Course 11

07 March 08 - 20 June 08

Self-Organizing [SO] City

room for informality and formality

Introduction

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Who makes the 21st century city? The market, large scale institutions, peer oriented professional or the people? As urban complexities grow, the makers of the city need new ways of organizing cities. The self-organizing city [SO City] is the focus of sLIM during the spring of 2008. Self-organization is a way of referring to urban processes influenced by multiple parties. These processes are mostly unpredictable both in short and long term. SO City emerges between informal and as well as formal, bottom up as well as top down, individuality as well as collectivity. This series of five seminars takes a journey into the SO City, identifying its players and new roles, its economy, and analyzing its impacts on form and public space.

Self-Organising City

In the Netherlands, new urban development methods such as ‘development planning’ [ontwikkelingsplanologie] and ‘integral region development’ [integrale gebiedsontwikkeling] emerged as a result of the changing role division between the state, the market and other players. However, still one question remains unanswered: How do small-scale initiatives and activities of individuals and small entrepreneurs create their own cultural, social and physical space in the city?

What does informality mean for the formal city? Is it an importation of the developing world or a condition of advanced capitalism? How will the regulatory state deal with the informality? What are the new ways of activating and giving form to the hidden energies in the city? Can using informality, -or creating ‘porosity’ in the city become a useful strategy for the designer? Can adaptations of physical environments through people become part of a design system? What are the new interactive ways of designing? How to would read the new public domain and design or facilitate public places in the SO city? What role can public environments play in a more inclusive city?
sLIM lectures 11 will be seeking answers to these questions.

Background

Cities were the main focus of Venice Architectural Biennale in 2006. Following this event, the growing interest of architects in the city was also shown in the 2007 Rotterdam Architectural Biennale. Here, informality was taken as a major issue. It was, however, profiled as a condition of the so called ‘third world’. sLIM, in the spring of 2008, alternatively, confronts different forms of urban informality both from the developing and the developed world. This confrontation is not about learning or teaching, but it is about forming networks and building links. Well-respected scholars, practitioners and architect-activists from all over the globe will present and exchange ideas. Amsterdam, Istanbul, Almere, Bogotá, Venice, Antwerp, Mumbai, Zurich, Rotterdam, Buenos Aires and Enschede will provide a rich array of examples of emerging forms of self-organization..

Practices

In the Netherlands, initiatives such as Wimby!, Pact op Zuid, and various projects of Dennis Kaspori and Jeanne van Heeswijk are already trying to introduce a practice focused on self-organization. City developments such as in Almere Homeruskwartier by OMA and Roombeek [Enschede] by Architecten Cie. promote more flexible and bottom up initiatives. International cases for self-organization will be illustrated by Claudio Acioly from IHS with experiences from Eastern Europe and Latin America, academician and activist Dr. Murat Yalcintan from Istanbul, architect Rahul Mahrutra from Mumbai, architect and activist Flavio Janches from Buenos Aires and Jorge Jauregi of project Favela Barrio. These practices will be framed by well-respected theoreticians: Prof. Juval Portugali, Prof. Saskia Sassen, Prof. Paola Vigano, Prof. Arnold Reijndorp.

SELF-ORGANIZING WEBLOG

In addition to our lecturers, the attendees will also be a part of the SO City lectures. This will happen by a self-organizing weblog! Students, participants and lecturers will activate the SO weblog by joining discussions, posting questions, related articles, links, thoughts and images.

Read more about programme, general information and rates. For participation move on to subscription.