice, and immigrant rights and police accountability was not an individual fight. In order to address these injustices migrant workers would need to organize in solidarity, focus civic advocacy and receive political education. The focus was study and practice a praxis upon which employs education as a tactic and reinforces the value of history, politics and social negotiation in the matters of the everyday. The constraints I began to unearth were those of transnational identities, space, citizenship, and at some scale, the economic system.

1 VAMOS Unidos â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Vendedoras Ambulantes Movilizando y Organizando en Solidaridad (Street Vendors Mobilizing and Organizing in Solidarity) is a Bronx community-based social justice organization founded by low-income Latina/o immigrant street vendors. VAMOS Unidos organizes workers, currently predominantly street vendors, for economic and racial justice, immigrant rights, and police accountability.VAMOS Unidosâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vision is to develop a strong, empowered base and leadership of low-income workers who are politically conscious, economically self sufficient, and able to win change on local and national policies. Our vision is grounded on the importance of social justice at the local, national, and global level by understanding the root causes and connection of our struggles with those in other communities.

MS DESIGN + URBAN ECOLOGIES THESIS - 2014

Collective Identities + Everyday Urbanities The beginning of this investigation was filled with an overwhelming reality of how complex the city works in regards to its history, the present day and its future conceptions. Our identities individual and collective are constructed over time. They have deep connections to societal values, cultural qualifiers, political values and so forth. Collective identities are the way we view ourselves in juxtaposition to others. It is how we feel we connect to those around us. These identities are tied to the physical, emotional, environmental, cultural and economic facets of everyday life. The investigation of the ‘collective’ was done in order to question who constructs the ways in which we identify ourselves. Every collectivity seeks recognition for itself as a community of moral value creation and as a community of moral worth. 2When this is denied or questioned, collectivities will respond with a redoubling of effort to make their identity accepted. In this process, they may well take over values, ideas and modes of expression from other, possibly antagonistic communities and undergo a subtle metamorphosis, in which they end up resembling what they contest. Similarity of this kind does not mean, however, the end of difference. On the contrary, similarity when recognized can be deeply threatening as raising a question over the legitimacy of collective distinctiveness.3

This quote embodies my conceptual ideas of collective identities functioning in changing urban environment. The collective is realized through a commonality. The acceptance of these identities may be idealistic and difficult to achieve. They may also be threatened by many internal and external force. Identity can be considered a community of moral value creation or worth. It is shaped 2 Schöpflin, G. (2010). The construction of identity. 3 Wuthnow, R. (1987). Meaning and moral order: Explorations in cultural analysis. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

THE URBAN ATLAS PROJECT - Sabrina Dorsainvil and Luisa Múnera

5 1

AGENCY

6 7

MS DESIGN + URBAN ECOLOGIES THESIS - 2014

around where we are, where we came from, what we see. what we do and what we aspire to. The idea of identity seeps through the focus of a spatial area, a personal narrative and a collective narrative. The topic of identity isn’t brought up in hopes to define it a fixed property. As clarification one must admit that these narratives are subjective and in some cases prescribed by outside forces. Our understanding of a place is woven in a historical context, and communal narrative and a personal understanding. These three layers to help to make up an understanding of our identities.

Particular configurations of space can foster or hide injustice, but space can also be made to reveal and reduce injustice and inequality. Exposing inequalities in and through space and spatial arrangements as well as commonalities of spatial experience, such as these pieces do, offers opportunities for contesting the status quo and organizing for change through new spatial and social practices.4

History is often thought to be a tool of the powerful; a dehumanizing race, class and gender struggle firmly grounded in our soil. The inequality once clearly obvious now systematically embedded in our everyday practices. History seems like a subjective mechanism that holds on to the imaginaries of the dominant narrative. History as Andrea Geyer gathers, teeters between “what is possible and what did happen, what is known and what is imagined, what is truth and what is thought”.5 I believe Geyers views can be held true for looking at the grandeur effects of colonization, urbanization and globalization on communities of color. History aims to unfold a finite floorplan for the identity of a place. Who decides the narrative? 4 Section 10: Shifting Perspectives: Optics for Revealing Change and Reworking Space, The People, Place, and Space Reader edited by Jen Jack Gieseking & William Mangold, with Cindi Katz, Setha Low, & Susan Saegert 5 Geyer spoke of imperialistic practices on disenfranchised native american communities at the Global Issues in Design and Visuality Course at Parsons The New School

Geyer recites in her Spiral Ends performance, “Land is history, my gaze is its consequence.” Land creates space for culture and from cultural discourse you see the landscape. This idea of the gaze bring me back to this topic of identity. Identity is inherently linked to what is seen. From the moment e see something we create a classification for it. If land is not devoid of culture we can arise that a cultural discourse lies within the seam we see a streets in the city. The trouble with reality is that “better” isn’t always available. The lived reality is one that rests on circumstance, social realities and pre-constructed factors embedded in the urban fabric that comprises the city. You may have chosen to live here but for better or worse you are here now. Each day you are challenged with hardships that come almost like second nature. Built within the infrastructure are scales of reinforced injustices. You are part of a collective body of people who share an identity with you, similar fears or common aspirations; success, dignity, and the right to fight for that better life they seek whether you know it or not. Street signs act as artificial divides. The ever changing population places their unique touch on the parcels of land that for a moment holds a cultural value but ultimately can be used for commodities sake. Within each parcel lies a cultural connotation explicitly tied to the practice of the everyday. This practice is that of an individual that is seated at the base of the collective.

In the beginning, people’s limited market resources and ethnically bound cultural and social capital are mutually reinforcing; they work in tandem to sustain ethnic neighborhoods. But these are transitional neighborhoodsthey represent a practical and temporary phase in the incorporation of new groups into American society. Their residents search for areas with more amenities as soon as their economic situations improve, their outlooks

THE URBAN ATLAS PROJECT - Sabrina Dorsainvil and Luisa Múnera

broaden, and they learn to navigate daily life in a more mainstream setting. People with more financial resources and mainstream jobs avoid ethnic zones, and these areas are left behind by immigrants with more experience and by the second generation in search of the “Promised Land. 6 The question of whether or not planning processes affect the agency of communities became a budding interest through an exploration of cultural commodification and self-perpetuated and systemic fragmentation of historically disinvested “communities”. Under the overarching focus of Everyday Urbanities, formerly Informal Urbanities, was an awareness around the explicit and implicit discourse between the collective and the self as well as the construction of identity around place, culture and food.

narrative and a personal understanding. These three layers to me embody our identities. I have been driven in the past by communal processes, spaces of hope and the social value in sharing positive and negative experiences. I am interested in the emotional infrastructure of the city. How do the products we interact with and the activities we take part in affect us? What can the store I shop in tell me about me? These deeply introspective questions are the ones I often ask myself.

The Importance of Geography I have been driven me to really consider the impact of history and infrastructure on the individual and the everyday life. What do we bring to the already existent realities in this city? How do those things ultimately impact the way we live our lives and construct our personal identities? How do we see ourselves in society and where the rest of society situates us? Looking at identity through the compilation of spatial narratives, personal narratives and collective narratives has been instrumental in reinforcing an interest in our capacity to negotiate beyond just space and just the social. The idea of identity seeps through the focus of a spatial area, a personal narrative and a collective narrative. As clarification I must admit that these narratives are subjective. The experience of identifying with a place and knowing it means something to you but not just only you. Those experiences hold in them the understanding that you are part of something bigger. The web of existence is woven in a historical context, and communal

Case Study: Harlem While walking down 125th Street you can see a wall of articles and images reminding us that what is happening (changes and targeting of ‘communities of color’) is what’s always been happening but with a different face. On this note as a black woman I can usually hear the arguments about how the media perpetuates this mode of thinking and the tone of my everyday perception of self. What has escaped this perception of self is the ability to assert a self-identity because of the systematic targeting of common characteristics based or race, class and gender used to define people. In reading about fashion and the effect of Western colonization in areas creating an ambiguous state of understanding the value of ones culture in terms of race, imitation, gender and tradition.

Logan, J. R., Zhang, W., & Alba, R. D. (2002). Immigrant enclaves and ethnic communities in New York and Los Angeles. American Sociological Review, 67(2), pp. 299-322.

MS DESIGN + URBAN ECOLOGIES THESIS - 2014

By assuming meaning of gendered activities, we not only miss the opportunity to interrogate how globalization processes construct gender, but risk further reproducing and naturalizing stereotypes that priori dismiss certain types of people, activities, and positions and insignificant7 This example is focused on fashion but it is an example of a pervasive reality of our lives in a compartmentalized society.What makes us think that the globalization of people and the way we have structured society hasn’t trickled down to the now? Fashion, housing, gender, etc is all relative to the history of a place. So I press on and believe that place matters. Place is the foothold for the structure of our perception of each other and our conceiving of cultural identities in the face of displacement. I was instantly drawn to the South Bronx, Queens and Harlem. Each locations reasoning was similar to the next in my search for ethnic enclaves and dynamic food infrastructure. Harlem was an interesting location in the realm of population income generation, historical value, food accessibility, mobility and dynamic spatial construction. In choosing Harlem I began to diagram the spatial relationships that have been created by invisible lines of architecture. I was always so fascinated by the change in architecture and resource maintenance as I made my way from 86th Street on the East Side of Manhattan to 103rd Street. Further uptown continued to shift and change. My naïve analysis of the physical took my curiosities to a place of investigating the way in which places shift so quickly. I wanted to unearth the physical cues that played a part in maintaining the identity of a space and how that reflected the people in said space. I have been interested in first understanding certain policies of a place. I want to know the decisions of the past that construct the processes that take place in the urban. I have stressed to myself the importance of 7 Niessen, Sandra, Ann Marie Leshkowich, and Carla Jone. ReOrienting Fashion: Globalization of the Asian Dress. : , 2003.

a place. Once that place was decided upon I used the friction points of that space to help dictate the structure of my investigation. In order to unravel the ephemeral yet important relationships of collective identity juxtaposed with the history or policies of a place I needed a method of looking at the city. In questioning the role of policy, economic development affected the social fabric of historically conflictual urban neighborhoods. All of these exist in multiple perspective and coexist in the construction of the everyday and in desires for future urban development. Policy had played an important role in aiding the subtle reconstruction of racial biases in urban areas but the built environment. However, the social constructions around that policy builds on the pre-existing struggles of defining the value of a collective body and their voice. The primary focus of this investigation began with a chance encounter finding the New York City Federal Empowerment Zone Designation dataset. Instant excitement arose at the idea of empowerment and this map highlighted areas in which that was the case. This excitement led to curiosity about what it meant for a space to be considered a place of empowerment. Assumptions regarding the name could lead one to believe that it was a place where the focus was to foster a sense of autonomy in citizens. The Federal Empowerment Zone however, was a controversial designation targeted at areas considered to be low-income, distressed or impoverished. Brought into fruition by the hands of Congressman Charles Rangel8 and the Clinton Administration in 1994 the EZ used public funds and tax incentives as catalysts for private investment. Their primary focus being to provide grants to nonprofits and loans and bonds to businesses and commercial development. The premise was that these areas needed to demonstrate economic distress: 8 Accomplishments | Congressman Charles Rangel.” Accomplishments | Congressman Charles Rangel. https://rangel.house.gov/about-me/ accomplishments (accessed May 15, 2014).“Congressman Rangel authored and spearheaded enactment of the most ambitious economic development program since the Great Society. Nationally, the historic Empowerment Zone program is providing $3.5 billion for urban and rural development.”

THE URBAN ATLAS PROJECT - Sabrina Dorsainvil and Luisa Múnera

Diagramming Blocks In Harlem

LEVEL 1 Both emigration and immigration bridge the ethnic enclaves to their homelands through the streets. Street vending, markets, parades, grafitti and storefronts are just some of the numerous ways in which a collective identity is recreated in the urban. LEVEL 2 Impact of factors such as red lining, mortgage discrimination, policy, new development, higher education, real estate development, and racial politics as well as cultural production lay a base for the urban narrative. LEVEL 3 The street is being sold and lot by lot through political ambition and economic focal points. It is thus loosing the connection it once had to the passions and dreams of the residents.

MS DESIGN + URBAN ECOLOGIES THESIS - 2014

high levels of unemployment, a poverty rate of at least 20 percent, a declining population, and a pattern of disinvestment by businesses.9 Not only did these areas have to be impoverished but they had to show the potential of economic development through public private partnerships. Controversial for several reasons including its boundaries, fund allocation and in its use of ethnically-based culture as a commodity for a tourist market. The designation areas for New York City were in certain areas of Harlem and the South Bronx. These economically distressed communities were given government aid—aid intended primarily to lift the communities out of poverty by stimulating business enterprise and creating jobs. Former Senator Espaillat states instead that “Economic development isn’t beneficial to our community unless it helps existing residents, and we’re going to need substantially more affordable housing to deal with the rising rents displacing low-income families.10 The focus on areas in Central and East Harlem, primarily the conditions surrounding 125th Street and 116th Streets evolution begins the dialogue of the effects of monopolized amenities and mainstream job development’s effect the natural reinforcement of ethnicity and culture in an ethnic zone. These areas create a level of comfort and belonging for migrants or people of color within areas with constraints to successfully living and producing in an American city. I am brought to moments of wondering whether or not enclaves were meant to be withstanding against the test of time. Trying to understand the conditions of the underlying theme of displacement may be difficult to consider without a stance on who has the right to the city. Historically and our contemporary state show the narrative of Manhattan as filled with decisions based on primarily economic interests.11 The foundation of land as 9

The Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone, http://www.umez.org/

SIMONE WEICHSELBAUM ,New York Daily News - http://www. nydailynews.com/new-york/uptown/rangel-takes-credit-harlem-boomarticle-1.1506665 11 http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/03/arts/design/manhattan-

property and the city framed to be sold under the mask of public health benefits. This “Promise Land” asks for heterogeneous lifestyles while selling a resilient cultural identity. As New York maintains a tourist destination locations such as Harlem begin to lose authenticity with their root ethnic origins. This can be seen through food and commercial development. Then we must ask what the life expectancy of ethnic enclaves could be? There is a making and remaking but also designing of space by the people. Collective embodied identities with historical ties depend on symbols and nostalgia. Yuval-Davis considers belonging as the place in which “the sociology of emotions interface with the sociology of power, where identification and participation collude.” The sense of belonging is as Yuval-Davis, is invisible and the reflexivity of a collective ethnic identity is only brought to life when threatened.12 Otherwise these ethnic identities are performative. I believe we can see from the street. Homogenization, exotification and full circle to the homogenization again. Implementation is deconstructing the physical through the social investigation. When economic development zones are proposed on ‘low income’ areas it is commonly associated with ‘helping’ the people. Many argument of movement of people are built on the sea of some danger. Just as we saw for Manhattans foundation grid called to help airflow but creates a nature of land as a commodity, the mask of public health leaves no consideration to resident’s abilities to maintain a place in the city. I refer to Salin’s Ecology of Housing Destruction in really thinking about the ways in which we people due to past development of disinvestment and redlining are compartmentalized. These enclaves are built on the necessity of memory, food, cultural production and collective ethnic histories but they are deeply connected to practices of injustice. I think about how the traces of past ways of working, thinking, and doing affect the present both implicitly and explicitly. street-grid-at-museum-of-city-of-new-york.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 “The grid was big government in action, a commercially minded boon to private development and, almost despite itself, a creative template.”

Yuval-Davis, Nira. Human Security and the Gendered Politics of Belonging 2007. Web. 15 Feb. 2011 <http://www.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/ sociology/rsw/research_centres/gender/news/pastevents/symposium/yuval/>

THE URBAN ATLAS PROJECT - Sabrina Dorsainvil and Luisa Múnera

125th and 116th Street in Harlem

Whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dictating the identity of Harlem? What key conditions of Harlemâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s past have acted as the grounding for current social and spatial practices as well as the invisible borders.The investigation of 125th Street comes from previous research of 125th Street from 1st Ave to St. Nicholas, 116th Street from 2nd Ave to Morningside Ave and between 102nd Street to 116th Street. Each of these areas were significant as commercial areas, culturally specific hubs and part of the empowerment zone designation13. This existing research was spent trying to investigate and begin to understand the ways in which policy practices, primarily that of the empowerment zone effect citizen agency. In conjunction to that focus was the desire to see the formation of collective identities and uncover relationships between factors such as migration,

Empowerment zones (EZs) are economically distressed communities designated by government for aidâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;but this aid is intended primarily to lift the communities out of poverty by stimulating business enterprise and creating jobs.

redling, commercial development, transportation, the housing crisis and more that have historically shaped the placement of people, places and power structures. These key factors not only help shape Harlem but carry with them a racially and economically systemic imbalance. I have now continued to look at what I recognize to be seemingly invisible borders of identity that are reinforced and contested in the everyday. Through forms of ownership, tourism, commercial development and resource availability you can see the tension between the areas perceived global identity and the everyday creations of space. Harlem is not void of self authoring. Therefore can see still see collective cultural practices and appropriation of space (vending) (flags). Harlem is being marked by outside hands demanding change devoid of character and prescribed through the desires of chains and capital flow. Throughout this process however of attempted self authoring is a clear level of cultural commodification and

MS DESIGN + URBAN ECOLOGIES THESIS - 2014

Naming an area low income seemed problematic to me but the illusion of empowerment strike me as just as bad. ‘Low income’ focuses on the economic value of people. In my opinion there needed to be more focus on something beyond that economic value of individuals. The problematic nature of this designation for me began with the identification of these migrant enclaves as being perpetually associated with ‘low income’. African American and Latin American communities are commonly associated with these ideas of poverty, 14 Dávila, Arlene, Barrio Dreams: Puerto Ricans, Latinos, and the Neoliberal City, 2004

1st Ave

2nd Ave

3rd Ave

Lexington Ave

Park Ave

Madison Ave

Fifth Ave

Lenox Ave

Adam Clayton Powell

Fredrick Douglass

She further more state that the presence of places like Home Depot, Starbucks, and what she calls Soholike museums brings about contestation between the residents dreams and the city agenda for the future of El Barrio. She echoes the displacement of local businesses and residents as the effect of the policy set in place to empower economic development rather than residents. The reality is that these policies although aimed at economic development heavily impact real estate, housing, education, and the social fabric of East Harlem.

Widespread knowledge of the designation may not be publicly known but the effects are lasting. I have been interested in first understanding certain policies of a place. I want to know the decisions of the past that construct the processes that take place in the urban. I have stressed to myself the importance of a place for the necessity in understanding the social, racial and economic injustices that are characteristic to an area and a population. Harlem was the site of people impacted by this designation that further perpetuated the struggle of a body of people whose identities are defined by both race and economic. With commercial development as the focus of the empowerment zone local businesses became a key way in connecting change to the characteristics of collective space.

Manhattan Ave

Dávila, in her analysis cultural and spatial politics, the Empowerment Zones’s impact in East Harlem stating that 11“even the Empowerment Zone become implicated with people’s ethnic and class identities in multiple and contradictory ways. As such, they prompt questions about the intersection of culture, ethnicity, class, and consumption in development debates, while underscoring that so-called race-neutral policies are never devoid of racial and ethnic considerations.” 14

low income and ‘dangerous’ and this demographic is connected to the designation. Race may not have been a key factor in choosing this space but I now became interested in ways the effects of that designation had on the already societal warped yet embedded views of communities of color and also will later asked residents what they believed empowerment zones were and their responses made me question the effect loaded words had on the expectations communities place on planning practices15

Morningside Ave

though the empowerment zones development we see that in relationship to the ethnic identity of East Harlem otherwise known as El Barrio or Spanish Harlem and Central Harlem that houses a piece of the international identity of Harlem as the Black Mecca of the United States. Barrio Dreams by Arlene Dávila paints a concise image of the changing spatial and cultural dynamic of East Harlem as the effects of policy affect it. In this analysis she touches upon an integral realization of the contradiction culture plays in the defining identity of a space.

125th BID ends in East Harlem

5th

East Harlem meets West Harlem w/ clear cultural shift

125th Little Senegal meets Spanish Harlem

End of 125th BID and heavy commercial spaces into NYCHA housing

116th

LEGEND 116th Street in Central Harlem is interrupted by Morningside Ave/ Columbia University

Primary Focal Point

Public transit creates vendor hubs

Secondary Focal Point Shift Points/Moments of Interest EZ’s BID’s

15 Dorsainvil, Sabrina, The Social and Spatial Infrastructure of Collective Identities, 2013

THE URBAN ATLAS PROJECT - Sabrina Dorsainvil and Luisa Múnera

During this investigation several residents were asked to reflect on what an empowerment zone was.

interconnected nature of urban life and create spaces of empowerment.

My opinion. Empowerment zone can be many things. Churches/schools/gym/a friends house. It depends on the person. you really can’t pinpoint it. ---An empowerment zone gives hope and positive ways to view your situation, But to ask what it has or hasn’t done for the people I don’t think is a good question. I don’t think it’s fair to put all the pressure on an empowerment zone. I think it comes from the individual. As human beings we are raised to always wait for someone or something to do something for us and often are let down when the results are not what we expect. If the people of Harlem wants things to be different for the better no place is needed to do that. All it takes is a shift in awareness from that person.16

In order to for urban development to exist without the common narrative of growth and displacement a catalyst needs to be created in order to urge the general public’s questioning of current systems. This questioning can then lead to the possibilities of developing spaces where we are able to discuss the current conditions connection to past practices. The desire is for these conversations to address greater topics of identity, human rights, social and creative practices. Work such as Candy Chang’s[1]17 provide an outlet for the voices of the masses that could not be seen through traditional mechanisms of voting and allows the emotion situated in spatial contexts to be brought forth in dialogue. They also serve as a call to action for the general public. Economic development alone cannot address the deep and complex societal problems that are in often reinforced by traditional economic practices in the city.

By the completion of this period of research there was a desire to create a dynamic depiction of Harlem and catalyze opportunities for public discourse around its identity, its development, and its future alike. Would the development of a series of communal storytelling prompts aid in bridging the gap between individual histories and collective narratives while producing spaces to instigate citizen empowerment around urban development as it pertains to issues of displacement, identity, culture commodification, and racial politics? An identified objective following this investigation was aimed at addressing disconnects between urban economic development practices and processes of social empowerment in Harlem. The cities we live in have numerous tales to tell. Our past practices are indelible and so intrinsically woven into our urban fabric that they not only influence our present, but our future as well.

Looking at the street level different forces began to show the historical divide between the Harlemites as the other and current day presence of an even more new population of people that in fact represent the other and ultimately have begun to reshape the economic value of real estate but also have take advantage of the existing cultural practices and re-developed them as means of tourism . This division is rather complicated in my eyes. It has formed through a multitude of events concerning public health and civil rights but does not take, in my opinion the oversimplified idea of gentrification.

The methods and tools we develop must aim to promote shared values within the our communities. These values alongside memories, needs, and goals will provide us the opportunity to reframe existing narratives and coproduce new ones. We need to begin developing more spaces for imagination and discourse that reflect the

Black politicians desire to introduce a greater flow of capital without considering the social implications, the development of Business improvement districts aim for beautification but disregard for the livelihood of those who rely on the streets to survive, the patterns of migration from the South to New York by the black population as well as the influx of international migrants

16 20 year resident of Harlem’s response to questions regarding the concept of an empowerment, empowerment zones and what they have or have not done for Harlem.

17 For several years now, I have been inspired by work done in New Orleans by Candy Chang in the realm of collective psychologies and civic engagement. http://candychang.com/

MS DESIGN + URBAN ECOLOGIES THESIS - 2014

attempting to appropriate space through means such as language in order to withstand a unique identity and preserve memories all have a hand in the shaping and reshaping of Harlem. They also lie in close quarters to the development of seemingly invisible borders of socioeconomic injustice and struggles for a collective identity. I mentioned the complexity of this picture and discussions with residents prove that is so things have gotten more safe for some or the presence of big box businesses such as Red Lobster, H&M, Target and Starbucks have created a form of accessibility to those who desire the resource but there still lies a disconnect. There is a gap between recognizing the past stigmatization of a population and the introduction of economic means “help” to address Harlem’s tumultuous past. This gap exists between the current aim to introduce global reaching stores and to preserve of locality in businesses as seen with mom and pop stores the keep money flowing in the neighborhood. It also exists in ideas of the future that almost seem to ignore the lack of social empowerment structures needed to support rapid economic development.

My focus spanned from East to West in Harlem with key focal points defined by areas of “difference” or apparent divide, ethnically cultural hubs as well as areas with business related value. Looking at commercial areas as a starting point I wanted to see how socio-economic divides presented themselves spatially in architecture, social practices and ultimately every day life. Although this investigation began with a focus on 125th an 116th, Harlem, spanning East to West, looking at concepts of identity development and uncovering how policy dictates residents agency in decision making does not rely on one street. The street however shows indicators of the contradictions of economic revitalization. Meta decisions play themselves out at the street level in a way that fails to mirror the intentions. The empowerment zones aim to “lift” residents out of poverty begs the question of truly how? and at what cost?

125th Street Corridor fast food local food chain pawn shop general merchandise mart 125 “125th Street is like the 34th street or 42nd street of Harlem. It has definitely changed. We have a lot more shops and restaurants now.” female, resident

“Now, Harlem has turned into a War Zone. The streets are dangerous and just to think they are remaking Harlem.”

abandon buildings vendors storefront churches Dollar Stores

female, resident

116th Street fast food local food chain pawn shop general merchandise “Not as much stealing, Not as dangerous,, its safer. Harlem has changed, 125th and 116th are pretty similar except that there is more spanish people.” male, general vendor, Mexican, Harlem since 1989

“They call me ‘lazy man’ around here” Been vending since the age of 13 years old, 41 years old now.” male, general vendor

“”‘Everybodies hustlin’, everybody. The politicians are taking over, they control it all.” male, resident, Harlem since the 60’s

la marqueta abandon buildings vendors Cellphone and electronics stores Dollar Stores Independent clothing Stores

THE URBAN ATLAS PROJECT - Sabrina Dorsainvil and Luisa Múnera

Commercial Zone Analysis

Green Cart Vendor

Fast Food Chains

I often ask myself truly how do we analyze the development of individual and collective identities? How can we socially and spatially identify identity related borders in everyday life? How are they reinforced by commercial practices and impacted by the development of educational and cultural institutions? Harlem has been a dynamic entry point to discussing historical, present-day and future manifestations of invisible borders and the layering of socio-economic injustices creating the city.

Food Vendor Fast Food Vacant Space

This investigation exists at the corners of blocks and on avenues. You can find means for discourse throughout the different neighborhoods of Harlem. It lies in the dialogue tour guides present tourists and in souvenir

MS DESIGN + URBAN ECOLOGIES THESIS - 2014

THE NEED FOR COMMUNITY CONSCIOUSNESS + ENGAGEMENT AROUND IMMEDIATE ISSUES SUCH AS DISPLACEMENT

CREATIVE FORMS OF SOCIAL MEMORY + THE VALUE OF STORYTELLING

ART + EDUCATION AS FOUNDATION FOR OPENESS AND THE AWARENESS OF DIFFERENCE

THE URBAN ATLAS PROJECT - Sabrina Dorsainvil and Luisa Múnera

THE SITUATION Urban Development Our project’s focus is centered around urban development. Urban development is the social, cultural, economic and physical development of cities, as well as the underlying causes of these processes.1 Urban development impacts our daily lives on all of these levels. Everyday life is woven with complex threads of the social, cultural, economic and physical.

Rachelle Salnave-Gardner, Harlem’s Mart 125: The American Dream Documentary

We recognize that time plays a role in urban development and actions and outcomes are not isolated in their occurrence but are instead intertwined and filled with consequences. The past, the present and the future are played out every day in our neighborhoods. Although things can seem quite invisible, curiosity and awareness can remind us of the prevalence of wicked problems. These problems that exist in a state of fragility with consequences waiting regardless of initial intention. Deep systemic issues are rooted in past practices. We are developing ways in which people can talk about urban development, see it through the lens of the everyday and unite under similar concerns or goals for the future of our cities.

1 The University of Oslo, Department of Sociology and Human Geography, 2013 http://www.sv.uio.no/iss/english/research/subjects/urbandevelopment/ “The term urban development is used differently depending upon which researcher uses it. Many researchers focus on the physical spatial development, such as architecture and city planning and the social and cultural processes underlying them. Other researchers start with social change, such as inequality or gentrification, in order to explain changes and discuss the social consequences. There exist a wide range of research topics.”

MS DESIGN + URBAN ECOLOGIES THESIS - 2014

Displacement Communities and neighborhoods breathe the air of various cultures, histories and social relations. Residents are constantly being displaced whether it be emotionally, culturally, physically or historically. How can we, as urban practitioners, engage with these communities and provide a space where difference is accepted and used as a catalyst towards resident action? Communities that live in neighborhoods that are at risk for being re-developed need to establish ownership over their locality with the agency of other like-minded communities. These groups can become a network of resources between each other; an extra layer within the pre-existing networks of the city.

produced. Through our research and speaking to people, we found that these socially engaged projects and interventions were not engaged with other similar practices happening simultaneously all over the globe. The recent financial crisis has posed in the starkest possible way, the question for what alternative models for politics might be viable in the present. Improbably, this seems to mean that art theory--which usually distinguishes itself as rarified, abstract and removed from coherence all together-has taken on a new political importance as a guide for action. People are back on the streets, occupying public space, building temporary oppositional communities, and actively rooting around for model of organization. And art, at least according to the vaporous abstractions of theory still holds out the potential to be an alternative of some kind. 2 According to Ben Davis, art theory still has the potential to be â&#x20AC;&#x2DC; an alternative of some kind.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; Not only can art in theory be looked at as a node of knowledge, art as a practice can act as a powerful vehicle for awareness, communication and education across diverse fields; it has the power to project imaginaries that transcend words. Art has the ability to connect to emotions, spark conversations, challenge assumptions, and suggest possibilities.

El Museo Del Barrio

Art as a Catalyst Perceptions of Art In regards to art, mainstream perceptions have defined it as an ambiguous form of communication; mainstream perceptions define artists as specialists within their own fields; mainstream perceptions have created boundaries about the ways in which art is experienced, produced and the audience it is meant to engage with. There are extensive projects that are put under the umbrella of socially engaged, but we found that these projects were only occurring in their specific context without really having a dialogue with other work being

For art to be a catalyst for social change, it needs to extend itself beyond the pre-established boundaries of studios spaces, galleries or museums. It needs to consider audience and position itself in a way where collaborative support and partnerships can be established so that art is used as a tool, not just a thing in itself, it has to be put in the hands of action. Artists used various mediums such as painting, performance, poetry, writing or sculpture, to act as a tool to reflect and question the experiences at an individual and collective level. We believe that art is not isolated from the context of the everyday, it is a tool that goes beyond mere representation.

Ben Davis, 9.5 Theses on Art and Class

THE URBAN ATLAS PROJECT - Sabrina Dorsainvil and Luisa MĂşnera

El Museo Del Barrio

Luis Camnitzer, El Museo Del Barrio

MS DESIGN + URBAN ECOLOGIES THESIS - 2014

THE URBAN ATLAS PROJECT - Sabrina Dorsainvil and Luisa Múnera

OUR METHOD

THE FIVE LENS APPROACH

STORIES

BOUNDARIES

“WHEN EXCITEMENT ABOUT SUBJECT MATTER GOES DEEP, IT STIRS UP A STORE OF ATTITUDES AND MEANINGS DERIVED FROM PRIOR EXPERIENCE. AS THEY ARE AROUSED INTO ACTIVITY THEY BECOME CONSCIOUS THOUGHTS AND EMOTIONS, EMOTIONALIZED IMAGES. “ Dewey, John. Art as Experience. : 1934

POWER DYNAMICS

NETWORKS

IMAGINARIES

This Five Lenses approach was created to be an accessible yet thought-provoking way for anyone to reflect on their everyday curiosities about their neighborhoods. Seeing the urban in this alternative way can hopefully guide residents to investigate issues they personally and furthermore collectively, feel connected to. We are interested in looking at the social, the physical, the economic, the political, the historical and the cultural in a more accessible, open yet critical way. These lenses act as a method of guiding you through your everyday interests in a multifaceted approach that asks you to not only think about your relationship to the urban but also what boundaries, power dynamics, and networks are at work and ultimately considering the imaginary;your desires and hope for the future. Through this method you can construct narratives that considers the past, the present and the future of your neighborhood. It also taps into what you, as a resident feel connected to in the context of the contemporary issues in your neighborhood. The purpose of the lenses are to aid in weaving out the multiplicities of the everyday. The critical aspect comes from allowing ourselves to question what matters the most to us.

MS DESIGN + URBAN ECOLOGIES THESIS - 2014

Process: We began to frame our methods of seeing around physicality (built or geographical), social relationships, the historical, the political and the economic. We soon realized the limitations of these terms as they currently were. We wanted to draw a relationship between something like a landmark, as having multiple narratives; narratives that are separately or simultaneously told by tourists, residents, past actors,and by political forces. The lenses needed to be open enough to allow for multiple understandings of the city. We wanted to probe our investigators to ask how this one landmark can serve many roles in the minds of many people and in the context of the historical, the present day and the future of the city. Therefore these lenses do not restrict us to one particular way or form of seeing but guide us through constructing narratives that considers the past, the present and the future of our neighborhoods.

We have defined our lenses as: Stories: An account of imaginary or real people and events Boundaries: The borders or limits of an area Power Dynamics: Are the relationships of forces that produce change. Networks: An interconnected group or system Imaginaries: A desired set of shared goals, ideas and values for the future

THE URBAN ATLAS PROJECT - Sabrina Dorsainvil and Luisa MĂşnera

We developed a matrix in order to test the usability of these five terms. In order to flush out the concept we conducted exercises around the five lenses: (image) Language as a form of ownership Landmarks as social infrastructure Individual experiences as collective memories Architecture as embodying collective desires, goals and values Policies as guidelines for everyday actions and exchanges Language as depicted in public space Landmarks as collective memories Housing as a method of inclusion and exclusion Policy as an organization of space and people Architecture as a visual language We knew that our method would not be able to live only in the context of our internal exercises. In order to better understand the ways in which the lenses worked we met with representatives from organizations working in Harlem (Naomi, No Longer Empty, Nadine, Aids Education & Training Center). We also conducted informal workshops with several Harlem and New York residents.

Our revelation came when we had a conversation with Ellen Baxter, the director of Broadway Housing Communities. As we engaged in dialogue, we were able to dissect the story she was telling through our 5 Lenses approach. Stories:. Broadway Housing Communities uses art as a tool to tell stories. Boundaries: Government and city officials have placed a stigma on homelessness Power Dynamics: The organization aims to form relationship of meaningful action between government agencies and the community as well as between neighbors and non-profit organizations in the neighborhood. These relationships are meant to empower the people on the ground. Networks: Broadway Housing Communities has an internal network of tenants. Imaginaries: Broadway Housing Communities looks to redefine what homelessness means, how its understood and alternatives to alleviate the issue. BHC creates a space at the intersection of arts, education and housing, this approach aims to redefine homelessness.

MS DESIGN + URBAN ECOLOGIES THESIS - 2014

Ways of Seeing: Our Five Lenses Seeing comes before words––it is seeing which establishes our place in the surrounding world––the relation between what we see and what we know is never settled.1 The purpose of these lenses was not to lead any of our participants to feel one way or another about the way their neighborhoods are growing. We instead wanted to allow the participant some sense of agency and opportunity to say what they truly felt strongly about.

During the process of envisioning our collective project we united under the idea that focusing on Stories, Boundaries, Power Dynamics, Networks, and Imaginaries would be beneficial in creating an accessible yet critical tool for discussing urban development. We considered the route in which our individual research had taken and pieced together this understanding of the necessity in collecting stories but putting these stories into context is what these lenses are for. Therefore in using these lenses we have asked participants to think about the stories their neighborhoods tell. Theses stories may be of struggle or triumph. These stories may be about the ways in which a new influx of residents have come in or the ways in which the power of neighborliness has withstood time of a particular block. These stories are inevitably connected to boundaries that exist or have existed in the particular neighborhood. Therefore we ask, what are the borders or limits? Then consider who has defined that border and consider what forces are at play in your neighborhood. Whose perspective is this story coming from? Who or what is defining the changes you see or anticipate?

The stories, boundaries and power dynamics do not exist in a bubble, so we ask our participants to consider the network in which all of this activity is connected. And last but not least we want our participants, residents and artists alike to consider their ideas for the future, not only their ideas but the ideas they perceive those power players have. What are the community organizations aiming to do? What are the local development corporations planning to do? What is the long time resident in your building imagining for the future of the neighborhood? With this investigation we desire to peak curiosity, heighten interest and allow those moments of questioning your city to unite with others who are wondering similar things. We aim to create a first step of awareness but ultimately hope to make curious residents active investigators who begin to identify ways in which to improve everyday life. The goal of this method is to be able to tap into the personal experiences of everyday residents. We want to hear all of those stories and develop an archive of these narratives that discuss the face of urban development and the desires of those directly impacted by urban change. We could not escape our desires to have our participants looking at the social, the physical, the political, the historical and so on but without a space for personalization our exercise could be trapped in a biased and forced perspective. We know people are considering these things but the five lenses unite the varying interests of our participants in a more accessible, open yet critical way. The lenses purpose are meant to help weave out the dualities or multiplicities of the everyday. The critical aspect comes from allowing the ourselves to question what matters the most to us.

We then ask you to consider how they are all connected. How are these stories, the boundaries and the actors linked and even more so where does their impact reach? 1

Berger, John. The Ways of Seeing

THE URBAN ATLAS PROJECT - Sabrina Dorsainvil and Luisa Múnera

Stories:

Networks:

An account of imaginary or real people and events We begin with stories for the sole fact that they exist in any context. In thinking about places, people and objects, stories can be extracted. While this can be a truly subjective space of engagement it can also provide insight to understanding how you view the constructions of your everyday life and how it is perceived on alternative scales. Stories also ground us in a relatable context and opens up a space for dialogue.

An interconnected group or system The purpose of looking at the urban in the context of networks is to bring about the conversations of un-siloing our thoughts about the city. Thinking about networks put into question how and why things happen. It also aims to connect on multiple scales the ways in which systems of

Boundaries:

A desired set of shared goals, ideas and values for the future The role of the imaginary was very important. We did not envision building an archive in the traditional sense. We instead desired to build a multifaceted understanding of the context in which we live in and from that created actionable visions for the future. In order to do more than just dream we must build an understanding of power dynamics, boundaries, existing narratives and networks that construct the space in which our desires can grow from. The bottom line is that we all have dreams and desires.

The borders or limits of an area. There had been some push back when we proposed boundaries as a main focal point. We stand by our decision to keep it for the sole reality that boundaries exist in the everyday. They are often considered physical but they have a massive presence in a social and emotional form. When looking at boundaries we don’t always expect them to exist in the context of the participants. They can exist in the context of an actor the participant is investigating. Looking at the boundaries sets the groundwork to creating a holistic picture by the time you consider the imaginary. We need to know what stands in our way whether it is internal or external.

the everyday are built.

Imaginaries:

Power Dynamics: Are the relationships of forces that produce change. Building off the boundaries, power dynamics serve as a way to tease out where we stand as residents. Power dynamics is neither positive or negative but is a space to understand who or what is making decisions that affect our everyday life. The “power” can come from an individual, a collective or an idea. It can also come from the physical, ecological, economic and so forth. Power dynamics seek to understand the actors that produce change.

MS DESIGN + URBAN ECOLOGIES THESIS - 2014

These words are universal and can be applied to many contexts. They can be used in different localities and retain an unbiased critical space for engaging the urban. We have not seen anyone working in this context and we believe it is an important one to consider. In order to activate ourselves we often need to draw an emotional connection to it. The openness of these lenses allows for that exploration to flourish and for us, as residents to consider the relationships we have to our neighborhoods on an actionable level. By looking at the city through the lens of stories, boundaries, power dynamics, networks and imaginaries we can disrupt the contemporary belief that things are the way they are or the belief that we, as residents in a particular locality canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t make change. Our lenses help residents decide what they feel empowered to follow through with. In the context of the greater project these lenses create the foundation that further connects residents to local resources that can help make the imaginary a possibility.

THE URBAN ATLAS PROJECT - Sabrina Dorsainvil and Luisa MĂşnera

URBAN ATLAS PROJECT

MS DESIGN + URBAN ECOLOGIES THESIS - 2014

URBAN ATLAS PROJECT

THE URBAN ATLAS PROJECT - Sabrina Dorsainvil and Luisa Múnera

ABOUT THE URBAN ATLAS PROJECT IS AN ARCHIVE OF NARRATIVES AROUND URBAN DEVELOPMENT AS SEEN THROUGH A FIVE LENSES APPROACH OF STORIES, BOUNDARIES, POWER DYNAMICS, NETWORKS AND IMAGINARIES. IT SERVES AS A PLATFORM FOR LOCAL ARTISTS, RESIDENTS AND YOUTH TO CRITICALLY INVESTIGATE, UNEARTH AND IMAGINE THE WAYS IN WHICH PROCESSES AND EFFECTS OF URBAN DEVELOPMENT IMPACT THEIR EVERYDAY LIFE.

INTRODUCTION: The Urban Atlas Project

MISSION VISION GOALS

The city is constantly growing, shifting, changing and in flux; residents are being displaced whether it be physically, emotionally, economically or culturally. The Urban Atlas Project acts as a mediation platform for residents and artists to come together and have their stories heard. It allows for individuals to connect on a collective level. The design of the Urban Atlas Project as a whole provides residents a forum to recognize neighbors with similar interests, voice concerns about how things are changing, develop ideas around how to make things better and start a movement of awareness that can lead toward a movement of action.

Our vision is to build a method of investigating, understanding and imagining the urban environment that can inspire a movement focused on resident empowerment around urban development. Our goal is to facilitate creative ways in which past and present discourse and imaginaries around urban development are explored by the people directly affected by change. The dominant stories in our society make it easy for us to not ask questions. By investigating the everyday we can pull apart the things that are common to us and begin to explore them in alternative ways. By questioning the norm we can unearth the past, reveal the present and imagine the future of our cities.

MS DESIGN + URBAN ECOLOGIES THESIS - 2014

UNEARTH THE PAST REVEAL THE PRESENT IMAGINE THE FUTURE

METHODOLOGY Our process oriented method of research informed the way in which we designed The Urban Atlas Project. Gathering research from various nodes of knowledge like policy documents, manifestos, community lists of needs, and most importantly people, allowed for us to begin and make connections about shared views, antagonistic relationships and perceived norms. Throughout our process we began creating an archive of case studies of various projects. They range in scale, dimension and context, but they are all serve as a resource by which to learn and extrapolate from. The collection of case studies became a foundation by which to develop our own methods and tools derived from the case studies we analyzed.

We defined local organizations working to serve the community of Harlem by providing services or agency. We also embarked on our own urban investigations by utilizing some of the methods and tactics that were pulled from our research like recording through drawing and photography to identify commercial businesses and what their presence means in relation to the collective identity of Harlem. We also performed derives in the neighborhood to be able to experience first hand the fragmented function, culture and energy. After our investigations we collectively discussed our experiences and analyzed our content through our 5 lenses method. Our investigative process forms part of the Urban Atlas Project Archive that is presented on our web platform for the general public to have access to.

Collecting research from primary sources across disciplines and perspectives was only the start of a longer critical investigation. After selecting Harlem as our site for investigation we identified displacement as an entry point by which to further investigate urban development and its direct impacts on a neighborhood. Through research, fieldwork and conversations with residents on the ground, we saw and heard stories that were connected to the theme of displacement.

THE URBAN ATLAS PROJECT - Sabrina Dorsainvil and Luisa MĂşnera

URBAN ATLAS

GUIDE

URBAN ATLAS

URBAN ATLAS ARCHIVE

CONTRIBUTORS

URBAN ATLAS

COLLECTIVE

URBAN ATLAS

YOUTH INTIATIVE

COMPONENTS The Guide

The Archive

Our guiding tool, the Urban Atlas Guide will expose Urban Atlas Project participants to creative methods and tools pulled from various artists, social scientists, activists, community organizations and more. By utilizing these tools and reframing their context for urban investigations Urban Atlas Project participants can unearth the past, reveal the present and imagine the future of their city.

Why an archive?

The Residents The Urban Atlas Project has been designed to facilitate the Urban Atlas Project Collective, made up of citizen artists and designers with an interest in socially engaged art practices, Urban Atlas Project Youth Initiative, open resident contribution and partnerships with local organizations.

The Collins English Dictionary defines an archive as documents or records relating to the activities, business dealings and histories of a person, family, corporation, association, nation, or community . The Urban Atlas Archive acts as a depository of stories by residents that are contributing to the constantly changing and evolving neighborhood they are a part of. Our archive acts as proof; stories become proof of displacement by people directly affected. Not only is it an archive of stories, it also acts as an archive of methods. The archive is not being added to by a sole contributor; it is a wealth of knowledge pulled from various voices to be able to illustrate a holistic view. This dynamic archive becomes a resource of stories, projects and methods for the public to become exposed to through both a digital and physical production.

MS DESIGN + URBAN ECOLOGIES THESIS - 2014

The Urban Atlas Project Archive We are developing the archive in order to give residents forum to recognize neighbors with similar interests, voice concerns about how things are changing, develop ideas around how to make things better and start a movement of awareness that can lead toward a movement of action.The archive itself houses the contributions of all participants as well as the curated Urban Atlas Guide. It will be publically available on the web, in print and through an end of the year public exhibition.

THE RESIDENTS The Urban Atlas Project Contributors The Urban Atlas Contributors are local residents that have an invested interest in their neighborhood, are curious, eager to question and are willing to utilize creative methods for exploring. These participants can make time to do several exercises or just want to share a story about the way they see their neighborhood. Students are a great audience to tap into for the populating of projects and methods. The Urban Atlas Project can serve as a tool for students to contribute methods that have designed in school or college and share it beyond the realm of academia. The development of a contributor space in The Urban Atlas Project came about through several iterations of the framework. This level of participation has a less facilitated structure. We recognized the difficulties of trying to craft a time into busy schedules for a regulated resident

role in conducting investigations. Our final decision was to develop a contributor role that would allow Harlem residents to participate in building the archive at their own pace of availability. The contributor space also lends itself to be open grounds for participants who aren’t from the particular locality of interest to partake in investigations, exercises and discussions. This level of access lends itself well to public programming opportunities as well as a digital space for both aggregation, display and connecting. By allowing the general public to partake we can bring to light the realities many of us are facing in our cities. Although there isn’t a strict formula for the involvement of the everyday resident we have devised ways of organizing exercises, such as the “What’s our story?”storytelling prompt inspired by The People’s Kitchen Oakland’s My Food Story icebreaker. In a test to see the output of the exercise we collected 20+ narratives. The response showed the potential of this project to create networks of discussion across multiple neighborhoods who may be facing similar threats of displacement.Our Urban Atlas Contributors play an important role in the growth of the archive and urban atlas project network.

Existing dedicated contributors: ANTOINE WHITE Investigating changing populations SABRINA DORSAINVIL Investigating commercial spaces LUISA MUNERA Investigating historic designations NADINE NADER Investigating accessibility of certain businesses

THE URBAN ATLAS PROJECT - Sabrina Dorsainvil and Luisa Múnera

MS DESIGN + URBAN ECOLOGIES THESIS - 2014

THE URBAN ATLAS PROJECT CITIZEN ARTIST COLLECTIVE A collective is defined as A group of entities that share or are motivated by at least one common issue or interest, or work together to achieve a common objective. Citizen artists that form part of the collective are motivated by the idea of a more intimate and engaged relationship between themselves and the audience they are working with. They are motivated by thinking across various fields and analyzing how their intentions can translate across these fields. They are curious about how things work and are willing to question the effectiveness of current systems and processes. The citizen artist is a local to the neighborhood; they have a desire to explore their belonging and ownership in their locality. Their practices are carried out in settings such as homes, churches, parks, laundromats, street corners or empty buildings; spaces that challenge the perception that art has to be viewed in a formal setting. The Urban Atlas Collective serves as a space for residents and artists alike to come to the table and actively collaborate in the investigation and communication of pressing urban issues and conditions. The Collective will be made up of individuals who are interested in creating positive local impact through creative practices. Prospective participants should also have an interest in socially engaged art and collaborative art practices. The collective will have a deep community engagement component making it very important for the participant to be a local to the neighborhood or area of critical investigation as well as be able to commit for a minimum of 1 year. The collective works on a yearly basis with monthly check-ins for discussion and facilitation. After 6 months of research and process driven investigation, the collective will spend the remaining time planning the executions of interventions that will form a final exhibition with the city as its context.

We would like to identify this group of people as Citizen Artists. Their work could easily be associated with Socially Engaged Arts Practices; creative collaborations that deliver locally specific services to communities and organizations. Citizen Artists do not produce art for artâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sake, their work is done in the interest of the people through collaborations with community groups and organizations, activists and local residents. We want to build off of the work that is currently being produced by artists that stand by the belief that they are one with the crowd; their work is informed and guided by the actions, moments, memories and conditions that make up their everyday lives. Civic Participation, bridging the space between producer and his audience, building knowledge from new practices, and creating an infrastructure of socially engaged work are key objectives within the collective. There is a strong focus on local community expression and problem solving as well as the active engagement of a broad range of residents. There is a strong desire to reach across dividing lines in the community. The desire to try new ideas and approaches in asking questions and seeking answers. The research, investigation, documentation, analysis and communication become part of a holistic process of learning and revealing. Socially Engaged projects are unfolding everywhere we turn; scales vary, mediums change, groups involved differ depending on the context that the citizen artist is working in. The Urban Atlas Project Collective provides a platform that allows for these practices to flourish while being imbedded in a local terrain. Working in a local context provides the opportunity for relationships to become more intimate and focused. The Urban Atlas Project Collective will allow for common interest to become visible and for action to follow. Additionally, The Five Lens Approach begins to connect individual projects under a common language and way of seeing. Participants are supported and have time for personal and social reflection, development and progression through their investigative process and collective discussions and analysis. The collective investigates social issues, creative methods and tactics for investigating and

THE URBAN ATLAS PROJECT - Sabrina Dorsainvil and Luisa MĂşnera

analysis and artistic production through a site specific happening/ public intervention. Through working in the collective the citizen artist will refine their skills as well as be introduced to a new method of seeing; through stories, boundaries, power dynamics, networks and imaginaries. The Urban Atlas Collective initiative is not meant to work in isolation. The group serves as a resources of knowledge that will be exchanged between all components of the Urban Atlas Project. As the collective begin to grow, we will bridge the Collective with other Urban Atlas Project initiatives, like the youth focused initiative. The anticipated hope is that through the formation of the collective, there would be more participation among community members in public discourse, problem solving and the formulation of alternative models for organizations. Working in collaboration with multiple organizations can result in new relationships amongst themselves and the residents they serve, characterized by trust and a mutual understanding. We hope that through these collaboration new community leaders can begin to emerge and continue to tackle and create awareness and action in the local neighborhood. Our platform promotes critical dialogue and practice at the intersection of community (needs + participation), arts practices and community mobilization. We aim for a greater and deeper public understanding of local issues and knowledge of local life as well as a sense of community owned space aimed to promote the development of civic life.

Strategies and actions for the building up of the Urban Atlas Project Collective: Establishing supportive and mutually beneficial collaborations and relationships with local organizations provides a space where dialogue about real on the ground issues can be explored through the work of the collective. Mutual exchanges can begin with conversations about initiatives that are currently underway in the neighborhood that are related to

the theme being explored by the collective. These organizations can also promote The Urban Atlas call to action and facilitate meetings with local artists that currently have a practice that is at the intersection of art and activism and have a desire and commitment to the neighborhood they are a part of. These practitioners act as visionaries for change. Creating a Call to Action: The Call to Action would require that the applicant have an interest in creating positive and local impact through their creative practice. They should have an interest in socially engaged art and collaborative art practices. The applicant must be able to commit to a minimum of 1 year of collaborative work and check-ins on a monthly basis. Engaging with existing organizations: We have identified local arts, culture, and social justice organizations that are rooted in the neighborhood as a way to begin garnering support. Groups that are actively engaged in the community have a pre-existing audience that can be tapped into to. Establishing supportive and mutually beneficial collaborations and relationships with local organizations provides a space where dialogue about real on the ground issues can be explored through the work of the collective. As part of our process, we have been investigating artists that are local to Harlem (our pilot site and first neighborhood to engage with). This process has primarily consisted of research through online platforms such as Harlem Open Artist Studio Tours. We searched their online database of Harlem artists and looked through artist statements, manifestos and previous work. This entry point has allowed for us to identify artists with an artistic practice that is in line with the goals and outcomes that we have set forth. The next step would be to contact the artists directly to talk about The Urban Atlas Project and Collective as well as discuss the possibility to collaborate. A studio visit will be set up with each interested participant where we discuss their process for seeing and creating. The following list is a sample of existing local artists working

MS DESIGN + URBAN ECOLOGIES THESIS - 2014

in Harlem. The artists selected represent a range of voices, techniques and mediums. They have been selected because their practice and the questions they pose are a good match for the type of work that will come out of The Urban Atlas Collective. For the Spring 2014 iteration of the project, the members of The Urban Atlas citizen artist Collective are asked to unearth, reveal and imagine narratives around displacement in the context of urban development. Below we have identified a selection of Harlem artists that will be contacted:

DIOGENES BALLESTER + DR. MARY KATHERINE BONCHER Medium: Installation/Painting/Printmaking/Performance Ballester believes the role of the artist is to â&#x20AC;&#x153;discover, investigate, extrapolate meaning and offer a reconfigured perspective on what has been left as artifacts. His work explores oral history, memory, mythology, ritual and cultural identity. Some of his work appropriates cultural + historical artifacts while integrating them with other mediums as a way of accessing the past and reinterpreting the future. Boncher is a psychologist, educator, poet and essayist. Her writings are based on her work as a psychotherapist and political activist. She tells the story of the families, children and communities with whom she works with and the political, economic, emotional and spiritual infrastructures which intersect with their everyday lives. ALLICETTE TORRES Medium: Photography Her work explores the past and its ramifications in the present and how choices and inactions shape the fabric and legacy of who we are as a civilization or culture. Her work is deeply rooted in her own personal ethnic legacy. Her photographs are meant to inspire dialog and thought on topics such as history, socio-economic politics and feminism.

ALEXIS DUQUE: Medium: Painting His work is focused on the process of urbanization in a globalized and over populated...dual experiences are evoked in his works...perceptions of innocence & violence/ transgression & balance. Juxtaposition between exaggeration of chaos caused by destruction and abandonment with simple color palette and absence of humans. The juxtaposition responds to the constant flux between purity + corruption, balance + distortion, dysfunction + function.

CHYNNA TAYLOR Medium: Fashion Design Chynna is an undergraduate fashion design student at Parsons, The New School for Design. She is a local resident to Harlem and has expressed interest in participating in the Collective. Some of her previous work has been focused on waste, the depletion of resources and working conditions within the fashion industry. She is curious to explore issues that might not be physically seen but create lasting repercussions.

THE URBAN ATLAS PROJECT - Sabrina Dorsainvil and Luisa MĂşnera

Collective Process: INVESTIGATION OF URBAN DEVELOPMENT DISPLACEMENT CHOOSE A TOPIC YOU CONNECT WITH

INVESTIGATION OF URBAN DEVELOPMENT: Meta - Theme of entire project.

PRE - INVESTIGATION RESEARCH

DISPLACEMENT: Theme - Once we have organized the Urban Atlas Collective, participants are asked to identify a topic within the meta-theme of displacement which they would like to investigate.

WORKSHOP INSIGHTS WITH COLLECTIVE

CHOOSE A TOPIC YOU CONNECT WITH:

CHOOSE A SITE

PICK A SET OF INVESTIGATION TOOLS

INVESTIGATION

Participants will pick a topic of interest from everyday experiences in relationship to displacement. Once the topics of interest have been identified, the Urban Atlas Collective will brainstorm local organizations, groups or individuals that are working on issues around the topics that have been identified. As the facilitators of the project, during this phase we will distribute the Urban Atlas Guide to the collective and introduce our 5 lens approach.

PRE - INVESTIGATION RESEARCH: Use one method to begin to ground topic making sure to document the process of investigation. *Collaborations between members are possible.

COLLECTIVE SYNTHESIS

HAPPENING

WORKSHOP INSIGHTS WITH COLLECTIVE: What were the key insights to inspire your work? What was your take away from identifying the 5 lenses? Through check-ins with the group, the collective members can have open discussions about the work they are engaged and they can collectively begin to analyze

MS DESIGN + URBAN ECOLOGIES THESIS - 2014

and find commonalities between what each member is working on. Members are encouraged to discuss their research through the 5 Lenses approach and be able to extract those conditions in their work. These sessions are meant to be documented and will form part of the collective archive as well.

CHOOSE A SITE: Using insights from the discussions, The Urban Atlas Collective will identify sites where public happenings will be created. Where can your findings from the insights be situated in physical space? An extensive documentation of site will be required.

PICK A SET OF INVESTIGATION TOOLS: What methods or tools will help you further investigate your topic? There are certain tools that lend themselves better to investigate issues. Collective members will document the process of working with their tool.

INVESTIGATION: Each member can serve as a resource to the other members throughout the process driven investigation.

COLLECTIVE SYNTHESIS: What were the common threads? From the material that was gathered, the collective will begin discussing possible public happenings/interventions that engage the public with the work that is being produced.

HAPPENING: The Collective process will culminate with a public intervention/ happening that will be situated in the site that has been selected by the artist. These interventions calls for engagement by the community, so it becomes important to design a strategic method of engagement as part of the intervention.

THE URBAN ATLAS PROJECT - Sabrina Dorsainvil and Luisa MĂşnera

OUR INVESTIGATIONS

MS DESIGN + URBAN ECOLOGIES THESIS - 2014

LUISA INVESTIGATION OF URBAN DEVELOPMENT DISPLACEMENT CHOOSE A TOPIC YOU CONNECT WITH

PRE - INVESTIGATION RESEARCH

HISTORICAL DESIGNATION and ZONING How is zoning used to designate the use of land and how that translates into areas with historic designation? Who defines history and its space?

DERIVE in one of the few historic districts of Upper Manhattan and the neighboring commercial corridor. WALKING TOUR with a resident familiar with Sugar Hill history.

WORKSHOP INSIGHTS WITH COLLECTIVE

-Peculiar PS 186, -Historic Landmarks -Designation desires for PS 186 -Resident relationship to the Zoning -Rezoning of 145th

CHOOSE A SITE

145th Street, PS 186 School Building

PICK A SET OF INVESTIGATION TOOLS

CONTENT ANALYSIS - INTERVIEWING RESIDENTS - DERIVE

INVESTIGATION

COLLECTIVE SYNTHESIS

HAPPENING

THE URBAN ATLAS PROJECT - Sabrina Dorsainvil and Luisa Múnera

SABRINA INVESTIGATION OF URBAN DEVELOPMENT DISPLACEMENT CHOOSE A TOPIC YOU CONNECT WITH

COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT and THE EMPOWERMENT ZONE What do the big chain businesses mean to residents? What does it mean to empower people and how does policy affect agency?

PRE - INVESTIGATION RESEARCH

DERIVE in business districts, INTERVIEWING - CONVERSATIONS Residents and community leaders about the Empowerment Zone

WORKSHOP INSIGHTS WITH COLLECTIVE

-Relationships between businesses, politicians and local residents -Effects commercial development has on cultural identity of a place - The change in population - The ways in which people are finding empowerment.

CHOOSE A SITE

125th Street, 116th Street, Empowerment Zone spatial designation

PICK A SET OF INVESTIGATION TOOLS

DRAWING - MAPPING - ORAL HISTORIES - DERIVE - PHOTOS

INVESTIGATION

ARCHIVING COLLECTIVE IMAGINARIES MAPPING HISTORY, VALUE AND THE COLLECTIVE

WEST HARLEM: Low levels of formal education, high unemployment, and the lack of proficiency in the English language combine to impede the social and economic progress of adults and children. Parents face obstacles participating in children’s education as a consequence of language and cultural barriers.

West Harlem

Broadway Housing Communitie from single s shift to family/child focused Youth as the

SUGAR HILL CHILDREN’S MUSEUM 404-414 West 155th Street

future of Harlem

NYC: Increase in child homelessness

home hopeful

CB 9

Omayra

The Sugar Hill development will continue to advance Broadway Housing’s mission to create long-term solutions to deep poverty.

Harlem

145th Street

justice storytelling education housing

Proposed Business Corridor

Sugar Hill

diverse cultural

Sugar Hill Historic District 145th St. to 155th St. Edgecombe Avenue to Amsterdam Avenue

Edge com be

CHANEL hurs t Ave

147 and St. Nicholas

Hamilton Heights

TIANDRA 123 and Amsterdam Ave.

Central Harlem

145th

Sugar Hill is architecturally and historically rich, during the 1920’s seen as epicenter of the Harlem Renaissance when African American cultural, intellectual and social prominence and wealth flourished and a municipal historic district as defined by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 2000

CB 10

135th

housing churches

MAJORIE ELIOT’S JAZZ PARLOR 555 Edgecombe Ave.

landmarks

Tribute to son + opportunity for hearing and celebrating music and its impacts on Black America. Social value of music in the past and inspiring that for the present. “like church” “uplifting” “everyone is a part of the story”

vendors

equity culture

storefront churches Dollar Stores

education community engagement

Community Board Outline Resident describing Harlem

general merchandise

male, general vendor, Mexican, Harlem since 1989

“They call me ‘lazy man’ around here” Been vending since the age of 13 years old, 41 years old now.” male, general vendor

“”‘Everybodies hustlin’, everybody. The politicians are taking over, they control it all.” male, resident, Harlem since the 60’s

las s ug k Do

ric Fred

C Po we Ad

MTA Subway Lines

gto

social justice inclusivity diversity community

“----inclusive of persons from different backgrounds of characteristics, including race, economic class, religion, culture, ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation, family status and physical and mental abilities. Members are called to an individual and collective quality of life that leads to personal, spiritual and social transformation, witnessing to God’s saving purposes for all creation. Therefore, the Church pledges itself to education, reflection, and action for peace and justice--”

general merchandise mart 125 abandon buildings vendors

“Now, Harlem has turned into a War Zone. The streets are dangerous and just to think they are remaking Harlem.”

storefront churches dollar Stores landmarks

female, resident

Business corrider and cultural signifier. Mix of commercial and residential.

116th Street

103rd

fast food

116th Street 1st Ave Ave to St. Nicholas

local food chain pawn shop general merchandise la marqueta

“Not as much stealing, Not as dangerous,, its safer. Harlem has changed, 125th and 116th are pretty similar except that there is more spanish people.”

96th

BID Empowerment Zone

d Av e

3rd Av e

n Av e

Av e rk Pa

Le xin

Primary Focal Point

local food chain

no x Av e

RIVERSIDE CHURCH 490 Riverside Dr

fast food local food chain pawn shop

“125th Street is like the 34th street or 42nd street of Harlem. It has definitely changed. We have a lot more shops and restaurants now.” female, resident

110th

Point of Interest

corn exchange bank

125th Street 2nd Ave to St. Nicholas

116th

LEGEND

pawn shop

Av e

Creating equity in our community by building innovative affordable housing and providing opportunities for educational and cultural enrichment. Broadway Housing Communities was founded in 1983 to redress homelessness by promoting hope, stability and dignity through the provision of permanent housing.

125th Street has been considered the ‘Main Street’ of Harlem holding cultural, economic and historical value. Rezoned by city council in 2008 with aim to be transformed into a “world-class arts, cultural, and entertainment destination” as well as a regional business district.

125th Street Corridor

1st Av e

abandon buildings

fast food

Fif th

Broadway Housing Communities 583 Riverside Dr.

mart 125

female, resident

116th Street

125th

Ma dis

116th

housing--home--history

general merchandise

“Now, Harlem has turned into a War Zone. The streets are dangerous and just to think they are remaking Harlem.”

110th

CB 11

“El Barrio”

125th

St Nicholas Ave

local food chain pawn shop

East Harlem 135th

Morningside Heights

Broadway Housing Communities transformed this former brothel into a New York City Historic Landmark permanently housing 21 formerly homeless adults. Encountered a resident who was knowledgable about the architecture but identified a croccuring interest in her home.

fast food

“Not as much stealing, Not as dangerous,, its safer. Harlem has changed, 125th and 116th are pretty similar except that there is more spanish people.”

5th

“music as a moment” music as social memory The Benziger-Abraham House 345 Edgecombe Ave.

125th Street Corridor

“125th Street is like the 34th street or 42nd street of Harlem. It has definitely changed. We have a lot more shops and restaurants now.” female, resident

Manhattanville

CEDRIC SHOW CROON: “When you play here you have to be honest.”(npr) Bassist Bob Cunningham: Has played with Dizzy Gillespie + at Carnegie Hall bur Marjorie is like nothing else (npr)

justice culture inclusive storytelling

Broadway Housing’s conviction that the permanence of housing families at high risk presents an ideal foundation to infuse educational opportunities and other supports that effectively combat poverty. The site stands at the crossroads of three distinct communities: Washington Heights, Central Harlem, and West Harlem. The area is characterized by a high poverty rate, overcrowded housing, escalating housing costs, and low educational performance.

Brat

historic transformative HOME

“we try to act on our values”

Investigated sites

historical popular war

male, general vendor, Mexican, Harlem since 1989

“They call me ‘lazy man’ around here” Been vending since the age of 13 years old, 41 years old now.” male, general vendor

“”‘Everybodies hustlin’, everybody. The politicians are taking over, they control it all.” male, resident, Harlem since the 60’s

abandon buildings vendors Cellphone and electronics stores Dollar Stores Independent clothing Stores

Tiana East Harlem

la marqueta abandon buildings vendors

Key thoughts: Social justice-- community organizations, ideas regarding space, ownership, ways in which people apply value to place, history - present - future values of the “collective” - dynamics between housing. commercial and historic areas

Spatial Archives. SD - Urban Tactics Spring 2014

Cellphone and electronics stores Dollar Stores Independent clothing Stores

COLLECTIVE SYNTHESIS

HAPPENING

MS DESIGN + URBAN ECOLOGIES THESIS - 2014

THE URBAN ATLAS PROJECT YOUTH INITIATIVE The Urban Atlas Project Youth Initiative is a main focal point of development for our nomadic platform. Our current project location is Harlem, New York, an area with a complex and often-contradictory urban narratives of growth with both physical displacement and social displacement in terms of housing, cultural history and collective memory. The dominant stories in our society make it easy for us to not ask questions or to feel as though we have no power. This sense of powerlessness can be seen in the youth population of Harlem. By investigating the everyday we can pull apart the things that are common to us and begin to explore them in alternative ways. Working with youth in this particular area will hopefully pave the way for the development and application of visual and analytical skills, the desire to work at the intersection of art, activism, and urban development, and instill a sense of empowerment in their ability to become change makers in their respective neighborhoods. The Urban Atlas Project Youth Initiative seeks to create a youth centered platform that engages young people in the process of investigating urban development in their communities through a series of workshops. As we are currently in Harlem, our target population for the Youth Initiative is young people from the age of 10 to 22. Each group of students will be organized through partnering organizations and afterschool or summer programming through cultural institutions such as the Sugar Hill Museum of Art and Storytelling, No Longer Empty, and Brotherhood/Sister Sol. We are increasing our partnership base with local community organizations and are interested in those whose mission aligns with our vision for the project. Bro/Sis provides comprehensive, holistic and long-term support services to youth who range in age from eight to twenty-two. Bro/Sis offers wrap around evidence-based programming. The organization focuses on issues such as leadership development and educational achievement,

sexual responsibility, sexism and misogyny, political education and social justice, Pan-African and Latino history, and global awareness. The Sugar Hill Museum of Art and Storytelling is a flexible space with galleries showing artwork generated in or inspired by Harlem. Sugar Hill’s history and thriving cultural life create a rich foundation to share with families the pleasure of personal expression and nurture children’s love of reading, writing and storytelling through art making. No Longer Empty’s mission is to widen the public engagement with contemporary art, to promote the work of artists, and to build resilience in communities through art. An Urban Atlas Project facilitator and a leader or educator from their respective programs will co-facilitate our workshops. We are dedicated to engaging the future actors in these neighborhoods by mobilizing around the five lenses, urban development, and art. During the workshops the youth will be utilizing the Urban Atlas Guide in order to help facilitate their investigations and revision of how urban development works in their neighborhood. A workshop will consist of various activities, readings, and projects that will help to explore one of the five lenses as well as how to use the Urban Atlas Guide in order to create an investigation for the archive. A workshop series usually includes about 7 workshops that introduce the youth to the theme of the year and each of the five lenses in a creative hands-on way. A workshop can run anywhere from 2 to 3 hours and also depends on the age range of the participants. Each session in the workshop series has been assigned an activity relevant to lens as well as issues of the urban. They have also been designed to facilitate the production of an item that can then be used in a final exhibition space. Additionally the youth involved will be accountable for a Urban Atlas Project journal. The journals will be handed out at the beginning of each workshop period. This can act as a concrete source of feedback at the end of each session. Each session has each been designed with outputs such as photo series, written manifestos, videos, analyzed drawing, and written reflections. This work and exposure will hopefully

THE URBAN ATLAS PROJECT - Sabrina Dorsainvil and Luisa Múnera

create opportunities and interest for them to work at the intersection of arts, activism, and the urban in the future. We have begun developing youth workshop sessions around the five lenses and creative ways of investigating the urban environment. We see the guide in this scenario as a tool for the facilitation of these workshops in conjunction with local organizations. The guide acts as an opportunity for people to contribute projects that can be reframed in the context of Urban Development and well as developing our own collection of resources to share.

SESSION 3 -CONTENT ANALYSIS -ERASURE -STORYTELLING

SESSION 4 LET’S MAKE RELATIONSHIPS VISIBLE SOCIO-GRAM (REVISITED)

SESSION 1

EXAMPLE EXERCISES

INTRODUCTION TO DISPLACEMENT & THE URBAN ATLAS PROJECT & FIVE LENSES

STORIES

BOUNDARIES POWER DYNAMICS NETWORKS

IMAGINARIES

“HI, MY NAME IS…” Icebreaker (10min to 15 mins) “JEDI” MOVEMENT Exercise on Displacement (10mins to 15mins)

SESSION 5 FROM MY PERSPECTIVE LIVE POLAROIDS

“WHAT IS DISPLACEMENT?” Guiding Questions & Discussion “CONSTRUCTING SOCIOGRAMS: WHAT ROLE DO RELATIONSHIPS PLAY IN MY LIFE?” If this is a workshop that runs longer than 2 hours this would be a good place for a break. “IF I RULED THE WORLD…” (Reimagining our communities and creating Tibetan Mandalas)

SESSION 6 WHAT ARE OUR CONCERNS? CONSCIOUSNESS RAISING

“ARCHIVE AND THE ARTIST STATEMENT” “ONE WORD CLOSING”

SESSION 2 WHAT’S REALLY ON THE BLOCK? DRAWING

SESSION 7 GROUP DEBREIEF (POSSIBLE EXHIBITION PLANNING)

MS DESIGN + URBAN ECOLOGIES THESIS - 2014

Measurement and Evaluation We are working with youth through partnerships with local organizations. The Urban Atlas Project Youth Initiative utilizes the Urban Atlas Project Guide and produces a body of work created by youth in the context of the Five Lens Approach exploration and the understanding of their role in the way their city grows. We have seen the need for this program and we believe its success will come from its open ability to provide a platform of participation amongst the future change makers of our society. By utilizing the Five Lens Approach in the form of the Urban Atlas Guide and facilitated through Urban Atlas Project Youth Initiativeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s (hands on, arts-based, experiential, collaborative, urban specific) workshops and programming Harlem youth ages 10 -22 will contribute to an on-going archive, feel more empowered and consider an interest in working or studying at the intersection of art, activism, and the urban in the future.

THE URBAN ATLAS PROJECT - Sabrina Dorsainvil and Luisa MĂşnera

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Urban Atlas Project: Youth Initiative Pilot Proposal Workshop One: INTRODUCTION TO DISPLACEMENT & THE URBAN ATLAS PROJECT & FIVE LENSES 1. “Hi, My name is…” Icebreaker (10min to 15 mins) a. Have the youth introduce themselves by saying their names and one fact that no one else in the room knows about them. This truly helps to break the ice! 2. “Jedi” Movement exercise on Displacement (10mins to 15mins) a. Have the youth stand in a circle and choose one person to be in the middle.

MS DESIGN + URBAN ECOLOGIES THESIS - 2014

b. Facilitator explains the rules of the game. This is a silent game! You must move across the circle by making eye contact with a person across from you. The hardest part is making sure that you make it to the other side without the person in the middle taking your place. c. Play one practice round of the game so that everyone understands the rules. 3. “What is displacement?” Guiding Questions & Discussion a. After the game is finished asked the following guiding questions: How hard was it to communicate without speaking? How did it feel to be the person in the middle? Were there any times that you made eye contact but the other person didn’t move with you? b. This conversation will lead into an open discussion about displacement in which the facilitator will provide a working definition for it. (A reading may be provided for this portion of the discussion)

4. “Constructing Sociograms: What role do relationships play in my life?” (Making sociograms and Understanding how networks work) a. Facilitator will demonstrate how a sociogram works by using Harry Potter as an example. They will ask the pioneers what the Harry Potter series was about and visually construct a sociogram as they provide answers. b. Youth will be asked if they can make any connections in the sociogram about Harry Potter. Facilitator will then introduce and define what a sociogram is as well as how it works. c. Youth will be asked to construct a sociogram about their family on a piece of paper. After they finish we will share some of them out loud. (Stories) d. Youth will then create two more sociograms about

their outside communities (i.e. Church, afterschool, dance class) or friendships and then finally one about the communities they live in. e. Leave room for youth to share and discuss the importance of networks within these groups. f. Using the Urban Atlas Guide the facilitator will define the role of networks and deepen the lens of discussion. 5. *Note* If this is a workshop that runs longer than 2 hours this would be a good place for a break. A break can consist of 10 mins of free time or it can be a good place to add another movement activity.

6. “If I ruled the world…” (Reimagining our communities and creating Tibetan Mandalas) a. Play (clean) version of ‘If I ruled the world’ by Nas and Lauryn Hill. Add emphasis on the chorus of the song. (What would it be like to imagine the world they way that I want it?) b. Using the Urban Atlas Guide the facilitator will introduce the idea of imaginaries. How can we reimagine our communities? c. Facilitator will present their already-made Mandala to the group. Facilitator will then explain what a Mandala is and how this will help us in visually reimaging our community. d. Students will then head to their stations and create their own Mandalas using the center as the goal for their community.

7. “Archive and The Artist Statement” (How can we let our art live beyond today?) a. After the Mandalas are finished, we will introduce the idea of archiving our work. What is an Archive? Why is this

THE URBAN ATLAS PROJECT - Sabrina Dorsainvil and Luisa Múnera

an important part of the Urban Atlas Project?

Prospective Partners

b. The youth will then be introduced to a sample artist statement. Why are artist statements important?

Brotherhood Sister Sol: Summer and After School Programs

c. Youth will then be asked to create a very short artist statement about how they want to imagine their communities. What were their communities missing? What their Mandala represents?

8. “One word closing” a. Everyone will sit in a circle and create a ritual of closing their workshop by saying one word of how they feel or what they learned.

The program is an entry point for youth into the organization. The program fosters knowledge of self, creative expression and a sense of personal agency as well as the individual and collective responsibility within and beyond the program. *Pilot potential implementation in Summer or Fall 2014 No Longer Empty: No Longer Bored for Children + Families Activities include art-making workshops, studio visits and performances. *Pilot potential implementation in June 2014 Sugar Hill Children’s Museum of Art and Storytelling The museum will expose children to the cultural hertiage of the neighborhood through art and storytelling. The museum is also focused on museum- based early childhood education. *Pilot potential implementation in June 2014, with the possibility to extend into programming Museo del Barrio: Making Connection Program

This pilot was developed with our partner:

The existing program connects the museum’s resources with core subjects in school such as Social Studies, Science and Arts. The program looks to use various artistc practices to explore experiences that relate to the student’s experiences inside and outside the classroom.

Brittany (Blue) Bellinger Harlem Children’s Zone - Teaching artist/educator Urban Word - Mentor Brittany Bellinger is collaborating in the coordination of youth workshops. Her previous experience with developing lesson plans and knowledge aquired through Harlem Children’s Zone and Urban Word makes her an integral collaborator.

MS DESIGN + URBAN ECOLOGIES THESIS - 2014

THE URBAN ATLAS PROJECT GUIDE Our guiding tool, uses our Five Lens Approach the Urban Atlas Guide exposes UAP participants to creative methods and tools pulled from various artists, social scientists, activists, community organizations and more. By utilizing these tools and reframing their context for urban investigations UAP participants can unearth the past, reveal the present and imagine the future of their city.

EXERCISE TITLE

PROJECT TITLE

METHOD

WHO CREATED THE PROJECT

About the Exercise:

About the Project:

What you need:

Actions:

Lens:

Lenses:

Questions:

Learning Objective

URBAN ATLAS GUIDE - 2014

For more info about this project visit:

Sabrina Dorsainvil + Luisa Múnera

PROJECT EXAMPLES: A selection of projects by artists, designers, organizations, social scientists and activists that used creative methods during their process or in the way the content was communicated.

as well as the learning outcome. We provide suggested lenses by which each method can be viewed. SEEING THROUGH THE LENSES: We provide suggested lenses by which each method can be viewed.

METHOD EXERCISES: We introduce various methods, their descriptions, steps required to perform, the tools needed

THE URBAN ATLAS PROJECT - Sabrina Dorsainvil and Luisa Múnera

TL A NA

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*The examples that follow are sample projects and exercises taken from the Urban Atlas Guide. Please refer to the guide itself for the growing selection. If you have a project suggestion or any questions please contact us at urbanatlasproject@gmail.com. MS DESIGN + URBAN ECOLOGIES THESIS - 2014

THE URBAN ATLAS PROJECT GUIDE EXAMPLES

WHAT ARE OUR CONCERNS? CONSCIOUSNESS RAISING

About the Exercise: This method of research often takes the form of a group of people focusing the attention of a wider group of people on some cause or condition. Through this exercise individual feelings and experiences be revealed as collective feelings and experiences. Informing the general public of a collective concern is often the first step to changing how the institutions handle it, raising awareness is often the first activity advocacy groups focus on. Even when done with a group of friends or neighbors this exercise can bring to light common concerns and be the first step to addressing it.

What you need: - note pad + pencil - voice recorder (cell phone) - a common concern - people (this can be a group friends!)

- a place to meet (parks, quiet areas, restaurants, your home)

Actions: A. Identify a common issue or concern in your neighborhood common issues that can be discussed are urban development, conflicts, movements, political parties or politicians to name a few. B. Organize a meeting to discuss this concern with general public this can be a picnic, brunch or round table meeting.

Lens: Stories, Boundaries, Power Dynamics, Networks, Imaginaries

Questions: What are our concerns? Who is this concern affecting and where is it happening? How can it be better addressed? What would you like to see happen?

Learning Objective critical thinking, awareness of common desires, developing arguments, critiquing current conditions URBAN ATLAS GUIDE - 2014

THE URBAN ATLAS PROJECT - Sabrina Dorsainvil and Luisa MĂşnera

WOMANHOUSE FEMINIST ART COLLECTIVE

About the Project:

1972 - Los Angeles, California

Womanhouse (30 January - 28 February 1972) was a feminist art installation and performance space organized by Judy Chicago and Miriam Schapiro, co-founders of the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) Feminist Art Program. Chicago, Schapiro, their students and women artists from the local community participated. Chicago and Schapiro encouraged their students to use consciousness-raising techniques to generate the content of the exhibition and address issues produced by male-dominated societal ideologies.

Photo by David Fenton/Getty Images

Actions: A. Identified womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s issues and criticisms of patriarchy within a male dominant society as a common concern. B. The collective organized discussions in private areas and studio spaces.

Lenses: STORIES: The session revealed common feminist ideologies. BOUNDARIES: The boundaries created through gender were made clear and the space (an abandoned mansion) shows the perceived boundary of the role of women as being tied solely to the home. POWER DYNAMICS: Power dynamics between men and women. NETWORKS: Like-minded participants reveals a network of women. IMAGINARIES: Collective imaginaries towards challenging patriarchy. Sabrina Dorsainvil + Luisa MĂşnera For more info about this project visit: http://womanhouse.refugia.net/

MS DESIGN + URBAN ECOLOGIES THESIS - 2014

READING BETWEEN THE LINES CONTENT ANALYSIS

About the Exercise: Content analysis is a method that is used to analyze the communication of specific content. Reading between the lines can allow for you to identify the actors, the relationships they have between each other, and the types of exchanges that take place. For this exercise you also need to develop a system of coding the text that is being read. Actors with power and control can be highlighted in a certain color, lines of weak relationships can be drawn through dashed lines, consequences that result from certain actions can be circled and tied back to the actor that it is related to. The exercise allows you to add a layer of critical analysis about the way information is passed down.

What you need: - text document (article, report, analysis, timeline) - highlighters (multiple colors) - pencils

Actions: A. Read through the document you have selected to analyze B. Create a coding system to represent actors, actions, and exchanges. C. Map out one actor at a time (repeating the process for all the actors identified in your sample) D. Look for moments of intersection bewteen actors and identify the outcomes of these intersections

Lens: Stories Power Dynamics, Networks

Questions: What data is being analyzed and who is it being written for? Who defines it and what audience is it being directed to?

Learning Objective Critical thinking, making relations that are not clear at first glance, interpreting information

URBAN ATLAS GUIDE - 2014

THE URBAN ATLAS PROJECT - Sabrina Dorsainvil and Luisa MĂşnera

NYC ARTS TIMELINE Luisa Munera

About the Project:

2013- New York City

The investigation was focused on making connection between events in history. A timeline is organized by time and I wanted to extract actors and actions that might have been made in a moment in history that end up having direct affects later on in history. The timeline selected ranges from 1911 to 1990. The timeline that has been highlighted depicts a narrative of an under-represented group of practitioners who have collectively come together in the hopes of creating a more just and inclusive platform for artistic production and dissemination.

Courtesy Luisa Munera

Actions: A. I read a timeline produced by the National Association of Artistsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Organizations B. I developed a coding system for the actors, actions they took and policies that were put in place that later impacted certain populations.

Lenses: STORIES: The investigation tells the stories of issue related to rights, inclusivity, and speculation in the arts sector of New York City during 1911 and 1990 POWER DYNAMICS: The investigation brings to light the dynamics that exist between city and government agencies. The timelines reveals moments of collective action the result in shifts of power and control. NETWORKS: The timeline brings to light the networks that have been created beause of actions taken by certain stakeholders. The relationships and connections that are created transcend time and forms common stories around groups in history. For more info about this project visit: http://urbanatlasproject.wordpress.com

MS DESIGN + URBAN ECOLOGIES THESIS - 2014

WHATâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S REALLY ON THIS BLOCK? DRAWING

About the Exercise: This method of research uses drawing as a way of looking at the block you see in your neighborhood everyday in an alternative way. The goal of the exercise is to simply look at the building, its functions, who it may be serving and why it is located in a particular place. The analysis of this exercise allows you to see the network of places influencing the identity of your neighborhood. You can begin to see the services that are present and the ones that are not. Revisiting the buildings you often see through drawing can help uncover patterns (laundromats, fast food, pawn shops) and imagine the things you would like to see instead.

What you need: - clipboard - paper - a marker + a pen - 3-5 blocks in your neighborhood

Actions: A. Identify 3-5 blocks in your neighborhood (business areas work really well) B. On a sheet of paper draw the buildings with a pen or marker (make sure to mark the street name in the to corner with an arrow for the direction you are walking toward) C. Look at all your buildings and write the function below it (ex. pawn shop, bodega, bank, flower shop, electronics store, laundromat)

Lens: Stories, Networks, Imaginaries

Questions: Do you see patterns of things represented on your block? Is there something missing? Who lives in the area? Who controls what goes where? What would you want this block to be?

Learning Objective critical thinking, identifying patterns, classifying building uses, sketch from observation 68

URBAN ATLAS GUIDE - 2014

THE URBAN ATLAS PROJECT - Sabrina Dorsainvil and Luisa MĂşnera

103 - 106 ST. ON 3RD AVE The Urban Atlas Project - Sabrina Dorsainvil

About the Project:

2013 - East Harlem, New York

While investigating businesses and commercial areas of East Harlem drawing the buildings became an alternative form of looking. Each drawing showed physical outlines of each building but underneath each the use or function was written. People often say they â&#x20AC;&#x153;knowâ&#x20AC;? they are in a particular area of the city because of the things they see at the street level. This exercise of drawing the buildings first then paying attention to its use allowed her to slow down and see what was really on the block and to inform ideas around what each business was projecting onto the identity of the place.

Courtesy of Sabrina Dorsainvil

Actions: A. East Harlem, 103rd Street to 106th Street along 3rd Ave B. Walking uptown and drawn on 5x7 index cards with pink fine tip sharpie and a blue pen C. Electronic stores, fast food chains, vacant buildings, 99 cent store and more

Lenses: STORIES: The commercial areas often cater to a specific population of people, responds to a demand, or is targeted at a group of potential users. This relates back to the narrative of a place seeing the way cultural or economic interests play out on the street. NETWORKS: While looking at the list of places on the draw blocks networks of pawn shops and fast food restaurants were identified. IMAGINARIES: Looking at areas with vacant spaces or areas under construction can give space to considering future functions and imaging the spaces to be used in service of residents. For more info about this project visit: www.urbanatlasproject.wordpress.com

MS DESIGN + URBAN ECOLOGIES THESIS - 2014

THE URBAN ATLAS PROJECT GUIDE: TUTORIALS IN THE MAKING The Urban Atlas Project is developing tutorials to further the reach of the Urban Atlas Guide. Shown here are stills from our first video for the excercise Drawing - “What’s Really On This Block?

THE URBAN ATLAS PROJECT - Sabrina Dorsainvil and Luisa Múnera

MS DESIGN + URBAN ECOLOGIES THESIS - 2014

Guide Resources http://womanhouse.refugia.net www.urbanatlasproject.wordpress.com http://www.peopleskitchen510.org http://www.suzannelacy.com http://dsgnagnc.com/santa-cruz-visible/ http://whitney.org/Collection/HansHaacke http://agustinawoodgate.com/ http://candychang.com http://hankwillisthomas.com http://gothamist.com/2011/09/09/interactive_911_ street_art_memorial http://interrogative.org/projects http://www.queensmuseum.org/social-practice-queens/ http://ourgoods.org/ http://simonettamoro.com http://murmurtoronto.ca/about.php

THE URBAN ATLAS PROJECT - Sabrina Dorsainvil and Luisa MĂşnera

OUR PROCESS

MS DESIGN + URBAN ECOLOGIES THESIS - 2014

shops selling the idea of Harlem. Sounds and sidewalks tell these stories of conflict. Efforts to capture the stories of residents exist. The efforts to talk about the complexity of impact from various hands of power exist. However the critical desire to understand, envision and impact the future of Harlem in the context of identity and urban development needs to exist. The comfort found in accepting reality as is can be problematic. The positive affirmation told by many residents that Harlem will always be Harlem asks many questions. What is Harlem? What is needed to maintain its identity and how is that identity developed? With the aim to gather a dynamic picture of Harlem an acknowledgement of past devices of inequality and collective discourse need to be present in our contemporary discussions about the urban. Not only should we recognize the way in which those devices have existed but also how they had come to be and how they have managed to manifest themselves in the everyday.

THE URBAN ATLAS PROJECT - Sabrina Dorsainvil and Luisa MĂşnera

OUR PROCESS

This project has been developed by the collaborative work between Sabrina Dorsainvil and Luisa MĂşnera. As members of two separate thesis groups, Rethinking the Block, focused on exploring alternative approaches to pressing housing concerns, and Everyday Urbanities, centered around ideas of informality, everyday life and issues of street food vending, the cohesion of interests was surprisingly intuitive. After multiple conversations about our individual research and investigations we began to unearth a common narrative that spoke to both of our interests. Working as a collaborative team has allowed us to build and develop a cohesive and complex framework informed by each of our perspectives.

SPATIAL ARCHIVE

THE CITIZEN ARTIST

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RESIDENTS

ARTIST

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URBAN DEVELOPMENT

dynamic identity

DOMINANT NARRATIVE

market forces real estate political interests economic development product over process cultural commodification redevelopment tourism

HARLEM

manufactured/projected identity

ARCHIVING COLLECTIVE IMAGINARIES THE SOCIAL + SPATIAL INFRASTRUCTURES OF COLLECTIVE IDENTITIES

MS DESIGN + URBAN ECOLOGIES THESIS - 2014

AGENCY

RESIDENTS

ent

cem

pla

dis

art as a commodity

ARTIST

DOMINANT NARRATIVE

URBAN DEVELOPMENT

market forces real estate political interests economic development product over process cultural commodification redevelopment tourism

HARLEM

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dynamic identity

DOMINANT NARRATIVE

HARLEM

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ARCHIVING COLLECTIVE IMAGINARIES THE SOCIAL + SPATIAL INFRASTRUCTURES OF COLLECTIVE IDENTITIES

THE URBAN ATLAS PROJECT - Sabrina Dorsainvil and Luisa MĂşnera

market forces real estate political interests economic development product over process cultural commodification redevelopment tourism

SUGAR HILL WALKING TOUR - FEBRUARY 28, 2014

MS DESIGN + URBAN ECOLOGIES THESIS - 2014

COLLABORATIVE WORKSESSIONS: DEVELOPING OUR FRAMEWORK + CONDUCTING FIELDWORK

THE URBAN ATLAS PROJECT - Sabrina Dorsainvil and Luisa Múnera

MARCH 14, 2014

MS DESIGN + URBAN ECOLOGIES THESIS - 2014

PIN UP FLASHBACK- MARCH 5, 2014

NARRATIVE MAPPING

MARJORIE ELLIOT JAZZ PARLOR

ANONYMOUS ALLIANCE ART SHOW - SUGAR HILL

THE URBAN ATLAS PROJECT - Sabrina Dorsainvil and Luisa Múnera

PIN UP FLASHBACK- MARCH 5, 2014

DERIVE

DEED - CONTENT ANALYSIS

MS DESIGN + URBAN ECOLOGIES THESIS - 2014

EAST TO WEST HARLEM - MARCH 14, 2014

THE URBAN ATLAS PROJECT - Sabrina Dorsainvil and Luisa Múnera

EAST TO WEST HARLEM - MARCH 14, 2014

MS DESIGN + URBAN ECOLOGIES THESIS - 2014

MARCH 15, 2014

THE URBAN ATLAS PROJECT - Sabrina Dorsainvil and Luisa Múnera

MARCH 16, 2014

MS DESIGN + URBAN ECOLOGIES THESIS - 2014

MARCH 17, 2014

THE URBAN ATLAS PROJECT - Sabrina Dorsainvil and Luisa Múnera

MARCH 17, 2014

MS DESIGN + URBAN ECOLOGIES THESIS - 2014

THE URBAN ATLAS PROJECT - Sabrina Dorsainvil and Luisa Múnera

WEST HARLEM - MARCH 17, 2014

MS DESIGN + URBAN ECOLOGIES THESIS - 2014

PILOT PROJECT OUTLINE

scales of programming

HARLEM, NYC PHASE 1 the BASE

FACILITATOR

the CONDITION

URBAN CONDITION

Infrastructure/Call to Action: Arts Organization

Economic developments impact on social fabric of Harlem’s present past and future

No Longer Empty Broadway Housing Communties Sugar Hill Children’s Museum of Art and Storytelling

Identified by resident from their interest + aligns with facilitators goals/mission?

the ACTOR

RESIDENT

PHASE 2

Creates Entry pointvisual essay? what is the output -- mapping?

the INVESTIGATION

Sabrina (+ Luisa)

METHODS OF SOCIAL, SPATIAL AND HISTORICAL INVESTIGATION

Alice Antoine

Is this a collective or an individual -- do we control the call to action or does the facilitator - how do we define the facilitator -- question feasibilty or capacity of org?

Examples:

Analysis of commercial development as it relate

Research Empowerment Zone and ideas of empo perspectives

Investigate in-progress and proposed commercia Needs Analyze rezoning of areas

Investigating boundaries created by EZ designat

Development of questions to prompt residents in converstations/dialogue about condition and f

Engage fellow Harlem residents

Infrastructure/Call to Action: Community Development Organization

Sugar Hill Children’s Museum of Art and Storytelling Broadway Housing Communties

Potential areas are at the corner gardens, outsid Park Student/Resident of BHC building or youth programming attendess

Infrastructure/Call to Action: Interested Residents

Resident interested Harlem’s Future

Note: Consider temporality of each step

THE URBAN ATLAS PROJECT - Sabrina Dorsainvil and Luisa Múnera

Develop constraints in the form of method focal point for analysis (resident input, historical importance, spatial implications, social dynamics etc) + provide supplementary method resources

Location, (interior to pose questions the urban to fello and gather storie regarding the par context

MARCH 18, 2014

the SPACE?

PATIAL FOCAL POINT

Sugar Hill/West + Central Harlem the ACTION

the DISCOURSE

Conditions imapact from a spatial context

THE ARCHIVAL ACT/INSTALLATION/MOMENT TBD SITE-SPECIFIC INTERVENTION LOCATION?

PHASE 4

the ARCHIVE

THE ARCHIVE’S HOME/FUTURE Sugar Hill Children’s Museum of Art and Storytelling?

Setting/Visualization for the collective dialogue, storytelling in regards to condition and imagining of the future for the locality

PHASE 5 Its permanent home and catalyst for expanded archive

es to identities

owerment from resident

al development - Statement of

the SITE

SITE SPECIFIC POINT OF INQUIRY

tion

Engage fellow Harlem residents findings

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r or exterior) s regarding ow residents es of residents rticular

PHASE 3

Inspired by condition, and deep investigation (engage Sugar Hill specific resident?)

Further investigation and test concepts derived from PHASE 1+ 2 (create a process book)

Will require a exchange with fellow residents and lead to a tested conceptualization of archive

Development of a site that responds to research and can begin the conceptualization of the archive

MS DESIGN + URBAN ECOLOGIES THESIS - 2014

DEVELOPING OUR METHOD

THE URBAN ATLAS PROJECT - Sabrina Dorsainvil and Luisa Múnera

MARCH 29, 2014

MS DESIGN + URBAN ECOLOGIES THESIS - 2014

MARCH 31, 2014

THE URBAN ATLAS PROJECT - Sabrina Dorsainvil and Luisa Múnera

MARCH 31, 2014

URBAN ATLAS GAME Record Board

Ex. Housing

POWER DYNAMICS

NARRATIVE

BORDERS

IMAGINARIES

NETWORKS

Hello Pioneers! 1. Look at the themes, choose from existing lens cards or create your own and place the lens in dotted square. 2. There will be spaces where dotted squares are in between more than one theme so make you feel as though the word is related to each.

MS DESIGN + URBAN ECOLOGIES THESIS - 2014

COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS: REALIZING OUR METHODOLOGY

THE URBAN ATLAS PROJECT - Sabrina Dorsainvil and Luisa Múnera

APRIL 13, 2014

MS DESIGN + URBAN ECOLOGIES THESIS - 2014

URBAN INVESTIGATIONS: PILOTING WITH ANTOINE

THE URBAN ATLAS PROJECT - Sabrina Dorsainvil and Luisa Múnera

APRIL 19, 2014

ANTOINE WHITE

MS DESIGN + URBAN ECOLOGIES THESIS - 2014

IDENTIFYING COLLABORATORS + PUSHING THE YOUTH INITIATIVE AND CONTRIBUTOR SPACE WITH BRITTANY (BLUE) BELLINGER

N AT L URBA

ECT

PROJ

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THE URBAN ATLAS PROJECT

LOCAL ELEMENTARY + HIGHSCHOOLS

Students eager to develop and apply their visual literacy, critical thinking, and communication skills to further explore their culture and identity in connection with core subjects like Social Studies, Language Arts, Science and Math.

LOCAL SOCIAL JUSTICE ORGANIZA TIONS

- FOCUS ON SOCIAL JUSTICE ISSUES - MEMBERSHIP BASE - PHYSICAL SPACE - PERMENANCE IN NEIGHBORHOOD

PUBLIC SCHOOLS

BROADWAY HOUSING COMMUNITIES

CHARTER SCHOOLS

BROTHERHOOD SISTER SOL

UA PIONEERS

YOUTH/ STUDENTS

INTERESTED LOCAL RESIDENTS

UA CONTRIBUTERS

UA GUIDE

- 5 LENSES APPROACH - METHODS FOR INVESTIGATION - CASE STUDY EXAMPLES

- INTEREST IN THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD - CURIOUS - EAGER TO QUESTION - TIME COMMITMENT (1DAY) - EXCITED BY CREATIVE METHODS

LUISA

UA COLLECTIVE

CITIZEN ARTISTS

- INTEREST IN THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD - INTEREST IN CREATING POSITVE LOCAL IMAPCT THROUGH THEIR ARTISTIC PRACTICE - INTEREST IN SOCIALLY ENGAGED ART - BE ABLE TO ATTEND CHECK-INS

CITIZEN ARTIST COLLECTIVE

ANTOINE

UA ARCHIVE

UA ARCHIVE archived on web platform (blog-like)

LAUNDROMAT PROJECT

STUDIO MUSEUM OF HARLEM CHASHAMA

SUGAR HILL CHILDRENS MUSEUM

- URBAN INVESTIGATIONS - EXTENDED ENGAGEMENT WITH COMMUNITY - SITE SPECIFIC HAPPENING - DOCUMENTATION OF PROCESS/HAPPENING - CONTRIBUTE A METHOD - PROGRAMMING

- URBAN INVESTIGATION - PERSONAL STORY * CONTRIBUTE A METHOD

archived on web platform (blog-like)

- DATABASE OF ARTISTS - EXISTING SUPPORTIVE INFRASTRUCTURE - EXISTING PUBLIC + OUTREACH PROGRAMS

MUSEO DEL BARRIO

SABRINA

- URBAN INVESTIGATION - PERSONAL STORY * CONTRIBUTE A METHOD

LOCAL MUSEUM/ ARTS NON-PROFIT/ ART INITIATIVE

UA ARCHIVE guide will live on website

UA ARCHIVE archived on web platform (blog-like)

archived physically (book)

BRITTANY (BLUE) BELLINGER

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COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS: ENGAGING HARLEM

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APRIL 9, 2014

MAY 7, 2014

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THE FUTURE OF THE

URBAN ATLAS PROJECT

The Urban Atlas Project is a one of a kind platform that looks to disrupt the pattern of ignoring difference; instead it promotes a culture of difference that is contributed to by diverse resident perspectives and stories. The Urban Atlas Project acts as a mediation platform for residents and artists to come together and have their stories heard and it allows for individuals to connect on a collective level.

Our pilot is focused on Harlem but can become a replicable tool for engaging and addressing the the way our cities are growing at a local scale. We have been testing our exercises, and are continuing to develop workshops to facilitate this summer as well as organizing the Collective and aggregating more exercises

HARLEM ENTRY POINTS COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS LIBRARIES COMMUNITY GARDENS LAUNDROMATS BARBERSHOPS SALONS EXISTING PIONEERS SCHOOLS TENANTS ASSOCIATIONS CANVASSING WORKSHOPS FLYERING SOCIAL MEDIA OUR INVESTIGATIONS WORD OF MOUTH

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Bauman, Z. (1995). Life in fragments: Essays in postmodern morality (1st ed.). Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.

Lambert, Nicolas. A People’s Art History of the United States. : The New Press, 2013.

Benjamin, Walter. “Illuminations.” In The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, Hannah Arendt, ed. London: Fontana, 1968.

Leo, Vince. Not Everyone Remembers Everything; TimeTable Project:National Association of Artists’ Organization.: Minneapolis, 1990.

Berger, John. The Ways of Seeing

Logan, J. R., Zhang, W., & Alba, R. D. (2002). Immigrant enclaves and ethnic communities in New York and Los Angeles. American Sociological Review, 67(2), pp. 299322.

Davis, Ben. 9.5 Theses on Art and Class. : Haymarket Books, 2013. Dávila, Arlene. Barrio Dreams: Puerto Ricans, Latinos, and the Neoliberal City, 2004

Lynch, Kevin. The Image of the City. : The MIT Press, 1960. Salnave-Gardner, Rachelle. Harlem’s Mart 125: The American Dream Documentary

Dávila, Arlene. Empowered Culture? New York City’s Empowerment Zone and the Selling of El Barrio

Schöpflin, G. (2010). The construction of identity.

Debord, Guy.The Society of the Spectacle, translation by Fredy Perlman and Jon Supa:. Black & Red, 1977.

West Harlem Rezoning. City Planning Commission. May 7, 2012

Dewey, John. Art as Experience. : 1934.

Wuthnow, R. (1987). Meaning and moral order: Explorations in cultural analysis. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

Frye Burnham, Linda. The Citizen Artist: 20 Years of Art in the Public Arena: An Anthology from High Performance Magazine 1978-1998. : Critical Pr Inc; , 1998. Fullilove, Dr. Mindy. “Urban Alchemy: From Root Shock to Restoration” Gehl, Jan. Life Between Buildings: Using Public Space. : Island Press; Sixth edition, 2011. Harvey, David. The Right to the City.:New Left Review. 2008.

Zukin, Sharon. Naked City: The Death and Life of Authentic Urban Places. : Oxford University Press, 2009. Niessen, Sandra, Ann Marie Leshkowich, and Carla Jone. Re-Orienting Fashion: Globalization of the Asian Dress. : , 2003. Accomplishments | Congressman Charles Rangel.” Accomplishments | Congressman Charles Rangel. https:// rangel.house.gov/about-me/accomplishments (accessed May 15, 2014).

Harvey, David. “The Art of Rent: Globalization, Monopoly and the Commodification of Culture” Hou, Jeffrey. Insurgent Public Space: Guerilla Urbanism

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