In public space we trust
esterni is landing in Guimarães (Portugal) from June 13 to 30, to revitalize the abandoned tannery in the Couros area. It’s Isto é uma praça project. esterni is looking for motivated people that would like to be involved during the construction’s weeks, but also interested in the process of engagement of the local communities.
To learn more: here.
Since last September the Dutch artistic duo Jeroen Koolhaas and Dre Urhahn, also known as Haas & Hahn, has been working in Philadelphia (USA), invited by Mural Arts, in order to revitalize one of the city’s oldest commercial corridors: a section of Germantown Avenue in North Philadelphia at the intersection of Lehigh Avenue.
Italian artist massimo bartolini has developed an expansive outdoor public library entitled ‘bookyard’ for belgian art festival, TRACK: a contemporary city conversation in ghent. Bartolini has employed his creative, mixed media talents to develop a set of twelve bookcases installed in st peter’s abbey vineyard, sint-pietersplein 14, the establishment originating in the middle ages. the sweeping shape of green shelves has been constructed upon a small grassy field, then moving up the gradual slope of st peter’s abbey in line with their vines.
The units are filled with books for sale by the public libraries of ghent and antwerp with the profits of these items to benefit the institutions. Visitors to the exhibition may bring home a piece of the artwork, an object housed in the shelves of ‘bookyard’ by leaving a donation of their choosing into a small box supplied by the artist and the libraries.
ghent’s intervention project, TRACK, officially ends on september 16th, 2012.
Cities in progress: Please do not disturb is an exhibition featuring the work of FutureCityLab, an open-source initiative by a group of professionals and educators in order to think of a more sustainable urban development. The exhibition will be open from 22 May until 5 July at Aedes Am Pfefferberg in Berlin (Germany), hosting also workshops and discussions with experts to reflect on the future of our cities.
To learn more: here.
With the arrival of spring the Gartendeck has opened again on the roof of a parking garage, in the neighbourhood of St. Pauli in Hamburg (Germany). Anyone can go there, sow seeds and produce local foods, taking part in new forms of urban community.
To learn more: here.
Since 2008 the Norwegian studio TYIN Tegnestue Architects has been working in developing countries in order to find solutions to social needs, involving local people in both the design and building of the projects.
Built in Spring 2011 the Klong Toey Community Lantern is a public space where the inhabitants of the informal dwelling of Klong Toey in Bangkok (Thailand) can play, work and meet.
(Source: architekturclips.de)
The Creative Time’s online database contains over 350 projects related to public realm and civic engagement from the last 20 years, categorized by a series of criteria.
Identity Series is a project by the artist Jorge Rodríguez-Gerada started in the late 90’s as a reaction to invasive advertising and its icons. All around the world his faces of ordinary people have appeared and disappeared (the murals are made with charcoal).
Straatlokaal is a process of building social encounter by Foundation Projects. During the whole month of April the group worked with people and waste materials in three different district of Utrecht (The Netherlands), turning containers into small houses. From 5 to 10 May the brand new structures will be transfered in Neude neighbourhood and will become Straatlokaal: a public space with a daily programme of events.
During Public Design Festival MakerLab explored Cascina Cuccagna’s neighbourhood, collecting its memories and images through the voices of the inhabitants. The Stars of the Neighbourhood were portrayed, interviewed and then represented on playing cards distributed with shopping bags at the Shop of Cuccagna.
Follow Stelle del quartiere to learn more.
Cook for Good _ Images of the would-be cooks of stuffed tomatoes.
Turning places into public spaces _ Public Design Festival’s manifesto with clear and simple instructions for an everywhere enforceable and repeatable experience.
To learn more: here.
The MakerLab Residency has been going on, affecting little by little the block around Art Kitchen Superground. After the egg-bot’s experiment, people are testing new typologies of interventions in public spaces.
And while Cascina Cuccagna’s new pieces of outdoor furniture are under construction, in the eastern part of Milan the MakerLab Residency has opened. People are getting to know each other, sharing ideas and exploring both new tools and collaborative methods.
