mic

ha

elh

lee

• a

lbe

rts

we

iidentity

urbanism

future form

group presentation

urban design seminar11.333

4 May 2005

600 p

ound

s

fra

me

wo

rk: urb

an t

ransf

orm

s

source: national geographicun habitat

absolute population in cities > 1,000,000:

12.8% 1975

17.7% 2000

21.7% 2015

500,000,000+ migrants over next decade

100,000,000+ migrants over next decade into mega-cities of > 10,000,000

newcomers to cities bring theirmyriad cultures/semiotics with them

fra

me

wo

rk: urb

an t

ransf

orm

s

source: united nations, ccbres, government of singapore

cities with acute ethnic/political divisions

->

sites of continuing socio-demographic change

fra

me

wo

rk: urb

an t

ransf

orm

s

source: sdsc

global media and communications networks

->

migrants engage in dialogues with ethnically/culturally/religiously like minded people globally

=

people are place-based

programs are no longer

new sources of identity?

fra

me

wo

rk: co

nte

nd

ed

sp

ace

successful production of hybridity by cultural groups

->

wonderful urban places at the interstices of great civilizations

^ vancouver

^ sarajevo

^ cordoba

fra

me

wo

rk: co

nte

nd

ed

sp

ace

but success is an increasing challenge for newcomers/minorities:

resource-constrained cities

+

linguistic/cultural differences

+

political & financial constraints

->poor conditions

&

no control over the form & program of of urban spaces

fra

me

wo

rk: co

nte

nd

ed

sp

ace

musi

c

me

dia

/sp

ecta

ble

me

mo

ry/n

ost

alg

ia media-intermediated historical memory

->

substance/ meaning to issues of identity

=

perpetuation of identity/culture in city

dissonance

between lack of place-based power

&

purely virtual/symbolic sources of expression/ grievance

fra

me

wo

rk: co

nte

nd

ed

sp

ace

so space becomes contended

&

unrequited grievance is oftenexpressed throughthe use of space

fra

me

wo

rk: co

nte

nd

ed

sp

ace

driving an impetus for political change in other, non-place-baseddimensions?

fra

me

wo

rk: co

nte

nd

ed

sp

ace

or destructive revolt and/or repressive response?

the city of tomorrowbecome nightmare

are there better approaches to designing the ethnically/culturally/ religiously hybrid city?

sow

eto

pro

test

sb

alk

an

unre

stb

eirut

LA

rio

ts

fra

me

wo

rk: co

nte

nd

ed

sp

ace

given:

magnitude of changes

+

severity of consequences?

->

how will/should identity be expressed in the form of cities?

no

n-d

esi

gne

d u

rba

nis

m

no

n-d

esi

gne

d u

rba

nis

madaptive modification to cultural norms

work of marjeticapotrc, artist in residence, MIT

no

n-d

esi

gne

d u

rba

nis

mhousing/retail space modified to suit cultural agendas

work of james rojas

photo

: ja

mes

roja

s

photo

: ja

mes

roja

s

no

n-d

esi

gne

d u

rba

nis

muse of signage to define identity-specified space

no

n-d

esi

gne

d u

rba

nis

mmurals, when elevated to the level of design, can be used to reshape urban space

no

n-d

esi

gne

d u

rba

nis

mhighly efficient organic slum forms

ma

rjetic

po

trc,

sao

pa

ulo

mum

ba

itij

ua

na

pro

gra

mm

ed

ide

ntitie

sevent space

Lyo

n 8

Decem

ber

Fest

iva

l of Lig

ht, L

yon F

rance

pro

gra

mm

ed

ide

ntitie

s

Siena, Italy

Pamplona, Spain

event space

pro

gra

mm

ed

ide

ntitie

s

The Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Washington D.C.

The National Folk Festival, Bangor, ME

The Mummers Parade, Philadelphia, PA

event space

pro

gra

mm

ed

ide

ntitie

snew public spaces may be embedded into urban fabrics to create access to/ linkages with/ accentuate locations and landmarks of cultural merit

als

op

, b

rad

ford

city

centr

e,

uk

pro

gra

mm

ed

ide

ntitie

shonoring religious principles of design

al a

zha

rp

ark

, ca

iro

photo

s: a

rchnet

pro

gra

mm

ed

ide

ntitie

s

new tijuana paseo

ota

yra

nch,

san d

ieg

o

villa

vic

toria

, b

ost

on

construction of spaces programmed specifically for use by hispanicresidents

“latino new urbanism”

teddy cruzmichael mendesjames rojasmartinez+cutrietc

ide

ntity

-ba

sed

de

sig

npublic spaces designed for culture-specific programs:

italian-portuguese neighborhood in san diegoheavily mormon neighborhood near temple square in salt lake city

ide

ntity

-ba

sed

de

sig

nintegration of senior housing & childcare in response to latinocommunity needs:

san ysidro, san diegoliving rooms by the border/casa familiarestudio teddy cruz

rea

ctive

de

sig

n

photo

s: u

pp

er

left –

south

afr

ican

build

ers

ass

ocia

tion.

low

er

left –

prist

ina

ko

sovo

, m

arje

tica

po

trc

reacting to fears of the other in the multi-ethnic city:

walled housing

rea

ctive

de

sig

nreacting to fears of the other in the multi-ethnic city:

walled housing, netherlands

housing for white middle class dutch, administered according to polder democracy principles, away from the “immigrant problem”

have

rle

ijneth

erland

s, p

hoto

s:

ma

rjetic

ap

otr

c

rea

ctive

de

sig

ngated towns

conyers farm, greenwich CT

troia, portugal

environmental stewardship combined with class & ethnic isolation

photo

s: h

art

how

ert

on

rea

ctive

de

sig

nwalls – use of state power to exclude the other

san diego-tijuana

jerusalem berlin

de

sig

nin

g fo

r hyb

rid

ity

common market space

queens, new yorkroosevelt avenue

minor interventions can be used to bridge culturally-specific neighborhood spaces

de

sig

nin

g fo

r hyb

rid

ity

penetrating the international border

winning entries, international competition, el paso-juarez, arquineconcurso frontera

wonne

ickx

de

sig

nin

g fo

r hyb

rid

ity

offb

ea

tiris

hb

razi

lian

italia

nm

erica

ng

ua

tem

ala

n

eth

iop

ian

chin

ese

/mexi

ca

nchin

ese

ira

qi

lao

tian

tha

i

creating a cross cultural communitycity heights, san diego

de

sig

nin

g fo

r hyb

rid

ity

glo

ba

l vill

ag

e, m

art

ine

z+cutr

i

integrating a divided community through provisionof highly programmed common space

de

sig

nin

g fo

r hyb

rid

ity

using open space to bridge cultural gaps

ibirapuera park,sao paulo

de

sig

nin

g t

he

hyb

rid

city

schematic of future responses to the diverse city