Partizan Publik is een innovatief actie en design bureau dat voorbij de traditionele grenzen gaat van campagne voeren, culturele analyse, cureren, beleid maken, gebiedsontwikkeling en publiceren. Partizan Publik houdt kantoor in Amsterdam om projecten uit te voeren in Nederland, de Verenigde Staten, Libanon en Zuid Afrika.

Partizan Publik zoekt naar onafhankelijke en sterk gemotiveerde individuen die kunnen bijdragen aan projecten en de organisatie als geheel. De posities bij Partizan Publik bieden een mogelijkheid om in teamverband en individueel te werken aan het ontwerpen en produceren van events, publicaties en tentoonstellingen als ook gebouw management. Kandidaten moeten een aantoonbare interesse hebben in de missie en output van Partizan Publik.

Project Manager

In deze functie ben je de spil tussen de partners en de rest van het team. Je overziet meerdere projecten tegelijkertijd en je draagt wat betreft de uitvoering van het ontwerp, de planning en het budget hiervoor de verantwoordelijkheid.

Vereisten:

-       Brede ervaring en bewezen PR expertise in de creatieve industrie.

-       Master opleiding in een relevante opleiding.

-       Aantoonbare ervaring in produceren, programmering, schrijven en redactie.

-       3 jaar relevante werkervaring

-       Begrip van de culturele en economische omgeving waarin Partizan Publik opereert.

-       Vloeiend in Nederlands en Engels.

-       Uitstekende communicatie - en organisatievaardigheden

-       Team player, pro-actief, hands-on

Salariering volgens CAO Podiumkunsten

Stage plek

Partizan Publik heeft mogelijkheden voor stageplekken. Kandidaten moeten zich met gemak kunnen verhouden tot een complexe, veeleisende en dynamische omgeving.

Verdere vereisten:

-       Sterke schrijf of ontwerpvaardigheden

-       Vloeiend in Engels

Succesvolle kandidaten krijgen een stagevergoeding.

Stuur een sollicitatiebrief plus CV en eventueel portfolio naar Christian Ernsten - christian@partizanpublik.nl

In the sticky summer heat of Detroit, Joost Janmaat, Reem Souma, Jasper van der Berg and Eric Rutten embarked on a new neighborhood project. In an attempt to get to grips with the street economy, we compiled something of a local yellow pages: an inventory of skills and businesses in the street.

They ranged from roofing and plumbing to dog training, professional pool playing, or the ability to take a toy apart and put it all back together again. Already during the interviews and talking to the neighbors, we hooked some people up: hope that our little back alley services guide will be a source of inspiration, new projects or just neighborhood help.

This Saterday, the Back Alley Services will be presented at a block pool party. We cleaned out the front yard of an abandoned house on Moran, got a pool from the suburbs, found a mobile barbecue on a local yard sale, painted the house in razzle dazzle, the crazy camouflage security painting scheme used by the American navy in the second world war.

A big American fridge will top it all off. And: we will be throwing a good old Dutch swap club, where everybody can swap there dearest belongings for things they like even better.

Pictures of the party will follow. Last thing to mention: Eric Rutten will be the first resident of the Power House residency project, a co-curated by Design 99 and Partizan Publik in collaboration with Fonds BKVB.

Eric in Action.

At 20 June a happy-go-lucky crowd of seven teams battled for the first place in the challenging Trashville race through the Tolhuistuin. in less then four hours seven Formule 1 type of racing cars were crafted and an thrilling road competition took place watched by an amazed Sunday audience.

1. The scramble for trash

2. Manufacturing speed

3. Experimenting with aerodynamics

4. The working philosophy

5. Getting to know the challenges ahead

6. The winners' reward

7. And there they went

8. Beating the monsters on the way

9. With intens concentration

10. Female racing passion

11. The meanest machine

12. Almost at the finish line

13. The winners

14. And ofcourse the afterparty!

See also the AT 5 nieuws item on the festival.

door Christiaan Fruneaux

Beste smeerpoetsen, ouwesokcoureurs, puinpoezen, knutselklojo's en tie-wrapfreaks, en beste vuilniszaklopers, groezeldrinkers en griebesliefhebbers.

Voor we het uiterste gaan halen uit onze mismaaksels, voor we het parcours gaan bevuilen met onze losse schroefjes, onze halve maatregelen en onze losgerukte ledenmaten: eerst even een moment voor wat extra bezieling, of nee; eerst even een moment van wat extra ontzieling!

Want lief broederschap van clochards, handtastigen en knutselprutsers: Vandaag, vandaag gaan we aan de haal met het alleraardse, het allerlaagste, vandaag gaan we met flair door het slijk van ons samenzijn.

Want, voor degenen onder jullie die dit even vergeten waren, we doen dit niet voor de leuk, want de leuk is bijkomstig. We doen dit niet voor de moet, want de moet die moeten we niet. We doen dit om een voorbeeld te stellen.

Vandaag overtuigen we al die volhoofdigen, al die vooruitdenkers, al die ambitievollen, anticiperenden, planners en toekomstkijkers, dat wat echt belangrijk is, dat wat er echt toe doet, achter ons ligt, en onder ons vandaan komt.

Vandaag dalen we af uit onze hoofden en duiken we in het slib van onze levensloop.

Vandaag verlaten we onze hersenpan, en glijden we via onze ruggengraat naar de achterdeur van ons lijf.

Vandaag laten we de ziel voor wat hij is, en verheven we het lichaam tot uitgangspunt. Want wat is meer lichamelijk dan dat wat ons lichaam afscheid.

Vandaag vereren we het afval, het vuil, dat wat we afscheiden en achter ons laten.

Vandaag dus geen mooie woorden; vandaag beperken we ons tot het materiële, het stoffige, het alledaagse, het aanraakbare.

Vandaag nemen we genoegen met wat we daadwerkelijk zijn.

Dus vergeet je hoge geboorte, je ziel, je inhoud, je redenen van bestaan en wentel je in het omhulsel, het samenraapsel, de overblijfselen, de naweeën en de placenta’s van het alledaagse.

Vandaag verkennen het bouwsel, het stof, het metselwerk van onze natuur.

Vandaag gaan we niet voor de kolen, maar voor de sintels, niet voor het hout maar voor het geblakerde.

Vandaag tarten en vereren we de wetten van de natuur, en maken van niets, weer iets. Zoals de natuur bouwt op wat dat ze achterlaat.

Dit doen we natuurlijk niet voor jan doedel, voor jan met de korte achternaam, voor piet snot maar om de schoonheid te laten zien van wat we achterlaten, de ruines, het overgroeide. We trekken een lange neus naar alle diepkijkers, zeggen we nee tegen transcendentie – dat immorele geloof dat er iets is dat buiten ons zelf bestaat  - geven we ons hard over aan de immanentie – de waarheid dat er helemaal niets bestaat buiten ons lichaam.

Want door afval te vereren, vereren we onszelf.

Door stront te verheven tot hostie geven we aan dat we comfortabel zijn met dat wat we zijn.

Dus we racen om de eer, we racen om te winnen, we racen om de glorie maar we racen vooral tegen het on-stoffelijke, dat niet te bepalen beginsel op grond waarvan sommigen hun geluk menen te moeten baseren. Deze sommigen, lieve mensen, zijn zoekende. Dolende in de woestijn.

Terwijl wij, wij, mijn beste sloeberbroeders en griebuszusters, te benijden zijn. Vandaag geven we aan dat we tevreden zijn met wat we hebben, en zelfs, dat we tevreden zijn met dat wat we achterlaten.

Ik denk dus ik ben? Nee! Ik poep dus ik ben! Ik laat een spoor dus ik besta! Ik heb afval dus ik leef.

Dus lieve broeders en zusters:

Van as tot as, van stof tot stof.

Stof zijt gij en tot stof zult gij wederkeren.

Lieve mensen,

Moge de beste winnen!

A new episode of the garbage race is underway! The 20th of june the teams will compete each other and their inner demons in the Tolhuistuin. Last weekend, the Trashville victory stage got constructed at the Van der Pek Neighborhood Market, yesterday the organisers went to garbage heaven Van Gansewinkel to collect proper trash. Check the vid: fear and loathing in Westpoort.

What is the future of public rest areas along the Dutch motorways? Needed as they were a couple of decades ago (when cars were shitty and travelling was hard), they have become painfully redundant. Rijkswatersstaat, the owner of the highway, and the province of Overijssel have commisioned a project to get to a new use and design of these places along the A1 (the highway that runs from Diemen to Minsk). Joost has joined forces with artist Melle Smets and architect Stefan Bendiks.Last sunday was research day number one: apart from the ownership, the design, the spatial vision or economics of the place: who actually uses these rest areas, and what for? No matter how hard we tried, we did not find any Russian criminals, nor outdoor perverts, but did meet lone smokers, waiting truckers, old couples pauzing and young families with peeing kids.

A rest area like this, we concluded on the way home, is perhaps one of Hollands last truely public spaces. The highway environment has only very few rules (keep to the right, overtake on the left) and does not respond to policy changes from The Hague. The highway does not have to integrate society, or alleviate poverty: the rest area is a-political. It is furthermore a-commercial: it does not need to generate money. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, it is a-moral. The rest area is anonymous. That usually is associated with bad things. But actually it only means that it has no specific owner, it doesnt below to anyone: we all own it, it belongs to everybody. Thus, the unmanned highway rest areas are radical public spaces: the P that denotes its presence is the P of Public.

Last week Partizan Publik worked with Urhahn Urban Design and Onlab on the design of the Spontaneous City book. Below you can find a visual summary of the discussion.

The Summer Festival started this weekend in the Tolhuistuin. Below a visual overview.

1. Lindy Hop on Friday evening

2. The construction of the Schommelpaviljoen, the swing pavillion started. This is a project by artist Elmo Vermeijs supperted by Partizan Publik.

2. Swings under construction.

3. What will be happening here?

3. The C.A.N.T.A. got a new paint coat on one side.

Trashville Festival

An old caravan unfolds into a music stage and dancing platform. Vegetable boxes morph into guitares. Re-designed bikes produce energy and an classic German city bus transforms into a Moonshine Bar

A spectacular trash race starts at 4pm, from 1pm there's lots of makeshift entertainment! Built your own race mobile and join the game!

Grim-looking garbage gringos, tuff trash chicks and murky members of the audience apply here.

The kick off of 1Goal a global media campaign for education which Partizan Publik is producing in the Netherlands took place today in the Hague.

Find out more about 1Goal in the Netherlands here and join ambassadors as Ruud Gullit of Robin van Persie by leaving your name on their petition list.

How do we materialize peace?

Architecture of Peace is an international long-term research and action project in which a large number of stakeholders are involved. The project will consist of local case studies, interventions, university research studios, debates, publications and exhibitions.

The public kick-off of the program commenced with a two-day conference at the Netherlands Architectural Institute in Rotterdam, The Netherlands during early May, 2010. Participants included architects and urbanists and professionals from the fields of development studies, sociology and conflict studies. The first day keynote speakers - Jolyon Leslie, Kai Voeckler, Sultan Barakat, Hilton Judin, Cees Hamelink and Paul van Tongeren - shared their experience in the field. On the second day, participants worked on setting a new agenda for action in the second phase of restoring the 'urban fabric' in post-conflict societies. We will publish the results soon.

Architecture of Peace is a cooperation between Archis Interventions, the NAi, Partizan Publik and the University of Amsterdam.

Come to see the Liberty City exhibition at platform 2A of the Amsterdam Central Station.

This is the last post in a series of portraits on the 5 May Liberation Day events, which Partizan Publik was commissioned to direct by the Amsterdamse 4 en 5 mei comite.

Zunderdorp

The Liberty City exhibition

Theater na de Dam in de Brakke Grond

The Liberty City bike

Felix Meritis

Broek en Water land

Dam square

The 5 May Liberation Day events in Amsterdam are still on our mind. Nufoto.nl pubslihed pictures of the exhibition on platform 2a and the Trouw published on the Libra Gift shop. This is the second post in a series of portraits of this memorial day in Amsterdam.

The Liberty City exhibition

The 'Wees vrij of anders', 'Be free or else' project by artist Jonas Staal

The 'Je ne maintiendrai pas toujours' passport in the exhibition

People at the monument on the Dam square

The information market

The 5 May Liberation Day events in Amsterdam were a magnificent success. Music performances at the Dam and the Nes plein had many visitors, the Beursplein debating programme was well attended. The exhibition had a great opening and 1000 visitors at its first day and the night programme at Felix Meritis was sold out. In the upcoming days we'll publish series of portraits of this memorial day in Amsterdam

Nesplein

Mayor Asscher

The LIbery City exhibition

Cohen at Felix Meritis

The 'Libra' gift shop in the exhibition

Beursplein 'Open en Bloot' debate

Exhibition zoom in

Exhibition zoom in

'Vrijheid is hard werken', 'freedom is spiritual hard work' says Maik ter Veer who felt suffocated by the strict housing regulations, the scarcity of accommodation and the Dutch nanny state.

Together with a group of friends, he squatted in a disused shipyard in Amsterdam’s harbour district, setting up an area where people could be creative. About 150 people now live in and around the yard in warehouse spaces, boats, caravans and self-made homes.

This is the third portrait produced by radio journalist Martijn van Tol and photographer Dirk-Jan Visser as part of the Liberty City exhibition.

'Vrijheid is spirituele vrijheid', 'freedom is spiritual freedom' pleas rabbi Evers. Traumatized by the faith of his family in the Holocaust he argues for the relativisation of earthly life. This is the second portrait produced by radio journalist Martijn van Tol and photographer Dirk-Jan Visser as part of the Liberty City exhibition.

'Geen vrijheid zonder verantwoordelijkheid', 'freedom is impossible without responsibility' is the central idea of Major Hilali. Radio journalist Martijn van Tol and photographer Dirk-Jan Visser made a portrait of this Amsterdam freedom fighter for the Liberty City exhibition.

Since the beginning of the week, like every year before Queen's Day, Amsterdam's sidewalks are claimed individuals and groups for the grand flee market.

Especially in the Jordaan, on the Prinsengracht and in the Vondelpark tape, charcoal and the word 'BEZET' (or OCCUPIED) are used to mark off trading spots.

As part of a street action operated by Partizan Publik for the Amsterdams 4 en 5 mei Comité some public areas were also marked off with 'BEVRIJD' or liberated.

This action as well as the wall piece and the temporary monuments are part of the campaign towards the 5 May Liberation Day festival entitled Liberty City.

The wall piece 'Ik Zal Handhaven, Maar Niet Altijd' has been finished today. The original sentence 'Je maintiendrai', I will guard, is the Dutch call to arms since 1815 and can still be read on the national passport.

The newly designed call to arms says 'I will guard, but not always' as it made out of artefacts of Dutch freedom fights.

The idea for this piece comes from Partizan Publik, it has been designed and produced by Andrea Palm.

The wall piece will be put up in the Stopera, the Amsterdam City Hall, from tomorrow. Here is a preview of the wall piece as laid out in the Tolhuistuin.

As part of the Liberty City festival, the city of Amsterdam received yesterday 20 temporary monuments. 

As last year in the period before 5 May Liberation Day 20 Freedom Fighters in Amsterdam were honoured with a monument for freedom.

These temporary monuments celebrate those who struggled for different type of freedoms after the Second World War for example the 'banker of the resistance' Walraven van Hall or Major Bosshardt.

Click here for the full list with an explanation per monuments and their locations.

During the upcoming days more temporary installation will be resurrected to celebrate Liberation Day.

The work of the Liberty City exhibition team is slowly paying off. The labyrinth is almost finished.

Walls are painted inside the room in the Amsterdam Central Station.

And the billboard is going up outside on platform 2a. Just 8 more days until the opening!

The Liberty City exhibition which is opening on Liberation Day 5 May at the Amsterdam Central Station is slowly progressing. On these photos the labyrinth design by TD Architects is clearly visable.

1. Backside exhibition space.

2. Labyrinth on the right

3.Labyrintn view from the back.

4. Jasper Harlaar in motion.

Oresti Sarafopoulos, partner in de Architekten Cie, argumenteert voor een nieuwe romantiek, een nieuwe manier van wonen voor medioren en senioren in Nederland. Hij zegt: oud worden is geen ziekte!

De media, mode, IT maar ook woningen en steden richten zich op de massale modieuze grillen van jongeren en gezinnen. Maar daar gaat zeer binnenkort verandering in komen. Het primaat van de jeugdigen is voorbij: er gloort een zilveren eeuw aan de horizon. De babyboom generatie is de 65 jaar gepasseerd, en nog nooit waren ouderen zo rijk en vitaal. De koopkracht van deze zilveren generatie zal de markten herschikken naar hun wensen. Niet vooruitgang en rijkdom hebben hun interesse, maar zelfredzaamheid en vitaliteit. Zoals de gouden eeuw stond voor wilde groei, zo staat deze zilveren eeuw voor consolidatie.

Hoe ziet deze zilveren toekomst eruit? Een duidelijke tendens tekent zich af. Eerst was de zorg in handen van de staat, hierdoor werden de zorg instellingen gekenmerkt door massaliteit. Nu ligt de zorg in handen van de markt waarbij de staat het kader stelt door al haar regels. Noodzakelijkerwijs heroriënteren de instituties zich. Deze beweging zet zich door naar het individu, ieder wil immers zelf bepalen hoe zijn laatste levensfase door te komen. Een beweging van grootschalige bejaardenindustrie naar particulier opdrachtgeverschap. De zorginstanties bepalen niet meer onze keuzes maar organiseren slechts de mogelijkheden. De zorg ontmedicaliseert, oud worden is geen ziekte. Het exploiteren van ouderen op grote schaal is dus ook aan banden gelegd. De legbatterij van de zorg, de ‘zesbedskamer’, is al geruime tijd verboden. Dat betekend dat je weer gewoon thuis oud wordt. Niemand wil als kind worden behandeld in een bejaardenghetto als er geen noodzaak toe is. Er is een vitale beweging terug naar huis, onafhankelijkheid is het credo.

Deze domesticatie van ouderdom is niet ingegeven door soberheid of bezuiniging. Zelfredzaamheid wordt mogelijk door integrerende ontwikkelingen tussen mens en techniek. Onzekerheid en vergeetachtigheid wordt overkomelijk door zelfdenkende apparaten op het lichaam. Denk aan een soort “i-phone” die onze toestand volgt en bij complicatie de artsdiensten inschakelt. Beperkingen worden verzacht door apparatuur zoals een “segway”, een zelfrijdende step. Zelfs tegen dementie worden middelen ontwikkeld. Ouderdom laat zich steeds minder leiden door gebreken, de afhankelijkheidsperiode wordt steeds verder gereduceerd. Een grote groep vitale kapitaalkrachtige ouderen met veel vrije tijd genereert een verschuiving in de economie. Jongeren die hun vermogen nog moeten vergaren worden ingeruild door een al vermogende groep. De zilveren eeuw heeft naast een demografisch ook een economisch fundament.

Nieuwe doelgroepen dienen zich hierbij aan. Het verschil tussen have’s en have not’s gaat niet meer over geld maar over kunnen. Thuishulp en medische zorg blijven, ondanks alle angst, door de stijgende vraag betaalbaar voor iedereen. Het is nu zoeken naar mensen die jouw levenstempo appreciëren en aan kunnen. Ouderen zijn op zoek naar onafhankelijkheid, maar in de geborgenheid van gelijkgestemden. Je kunt de zilveren generatie hiermee in drie groepen indelen: de stillen, de actieven en de reizenden. De stille leeft teruggetrokken na zijn werkende bestaan. De actieve wil zich nog steeds nuttig maken voor familie en maatschappij. De reizende compenseert het gemis van avontuur uit zijn werkende leven. Toch willen allen een vast honk. Een compacte luxe woning in een eigenzinnig gemeenschappelijk gebouw, niet als bescherming maar als uiting van ‘lifestyle’.

Wat betekent dat voor de steden? Deze zullen niet meer uitdijen, de focus gaat van de rand terug naar het centrum. Mensen zijn op zoek naar de levendige stadswijk, de dorpsbuurt of het hofje dat men jaren geleden was ontvlucht. De monotone nieuwbouwwijken met zijn “suburban sadness” zullen worden getransformeerd door particuliere initiatieven tot gemengde wijken. De invloed van het individu wordt weer zichtbaar. Bestuur, regelgeving en gronduitgifte moeten worden aangepast. Stadsplanning moet weer terug naar de klassieke tijd, waarin het niet meer ambieerde dan het rijke aanbod van individuele initiatieven te kanaliseren. Niet meer met beperkingen in bestemmingsplannen maar juist met vrijheden worden initiatieven ontlokt in deze broze economie. Zo ontstaat een nieuwe negentiende eeuw, een nieuwe romantiek.

Hiermee ontstaat een nieuwe kleinschaligheid, die overigens niet moet worden verward met kneuterigheid. Zelfontplooiing is het grootste goed van de verworven zelfstandigheid. In collectieven kunnen particulieren hun wensen naar voren brengen en eroderen hiermee de invloed van de instituties. De zorg krijgt te maken met een ‘Big Bang’, het zal uitwaaieren over steden dorpen. Hoe tegenstrijdig het ook lijkt, deze versnippering is efficiënt, het brengt de zorg dichter bij ons. Deze tendens is ook al ingezet in de woningbouw. In Roombeek, Enschede en in het Homerus kwartier in Almere wordt op grote schaal geëxperimenteerd met (collectief) particulier opdrachtgeverschap. Nu door de recessie de grote coöperaties, ontwikkelaars en zelfs het Rijk de vraag niet meer aanstuurt, ontmoeten architect en opdrachtgever elkaar weer direct. Ieder verwerkelijkt zijn eigen of gezamenlijke droom. De stad, het dorp en de wijk worden hierdoor weer fijnmazig en gevarieerd.

Het vergrijzingdebat moet zich onttrekken van de spruitjeslucht waar het nu door wordt omringd. Nu nog draait het om de angst voor economische achteruitgang en de moeizame herverdeling. Het angstbeeld van vertrutting houdt geen stand. Het wordt tijd dat er gekeken word naar de kansen die de dynamiek van de vergrijzing biedt. De erosie van de invloed die Rijk en instituties uitoefenen op particulieren schept nieuwe markten en nieuwe doelgroepen. Nog nooit was er zo een grote groep kapitaalkrachtige, goed opgeleide, zelfbewuste oude mensen die de middelen en de tijd hebben om hun leven en hun omgeving naar de hand te zetten. Maak u op voor de Zilveren Eeuw, het is nu de tijd om uw wensen te verzilveren.

Zaterdag 17 april gaven Pi de Bruijn en Oresti Sarafopoulos van de Architekten Cie. hun visie op deze zilveren eeuw en nodigden het publiek uit na te denken over de invloed die zij kunnen uitoefenen op de stad en zijn architectuur in de kantlijn van een Frascati theaterprogramma ‘Mighty Society’.

ARCHITECTURE OF PEACE is an international long-term research and action project in which a large number of stakeholders are involved. The project will consist of local case studies, interventions, university research studios, debates, publications and exhibitions. The public kick-off of the programme will be a two-day conference in Rotterdam, The Netherlands on the 3rd and 4th of May, 2010.

[Constitutional Hil, Johannesburg. From sitesofconscience.org]

Participants include architects, urbanists and professionals from the fields of development studies, sociology and conflict studies. Keynote speakers will be amongst others Hilton Judin, Jolyon Leslie, Kai Vöckler and Sultan Barakat.

A two day conference
- Theme:
How do we materialize peace? How do politics and policy-making, finance and power, social structuring and empowerment need to balance with design processes? And how does this lead to a stable, safe, clean and inviting environment that facilitates peaceful interaction between groups of people?

- Focus:
The possible role of architecture in the second phase of reconstruction after conflict.

- Participants:
We intend to bring together the field of architecture and planning and that of development cooperation: the two main protagonists in rebuilding the post-conflict city. Other participants are from the fields of academics, politics and the military. The first day will include 50 invited guests and a public invitation to all interested for a series of lectures. On the second day, the invited guests will further explore the thematic issues in working groups.

- Aim:
To set a new agenda for action to restore the ‘urban fabric’ in post-conflict societies.

Programme:
Day one: State of the Art
09.30-17.00 - the conference will start of by giving an overview of the main issues that form the practical and academic context of an architecture of peace. Six keynote speakers from different domains will give a lecture and present a case study.
Lectures by Prof Sultan Barakat (Post-war Reconstruction and Development, University of York, UK), Jeroen de Lange (Senior Economist, World Bank, Uganda) , Jolyon Leslie (Aga Khan Trust for Culture, Afghanistan), Kai Vöckler (Archis Interventions, Berlin), Prof Cees Hamelink (International Communication, University of Amsterdam, NL), and Hilton Judin (University of Witwatersrand, South Africa).

Day two: Building the New Discourse

10.00 to 17.00 - during most of the day, the participants will work in groups to construct the necessary ingredients for the new Architecture of Peace discourse. For each of the sessions three specific themes will be formulated ranging from more theoretical notions to practical perspectives. The workshop leaders will include the keynote speakers from day 1.

Register:
Day one: State of the Art: register
Day two: Building the New Discourse: Send an email to: rsvp@archis.nl with subject: 'specific interest'

Where and when?
Monday 3 May & Tuesday 4 May 2010
Time: 9.30 am - 5 pm (Mon) - 10.00 am - 5 pm (Tue)
Language: English
Location: NAI Rotterdam, auditorium
Admission: free
Reservation required!

This project is a sponsored by KNAW and Erste Foundation

Is veroudering binnenkort verleden tijd? Voor Aubrey de Grey, die in Cambridge onderzoek doet naar de bestrijding van ouderdom, is dat allang vanzelfsprekend. De vraag is eerder, hoe de mensheid ervan te overtuigen als het zover is?

Binnen twee generaties kunnen de medische problemen die voortkomen uit menselijke veroudering verleden tijd zijn. Onze sterfelijkheid kunnen we weliswaar niet overwinnen, maar we kunnen wel de lichamelijke aftakeling uitstellen, en daardoor langer en prettiger leven. We moeten er wel in durven investeren.

In de toekomst zullen zonder twijfel behandelingen ontwikkeld worden voor specifieke ouderdomsproblemen in het menselijk lichaam. Hierdoor zal het begrip ‘biologische leeftijd’ zijn betekenis verliezen. We zijn nu al in staat om de behandelingen gedetailleerd te omschrijven en de verwachting is dat we binnen tien jaar bij proefmuizen de eerste successen hebben geboekt.

De experimenten bij muizen die we RMR noemen (robust mouse rejuvenation, red.) zullen grote gevolgen hebben voor het verouderingsdebat. Op welke manier denk je dat de samenleving zal reageren als methoden om veroudering aanzienlijk uit te stellen binnen handbereik liggen? Als de experimenten met muizen succesvol genoeg blijken kunnen we er van uitgaan dat therapieën voor mensen binnen een of twee decennia beschikbaar zullen zijn. Dit alles lijkt onzeker en ver weg, maar dat is het niet. Want wanneer experts overtuigd zijn van de dramatische resultaten, zal het niet lang duren voordat de publieke opinie volgt.

De angst die veel mensen voelen bij de discussie over het bestrijden van veroudering is dat de therapieën alleen toegankelijk zullen zijn voor de ‘wealthy few’. Iedereen met een beetje begrip van de basisprincipes van de economie zal constateren dat de geprivilegieerde groep zich binnen korte tijd zal uitbreiden, maar deze geruststelling is voor velen onvoldoende. De voorvechters van biogerontologisch onderzoek strijden altijd met beleidsmakers over deze vrees voor een tweedeling in de samenleving. Maar die angst is onrealistisch. Wanneer anti-verouderingstherapieën eenmaal ontwikkeld zijn, zullen ze vrijwel direct universeel toegankelijk zijn. Om dit te bewijzen geef ik hier een simpele vergelijking.

Stel je voor dat HIV zou muteren en even eenvoudig overgedragen zou kunnen worden als een alledaagse verkoudheid? Alle kenmerken van HIV blijven gelijk aan de hedendaagse, bekende vorm: de typische latente periode voordat het virus zich ontwikkeld tot de ziekte AIDS, de mogelijkheid om de incubatietijd permanent te verlengen door middel van medicijnen en de afwezigheid van manieren om het virus volledig te vernietigen of om infectie definitief te voorkomen. Gelukkig is een dergelijke gemuteerde vorm van HIV virologisch onaannemelijk, maar laten we het ons proberen voor te stellen.

Uiteraard zou bijna iedereen op de planeet binnen de kortste keren HIV hebben. Het virus zou niet onder controle gehouden kunnen worden door quarantaine, alleen al door het feit dat miljoenen mensen het virus bij zich zouden dragen zonder dat ze het zouden weten. Niemand zou zich kunnen verschuilen. Behoorlijk apocalyptisch nietwaar?

Er zou koortsachtig gezocht worden naar een vaccin en naar een geneesmiddel, maar concrete resultaten zouden in het begin wel eens kunnen uitblijven. Maar wacht eens even; hoe erg zou dat zijn? We hebben toch al lang adequate Aidsremmers?

Een op de 250 inwoners van de Verenigde Staten heeft HIV, zo’n een miljoen mensen in totaal. De behandeling om een geval van HIV onder controle te houden kost ongeveer $30,000 per jaar, voor een heel land dus $30 miljard per jaar. Kortom, als iedere Amerikaan HIV zou hebben, dan hebben we het over $7500 miljard per jaar. De werkelijke kostprijs van de medicatie ligt veel, veel lager: doorontwikkelde HIV-remmers worden in India geproduceerd en op de markt gebracht voor slechts $300 per jaar. En het kan nog goedkoper. Dus zelfs als we een bescheiden winstmarge voor de fabrikanten zouden toestaan, zeg een jaarlijks prijskaartje van $1200 euro per persoon, dan hebben we het eigenlijk over $300 miljard per jaar. Voor minder dan $1 miljard per dag kunnen we iedere Amerikaan een gezond leven met HIV geven.

Nu klinkt $300 miljard per jaar natuurlijk niet echt als een fooi. Het is echter minder dan het bedrag dat de Verenigde Staten besteden aan het oplossen van de kredietcrisis. Lang niet genoeg om het land failliet te laten gaan. Ook kan ik me voorstellen dat je niet gelooft in het soepel omgaan met patenten, waardoor je bezwaar kunt maken tegen mijn rekenmethode waarmee de kosten van medicatie met een factor 25 verminderd zal worden. Maar onze wens om onszelf en onze familie te behoeden voor AIDS en een gruwelijke dood zal zeker te sterk zijn voor het patent-systeem.

Natuurlijk vinden we de middelen om iedereen te behandelen. Door een combinatie van overheidsmaatregelen en marktwerking vinden we vermoedelijk zelfs de middelen om alle patiënten in de Derde Wereld te behandelen, zoals we dat nu ook al proberen te doen. Bovendien betekent de bliksemsnelle ontwikkeling van de Chinese, Indiase en Zuid-Oost Aziatische economieën dat in de toekomst het aantal inwoners van landen die de financiering van de behandeling niet kunnen dragen, af zal nemen.

Ik hoop dat u de analogie begrijpt. Iedereen krijgt te maken met veroudering. Therapieën zullen geen directe genezing opleveren. We hebben het over behandelingen die de gevolgen van veroudering onderdrukken en die we periodiek tot ons zullen nemen zo lang we leven. Deze therapieën zullen oneindig blijven werken, maar ook vreselijk duur zijn. Vooral in de beginfase praten we op zijn minst over $1 miljard per dag.

Er zijn eigenlijk maar twee factoren die ons tegenhouden om dat geld te gaan uitgeven. (1) de behandelingen moeten nog ontwikkeld worden op het moment dat de experimenten met de muizen klaar zijn. En (2), het besef dat menselijke veroudering waarschijnlijk verslagen kan worden is revolutionair, want we weten niet beter dan dat veroudering universeel en onvermijdelijk is.

Maar als we eenmaal hebben aangetoond dat bestrijding van ouderdom mogelijk is, dan zal de samenleving net zo reageren als in het geval van de universele HIV-besmetting. We gaan dan vliegensvlug anti-verouderingstherapieën ontwikkelen. En ik denk niet dat onze huidige fixatie op veiligheid dan nog een grote rol speelt. Als iedereen een levensbedreigende aandoening zou hebben en er is een reële kans dat we deze aandoening niet langer levensbedreigend kunnen maken, dan zullen we die kans ongetwijfeld grijpen. Ook als het ons wereldbeeld totaal op zijn kop zet.

Dr. De Grey presenteerde dinsdag 13 april een scenario over de bestrijding van ouderdom in Theater Frascati in Amsterdam. Zijn lezing was voorafgaande aan de theatervoorstelling mightysociety 7. Andere scenario’s voor de vergrijzing op 15 en 17 april.

On the last research day in Cape Town we visited the Pan-African Market on Long Street. The Pan-African Market is a space with a really interesting history.

The market started as the first black entrepreneurial space in Cape Town's main street. The 4 storey building exists out of a great number of art and craft traders from all over the African continent.

We spoke with Vuyo who is the current director of the Pan-African Market. She explained how the space functions kind of as a cooperative and how it stimulates other black entrepreneurial activity on Long Street.

The traders, who import their merchandise directly from the artisans in the village of Congo, Cameroon, Senegal, Ghana or elsewhere, also form a community of informations for newcomers in Cape Town.

The Pan-African Market is mostly focused on an international tourist market, but the space functions also as a place of story readings, music events and the editorial office of the magazine Chimurenga. The Pan-African Space Station is one of their recent outreach events.

The Market feels the impact of the rising real estate prices in Cape Town for it becomes harder and harder for them to pay the rent.

Nederland in 2030: Partizan Publik ontwikkelde voor mightysociety invites drie toekomstscenario's voor radicale vergrijzing. Te zien in Frascati van 13 t/m 17 april. Kaarten vooraf reserveren wordt sterk aangeraden.

On invitation of Nick Shepherd and Nicola Visser I visited Barrydale. Barrydale is a village in the Western Cape province of South Africa.

Nick explained how old relations between the different groupings in South Africa are sometimes fairly unaltered on the countryside even though Apartheid is over.

Barrydale is surrounded by wine and fruit farms. The farmers are mostly white the labourers on the farms are mostly coloured.

I discussed with Nick the very specific interpretation of Dutch culture in the Afrikaner culture. To a certain degree it seems like a particular historical moment of the Dutch colonial society has been re-produced in language, food and also architecture.

The neighborhood of the new Cape Town soccer stadium is called Green Point. Being just outside of the city core this area was used during the colonial times as informal burial ground for slaves and the poor of the city. I did my research on this area in 2005.

[Green Point from Signal Hill]

Recent redevelopment of Green Point frequently uncovered the bones of those buried there. A construction project at Cobern Street and the construction of British Petrol building just at the Waterfront are a few examples. Most controversial though was the Prestwich Street exhumation in 2003.

As a contribution to the further gentrification of Green Point a developer envisioned The Rockwell a high-end mix-used complex at Prestwich Street and Napier Street. The construction work of the building’s foundation was stopped when human remains were found.

[interior of the Prestwich Street Memorial]

[Boxes containing human remains at the Woodstock Hospital before being interned in the Memorial. Photo SAHRA]

During a consultation process the official agencies tried to determine the significances of the bones. The graveyard was then already compared with the African Burial Ground in New York, a memorial place for the history of slavery. Due to forced removals the community who claimed these bones were there ancestors did not live in Green Point anymore. The descendants of slaves and other poors live currently in the Cape Flats, the city’s fringes. At Manuscripts and Archives at UCT there is an extensive archive of the consultation process.

Prestwich Street though did not became such a site of memory. Instead it was ruled that the bones were to be exhumed and interred in a newly designed ossuary at the site of an old protestant graveyard at Somerset Street. Moreover, the construction of The Rockwell continued. And as such also the history of Green Point became more inaccessible for the ‘people of Cape Town’ as historian Ciraj Rassool commented.

[The central area of the Rockwell]

We met Ciraj at the new Prestwich Street Memorial building. He commented immediately on how instead of a place of memory, the memorial had become a heritage destination. A place with a coffee shop called ‘Truth’ and nothing representing the struggles and the controversies, which were part of the consultation process.  It’s hard not to think of the irony of the naming.

Ciraj hoped for the historial wrongdoings of economic development in the light of the World Soccer Championship to be  recognized. The problematic is thought that many we spoke enjoy The Rockwell and its luxurious rooms and grand views even though they knew about the story of the burial grounds. There seems to be a conflict between the significance of heritage and development playing out.  Ciraj hoped also for great things to happen for the Green Point Stadium as a public place, which could potentially be filled up with people and voices from all-over Cape Town.

[The Green Point Staidum]

Nick Shepherd, my former professor at UCT, introduced me in 2005 to the old zoo of Cecil Rhodes in Cape Town.

[Entrance to the old zoo from UCT campus]

Cecil who had two countries named after him – North and South Rhodesia – had the zoo designed with the crocodiles in a pond down at the bottom and all the way at the top there were the lions in a cage. This was the evolutionary tale that Cecil preferred. The story goes that Rhodes saw himself as the lion of Africa. And, during the Anglo-Boer war (1879-1915) when Rhodes was under siege at Kimberley one of the Boer leaders threatened to parade Rhodes in a lion’s cage if he would catch him.

[Stairs going up from the crocodile pont to the lions' cage]

Some Capetonians still remember the roaring of the lions. Most of them though are surprised when asked about the old zoo. They know that there’s a new zoo at Tygerberg, but remember nothing of Rhodes’ project. Nick explained how the zoo works as an exemplary space and was to symbolize the grandeur of the British Empire, the victory of the colonials over wild Africa. Not only the animals, who came from all over the British Empire, but also the vegetation is carefully curated to create a particular experience for the visitor: Africa has been tamed. Obviously the relationship with nature during the days of colonial Africa was a different one compared to now. Nature was experienced as frightening and dangerous.

[The lions' cage]

Rhodes’ zoo which is located just east of UCT and north of the Rhodes memorial is currently in a far state of ruination. The animals are gone accept maybe for a voluntary snake. UCT had plans to transform the lower parts in a parking lot and the lion cage into a take-away restaurant. The space is overlooked by most people. Homeless people live sometimes temporarily in the left-over buildings; students visit the place to smoke dagga away from the restriction of the UCT campus and creatives use the site for photo shoots, art exhibitions or dance shows.

[Inside the lions' cage]

It seems like the heritage of a carefully designed experience of the old Empire is crumbling and slowly taken over by everyday life in contemporary Cape Town.

[The crocodile pond]

I'm back in Cape Town for the first time after five years. In the place where I did my Master's studies at the University of Cape Town and lived for a bit more than a year, I'm now researching with artist Andrea Brennen for a project on the visual representations and the accompanying narratives of a number of public spaces.

[Pinguins at Simon's town, a must-see for every tourist! / photo by Andrea Brennen]

Going down my own memory lane I visited my old house in Observatory, the university where I studied and some of my favorite coffee shops and beaches. Cape Town is still as beautiful as it was five years ago! I realized when thinking about coming to Cape Town that most of what I knew from the city I learned via other people. So, it made sense to start with trying to meet those individuals again and hear about what is different in the city. In the last couple of days I met with Ntone Edjabe, Nick Shepherd and Ciraj Rassool.

[University of Cape Town, Jameson Hall / photo by Andrea Brennen]

Nick, who is an archaeologist at the Centre for African Studies, mentioned something really interesting I thought, namely that South Africa seems to have lost its special aura or the accompanying great expectations of the rainbow society. The country turned ‘normal’ over the last couple years. Nick toured us and his two sons around at the old zoo. He explained that the zoo, which is located just below the Rhodes memorial, functioned as an exemplary landscape, a place where the superiority of the British empire over the African wild nature was portrayed. 

[Nick pointing me and Charlie at the Lion / photo by Andrea Brennen]

In talking about the project with Ntone, we discussed the Joburg – Cape Town opposition and the ways in which academics who contributed to the Public Culture issue on Johannesburg tried to portray this city as the real African city. If I remember it well Ntone linked this attempt to ambitions, which were also part of former president Mbeki’s project to create an African Renaissance. Ntone, who is editor in chief of Chimurenga magazine, mentioned that Chimurenga tried to kind of dissolve Cape Town, or at least work against the idea that it’s possible to resolve the problematics of creating a coherent narrative for the city as a whole, with its issue on the city in 2005.

[Turth and coffee at the Prestwich Street Memorial / photos by Andrea Brennen]

Ciraj, as an historian part of the Project of Public Pasts and as a board member part of the District 6 Museum, focused our attention on the spatial and cultural effects of the World Soccer Championship to Green Point, but also the public transport system. He also mentioned that the discussions about the theme created around the Prestwich Street Memorial, with the Truth Coffee Shop as a center point of dispute.

The inspiration for this research project comes from an exhibition hosted by the Gallery of the Centre for African Studies at the University of Cape Town in August of 2005, titled The Model Man: The Hero of His Own Drama. This show consisted of a series of illustrations and texts by Johan Schönfeldt and Ivan Vladislavic, and presented a coherent story line to connect the iconographic images. By writing the narrative after the images were produced, Schönfeldt references African oral societies, whose history, he argues, is constructed from objects.  He asks the audience, ‘in speech, when does a speaker revert to visuals?'

Following the model set forth by Schönfeldt and Vladislavic, we intend to make images documenting a series of places in Cape Town. We thought then to augment this visual documentation with audio fragments collected from interviews with a number of individuals who have a proven knowledge regarding the design of the specific sites, buildings, and monuments in Cape Town. Every day though our ideas of how the project could unfold is shifting a bit.

Last Wednesday Partizan was invited by Stroom The Hague to contribute to their workshop program which is part of the Up to You exhibition. Up to You brings together the work of architect Yona Friedman, designer Thomas Lommee and artist Navid Nuur.

[Lommee (center) explains his installation.]

The afternoon, which also included presentation by amongst others DUS architects and Tussentijd,was aimed at the question posed by Stroom whether upcycling could be 1. a strategy to include social aspects into the discussion regarding sustainability and 2. a production model which includes notions as the temporary, coincidence or uncertainty. Two guiding principles according to the Up to You curators are 'open form' and 'adaptation' which are derived from discussion on opensource production and co-creation.

In response to the invitation I mentioned to curator Francien van Westrenen my concerns regarding the wide variety of issues and topics on the table. Interested by the practice of my fellow speakers I decided to join anyway. Indeed, the conversation drifted freely from issue to issue, but had definitely interesing moments. Upcycling in my understanding after this afternoon is a term to describe a production process and as such hard to explain through the images of a project explanations.

Lommee introduced his installation. Although the explanation of his creative process was fascinating, he had difficult linking his highly intellectual and abstract work to social processes. Nevertheless he gave the brilliant example of the Beetle engine, an air cooled Boxer engine. Due to the simplicity of its design Lommee commented end-users adapted it for many purposes as ski elevators in South Germany.

[Boxer engine; From Wikipedia]

Trying to understand upcycling in the context of Community Labs - sustainable innovation by a community of different type of user -, which I earlier described here, I spoke about the artist-in-residency we're in the process of setting up in collaboration with Design 99 in Detroit. In attempt to highlight the social issues we, or mainly Mitch Cope and Gina Reichert, have to deal with in order to develop this residency as a truly neighborhood focussed place for alternative energy usage, food production, technological innovation and neighborhood exchange, I spoke of the dillemas we encountered as creative professionals working in a community.

It seems to me that the impact of efforts as upcycling can only be 'measured' when the community is clearly defined. Therefore the inhabitants of our residency in Detroit - 2012 architects being the first - will value their work immediately in relation to the social context of the neighborhood as well the art and design community.

Interestingly, this seems also the point which the current exhibition at the Netherlands Architecture Insitute entitled Architecture of Consequence is trying to get across. In an attempt to institutionalize alternative architectural praxis director recently set up the NAi Studio led by Anneke Abhelakh.

Yesterday we celebrated with guest of honour Tolhuistuin concierge Jasper Harlaar that the water troubles of the past three months have been resolved.

Drinking wodka or water, talking business or pleasure the inhabitants of the Staalvilla and the Poortgebouw jointly showerd Jasper with gifts in the bus.

Kevin Kostner's 'Water World' was playing for those who were short of conversation.

To give us a reminder of his heroic undertaking, Jasper giftwrapped pieces of the old water tube and handed them out to all inhabitants and guests.

After earlier talks with Van Abbemuseum director Charles Esche about community art in Detroit, conservator Wilem-Jan Renders invited Chris Keulemans, Joost Janmaat and Christian Ernsten to Woensel-West in Eindhoven.

Woensel-West is a quarter of Eindhoven that looks strinkingly similar to the Van der Pek neighborhood in Amsterdam-North.

In this working class area the Van Abbemuseum rents two homes for curators and artists. Moreover they are in contact with the local housing cooperation and the community centre about organizing a local art project.

We discussed with Willem-Jan the problematics of organizing a neighborhood art projects and compared activities in the Van der Pek neighborhood with Woensel-West.

In Amsterdam-North Chris Keulemans has a longer history with community-based cultural activities, but we have not set-up a neighborhood artist-in-residency yet. Instead we have a residency in the Tolhuistuin.

We intend to collaborate with the Van Abbemuseum on an exchange with artists from Detroit in the fall of this year. Sharing experiences between Woensel-West and the Van der Pek neighborhood seems logical.

Last Saturday, Partizan and friends (Chris Keulemans en Eva de Klerk) were guests at the Hamburger Gängeviertel, a squatted complex of houses, warehouses and an abandoned factory, smack in the middle of the übergentrified city centre of Hamburg. The Viertel is like a Gaellic village: a blot of subversiveness, surrounded by glass-and-steel office highrises, international hotel chains and the cities' court buildings.

The Viertel got squatted just over six months ago. Over 200 artists took to cleaning the place up, scaring the pidgeons off the attics, and kicked inn a wild cultural programming, with 5 parallel expositions, parties, debates and what have you. At the same time they started to take on the marode building structures of the area to make them winter proof and liveable again. Surprisingly, the city did not shut the squat down immediately.

Now, more than six months later, the Gängeviertel still is one of the driving forces behind the local, very energetic 'Recht auf Stadt' movement. Not In Our Name, Marke Hamburg! states the mission. The piece is a witty text against top down city engineering, exclusive gentrification and commercial branding. A text against a mono cultural Hamburg, against the mechanisms of the ever growing, entrepreneurial city, against social and functional dualism. A text in favor of a more social and liveable city, the do-it-yourself city, the city of the people.

As a protest against a recent decision of the Bauprüfamt to shut down all public activity of the squat due to safety concerns, the whole public programme of the Viertel has been moved into the public spaces of the city.

Thus it was, that we found ourselves under the arcades of Brahms Kontor, a nearby former theater/music hall now office complex, hosting and presenting a discussion on how artists and creatives can reclaim the city, in which they have found themselves instrumental to big city unreal estaste interests. Although the Staalvilla, the Tolhuistuin and the NDSM rent their spaces, and the Gängeviertel inhabitants have squatted their place, they shared a common passion to take control and ownership over these places.

(Sprechstunde Amsterdam)

(Chris Keulemans)

(Edwin Gardner)

(Eva de Klerk)

(police visit)

The Blitz visit to Hamburg ended on the steps of the Südkurve of the Millerntor in St. Pauli. Under the waving black skull-and-bone club flags, FC St. Pauli, the Zweite Bundesliga club that holds between a soccerclub, a anti-fascist bastion and a neighborhood block party, beat Rot Weiss Oberhausen with 5:3.

A special shout goes out to Marion and Nora, our hosts for the weekend!

Text and pics by Joost Janmaat, Edwin Gardner and Björn König.

Last week NS Vastgoed agreed to having the Liberty City exhibition in Amsterdam Central Station.The exhibition commissioned by the Amsterdam 4 & 5 May committee will take place at the place where the national 5 May train is ending its tour through the country.

The space is the former International Ticket Office of the Dutch Railways at track 2 in direction of track 1.

In the coming weeks Partizan Publik will work with architect Theo Deutinger, graphic designer Jasper van der Berg and producer Pieter Schipmolder on the realization of the exhibition.

From 26 April the Liberty City exhibition will be opened for visitors.

Theo Deutinger and Andrew Snow of TD Architects, partner in the Liberty City project published in MARK magazine in collaboration with Partizan Publik an info-graphic of Free Cities in the world.

They found out that 90% of the free towns on the globe are in English, Spanish, German or Slavic speaking nations.

Deutinger and Snow distinguish between German free-market towns, Sloboda settlements and 'New World' cities.

Reference: Robert Thieman (ed.), Mark 24 (2010).

Amsterdam Centraal, or the central train station in Amsterdam, is in transformation since 1997. Stationseiland Amsterdam, Station Isle Amsterdam, is the name of the project.

The main partners of this reconstruction project, the dutch railways company NS, railway developer ProRail and the Amsterdam Municipality anticipate with this transformation the impact of the realization of the North-South Metro Line and the High Speed Train connection to Paris on the Central Station area.

The re-design is led by Benthem Crouwel Architects and Merkx and Girod Architects.

The People united will never be defeated: The People properly guided will never stray.

Last Saturday, the Studio Beirut collective launched Beyroutes in the city that it honours: Beirut. With many of the contributors packed into the tiny Papercup Bookstore, it became a happy, emotional, and shamelessly self-boosting affair.

From an upper shelve of a book cabinet, Chris Fruneaux speeched about the deep friendships that underlie the making of the book. In a talk with the Royal Netherlands Embassy’s Cultural Attache, Joost Janmaat revealed some of the inner workings of the beast we refer to as Studio Beirut. In a far corner, Rani al Rajji could be found recruiting stunningly beautiful girls into the ranks of the Bounyaks. Joe Mounzer got into a signing frenzy of his own; brazenly scribbling away at every blank spot of paper that got near. And all along, Steve Eid and Pascale Hares were standing on the pavement outside Papercup, between them the intimidatingly pretty latest addition to the squad: baby Noa.

Hard core locals, engaged tourists and nostalgic diaspora: this guide was made by a broad array of committed amateurs that project themselves onto the city. For years, they have looked to this particular city to accommodate their dreams, ambitions, curiosities and insecurities.

The result was a book about Beirut disguised as a guide. For a guide, it is a pretty lousy one. it does not have much listings of great bars and fancy restaurants. it does not give you splattering colourful accounts of the luxurious places to sleep, nor the latest haunts to dance the night away. It does, however, give you personal, subjective, intimate, and contested accounts ways to look at, experience, understand or even judge the city. Thus, you can navigate the city with Joe’s assassination tour, dig into Ashrafieh with Tony Chakar’s statements on Catastrophic Space, step into the head of artist Jan Rothuizen, who drew the annotated maps or written drawings that illustrate the cover.

Beyroutes is a guide about Beirut that could be of use in any city. They say all people are unique; the cities they live in are surprisingly similar. In every city, for example, the cheap and trashy hostels can be found just around the corner from the train or bus terminal. In every city, next to the official monuments of the state you will find the accidental monuments of the people. Thus, rather than propose a re-enactment or simulation of a particular city, in Beyroutes we propose four lenses, or looking glasses to look at the city (or any city). We give you the first impression city, the official city, the accidental city, and the emotional city. In Beyroutes, these ways of looking have lead to Zinab Chahine's survival guide to Dahiyeh, and the ultimate pieces on the infrastructure of intimacy by Maureen abu Ghanem (on the etiquette of commercial sex) and Joane Chaker (on teenage love).

With so many people present, the launched resulted in a (almost) sell out of the first print, a total depletion of the Lebanese National Reserve of Stroopwafels and a smiling stack of empty 961 bottles.

the constuction site of a part of the Skopje 2014 Urban regeneration scheme

The Pretext
The Dutch Embassy wants to promote the 'Creative Cities' concept in Skopje, and they would like to see the municipality, the independent arts & culture scene and NGO's to collaborate. Together with Robert Kluijver (who worked for NGO's the UN and his own cultural heritage institution in Kabul) I went to Skopje, uncertain what to preach and what role to play in this post-colonial creative class propaganda scheme. Personally I have been very skeptical and critical of the projects that are rolled out under the banner of Creative Industries/Class/Cities etc. Being teleported to Skopje has been an interesting confrontation with my own temperaments an opinions on the matter. In Amsterdam I am critical of everything branded as 'creative', here in Skopje I find myself preaching the creative city, an awkward feeling...

The Context
The reason is quite simple, before I can be critical of a concept, the local authorities must first have adopted it as policy, which is not the case in Skopje. Here the municipality thinks of arts & culture as handicraft and traditional artisans; like blacksmiths, weaving rugs or manufacturing baskets. When you associate culture and art with urban development in Skopje it is mainly instrumentalized to broadcast the nationalist agenda of the ruling party as put forward in the Skopje 2014 plan. Skopje 2014 is an urban regeneration plan for the city that was presented a few weeks ago which has caused quite a stir and lots of discussion in the cultural scene and society at large in Macadonia. Without any open or transparent process, the future vision of the city came as a complete surprise. See the video below they posted on Youtube

The plan consist of the installation of a dozen statues of national heroes, like a 30m high statue of Alexander the Great, a triumph arch, a huge fountain, an orthodox Christian church, and a series of neo-classical and baroque museums and institutes. A celebration of a manufactured national identity based on glorifying icons and very selective and flimsy historical arguments. So pick your way of reading this: an enormous investment and support of Macedonian culture and arts or a impressive piece of propaganda of the ruling nationalist party. Oh, and by the way the project costs something between 150 and 200 million euro. (here you can read more on the local turmoil around the 2014 plan)

So, there we are with our mission to enlighten the locals with the idea of a 'creative city' suddenly all your criticism starts to evaporate in a context like this, the propagation of the creative class emerges as a lesser evil, or as a much needed alternative to rewriting history in support of nationalist propaganda. If only the government would realize that vibrant contemporary culture is essential for modern urban life and would attract the high-educated creative class, in other words money. But it's impossible to convince them that gays, subcultures and espresso-bars are good for the city's economy.

In Control
That the authorities cannot make this leap of imagination is understandable, and not even the most problematic issue here. Cultural and creative scenes can flourish without authorities stimulating or heavily subsidizing them. But the first step is acknowledging that there can be such a thing as an independent cultural scene. One that is not under direct supervision and control of the state. 'Why would you give money, if you cannot control it?' is the governments logic. All public funds should be under absolute government control. Macedonia does has a Ministry of Culture, and you can apply for funds. But although democracy is installed, the Ministry of Culture basically is working as a favor system. There are no criteria formulated upon which applications are judged. The independent art scene hardily gets funds granted from local government institutions.

Basically there is a lack of trust that is bothering civic society on all levels. In the span of little more than a decade real estate property for instance was transfered from the Federation of Yugoslavia to the Republic of Macedonia, and then again de-nationalized to municipalities and/or privatized. All this causes a lot of ownership disputes within the government itself, where members of parliament are claiming and having disputes over property, in other words mafia practices. People remain loyal to their own networks, their own groups and are quick to distrust others. This is not a fertile ground for giving space, time and trust to things you are not in absolute control of.

The Paradox of Criticism
The paradox that I experienced in Skopje is that I am criticizing the status quo, in order that it will develop in a certain direction. Progress is the aim right? The status quo is different everywhere, and progress as well. The paradox is that the direction I'm preaching for in Skopje, is the one I'm trying to overcome in Amsterdam. It's the tragedy of criticism and progress, and that as the critical intellectual you are integral part of the causing the perpetual crisis that causes the system (and what 'system' actually?) to develop. The system will perpetually encapsulate, incorporate and claim all critical inquiry and proposed alternatives. A mixed blessing, cause you got what you wanted, ... right?

Skopje on Mediamatic Travel (as part of the workshop we collectively filled Skopje's page)

Last Wednesday, the third episode of the Syrian Film Festival Box Docs kicked off with a Dutch production as its opening film. Shout, directed by Sabine Lubbe Bakker and Ester Gould, is a documentary about two Golani teenagers that get the chance to study in their homeland Syria.

As a rogue desert storm swept the streets of Damascus, Kindi Cinema - a no-nonsense concrete theatre from the sixties - filled up to the rim. The walkways were totally clogged, television crews were crowding the aisles, and film enthusiasts were quite literally hanging from the balcony. As the last spectators tried to secure themselves a spot inside the projector room, a classic coming-of-age story unrolled.

We meet best friends Ezat and Bayan in their home village Majdal Shams on the Israeli occupied Golan Heights, as they prepare to cross one of the most contested and heavily guarded borders in the world. They are about to go to Syria, the motherland they only know from their parents’ stories. Two best friends, on an adventure of a lifetime.

[Screen shot]

Where the wildest thing in their village was getting drunk in the apple orchards, Damascus totally overwhelms them. The city takes them on like a pinball machine. But as Ezat passionately starts his drama classes, finds a warm welcome with his relatives in Syria, aggressively embraces his new freedoms and falls in love with the cutest girl of the school, Bayan struggles. With his study in medicine, with living by himself, but most of all with his longing for the village and the girl he left there. As the Golani students are not allowed to cross the border until the end of the term, we see him travel as close to the border as possible, as often as possible. In the cold, he and his loved one can just talk to each other by shouting through megaphones. At the end of the term, Ezat decides to stay in Syria, while Bayan goes back to his old life.

[Kindi Cinema]

Shout is a stunning documentary. It is a road trip through family life, friendship and adolescence. It is a tale of two cities. And it is about choice and decision. About checkpoints: quite literal, as the story moves back and forth through the UN guarded borderland between Israel en Syria, and on a more emotional level, as the two teenagers constantly force themselves and each other to assess their dreams and ambitions.

[Sabine Lubbe Bakker interviewed]

As the audience started discussing amongst themselves how two European girls had succeeded in making such an authentic, a-stereotypical movie, director Sabine Lubbe Bakker charmingly weaved her way through a series of interviews, in Arabic.

Shout will be screened in the Netherlands at Movies that Matter, the Amnesty International Film Festival, Sunday 28 March at the Spui Theater in The Hague.

Tijdens een ruimte-tijd odyssee door drie decennia van stedelijke ontwikkeling, overheidsbeleid en ‘counter culture’ in Amsterdam zou u het volgende retrospectief zien: de overgang van sociale maakbaarheid naar ruimtelijke maakbaarheid of van volksverheffing naar de verheffing van een locatie.

Het huidige station in deze reis is I Amsterdam™, een sterk merk vergezeld van het ‘broedplaatsenbeleid’ oftewel de Amsterdamse poging tot city branding in combinatie met een interpretatie van het stimuleren van de ‘creative city’. De vraagt die opkomt is echter: wiens creatieve stad, wiens Amsterdam? Filosoof Henry Lefebvre benadrukt ‘the right of the city signifies the right of citizens and city dwellers [...] to appear on all the networks and circuits of communication, information and exchange.’  Is de volgende stop van stedelijke ontwikkeling daadwerkelijk het Amsterdam waar burgers van alle rangen en standen meegenieten van creativiteit en rijkdom, en het recht kunnen claimen op de stad? Aan de hand van drie kritische onderzoekers van de Amsterdamse ontwikkeling, Justus Uitermark, Merijn Oudenampsen en Eva de Klerk, resumeren we pogingen in de afgelopen dertig jaar om de het recht op de stad in praktijk te brengen.

Tachtiger jaren: ‘De stad is van ons’

In de jaren tachtig was kraken een vorm van ‘politieke ideologie en strijd’. Het streven was een ‘staat in een staat’ omheind door fysieke barricades, als militante en exclusieve vorm van een vrijstaat met de neiging tot generieke verwerping van gezag en instituties. De beweging werd gekenmerkt door een ongedifferentieerde kritiek op de ‘heersende klasse’, het stadsbestuur, de speculanten, ‘de staat’ en de sociale democratie. Belangrijk voor de lokale, stedelijke gebiedsontwikkeling in deze periode is een strategiewijziging van de gemeente Amsterdam, die vanaf midden jaren 80 ontruimingen van kraakpanden gaat combineren met de bestuurlijke aankoop van de panden in kwestie. De panden blijven zodoende behouden voor huisvesting. Aan de krakers wordt daarmee een gewetensvraag gesteld: zijn zij bereid te verhuizen om zo het algemeen belang boven hun eigenbelang te stellen? Dit is het begin van de selectieve toenadering van de overheid, of zoals Uitermark het noemt de ‘omarming van de subversiviteit’.

Negentiger jaren: 'De stad als Casco'

‘Geld verdienen in de panden, niet aan de panden’, dat is het credo van de stad-als-cascomethode. Zowel in theorie als in de praktijk keert zich deze coöperatieve stadsontwikkelingmethode tegen de gemeentelijke, op winstmaximalisatie gerichte, grondprijspolitiek. Om met het top-down ‘een ontwikkelaar, een financier’- paradigma voor een heel gebied te kunnen breken, legt deze strategie de nadruk op de collectieve verantwoordelijkheid van gebruikers voor de ontwikkeling en het beheer van stedelijke gebieden. Van meet af aan worden eindgebruikers (wonen, werken, recreëren) als actieve partners bij het ontwikkelingsproces betrokken. Collectieve afspraken vormen de basis voor een geleidelijk stadsontwikkelingsproces van onderaf, met zeggenschap en verantwoordelijkheid aan de kant van de eindgebruiker bij kwesties omtrent financiering, ontwikkeling en beheer van zowel de bouwstructuur als de omliggende buitenruimte.

Nu: broedplaatsen en de creatieve stad TM

In het ‘Creative City’ paradigma worden kunstenaars omgevormd tot creatieve ondernemers, (sub) culturen vermarkt en de ‘lokale cultuur’ moet een trekpleister zijn voor toeristen. Het beleid is gericht op de annexatie van de culturele sector, waarin een versmelting plaatsvindt van het culturele veld met de politiek-economische agenda van de overheid. Cultuur als ‘software’ voor de bestaande of nog te ontwikkelen ‘hardware’. ‘Creativiteit’ wordt eerst gelokaliseerd, gehuisvest, in haar fragiele fase door beleid en regelgeving beschermd en gemest, om na een periode van groei geslacht te kunnen worden. In principe is dit zowel van toepassing op grootschalige top-down projecten als, op het eerste gezicht meer radicale, nicheprojecten.

Partizan Publik bezoekt op zaterdag 13 maart het Gangeviertel in Hamburg en spreekt ook onder de titel 'Sprechtstunde Amsterdam'

Referenties: Justus Uitermark ‘De omarming van subversiviteit’. Agora 24.3, (2004): pp 32-35, Merijn Oudenampsen 'Back to the Future of the Creative City: An Archaeological Approach to Amsterdam’s Creative Redevelopment'. MyCreativity Reader (2007): pp 165-176, http://www.evadeklerk.com/downloads/stad%20als%20casco.pdf. Photos of NDSM by Christian Ernsten

Launching of 'Beyroutes, a guide to Beirut' 6 March, 5 - 7pm at Papercup Bookstore, Beirut.

The russian revolution of 1917 unleashed the biggest experiment in applied social utopia in human history. For more than a decade, the bolsheviks set off a barrage of extravagant visions for the total transformation of their world. They were in search for the Happy Man.

Picture from Stites, Revolutionary Dreams

One of the leading figures in this swirlingly creative dream was Alexei Gastev (1882-1939). He was a fighter and agitator in the Revolution, and in 1920 he became the founder and director of the Central Institute of Labor in Moscow. Richard Stites discusses Gastev's utopian ambitions in Revolutionary Dreams: Utopian vision and experimental life in the Russian Revolution (1991).

At the Institute, Gastev became one of the most active advocates of taylors scientific management. He set about to transform Russia into the Soviet Union - a rural society into an industrial society - by developing means to engineer mass behaviour. People that had worked with a shovel for generation had to be taught mechanical, repetitive motions. To promote an ultimate symbiosis between man and machine, worker and factory, he developed the Social Engineering Machine.

However, the exact plans to this contraption appear lost. They probably were destroyed when Gastev fell from grace and was executed during Stalins Reign of Terror. For a brilliant and beautiful introduction into Gastev, his machine and the social engineering of the early Boshevik, watch Adam Curtis' Pandoras Box, part 1: The Engineers plot.

Dutch sculptor Diederick Kraaijeveld will present his three ´Icons of Hope´: monumental assemblages, done in originally colored wood the artist salvaged in numerous abandoned buildings in Detroit. Proceeds of the sale of the pieces will go directly to urban renewal projects in the city of Detroit. This project is backed by the Detroit Unreal Estate Agency. 

Opening Friday the 5th of March 2010 18:30 until 21:30 at Carhartt Store Hartenstraat 18 Amsterdam Music by DJ Taco Fett. You are cordially invited to celebrate the opening with us.

Het Amsterdams 4&5 mei Comité riep in Theater Frascati Amsterdamse organisaties op om zich aan te sluiten bij de avondprogrammering op 4 mei en het Amsterdamse Bevrijdingsfestival op 5 mei. De onlangs aangetreden voorzitter Sijbolt Noorda presenteerde dinsdag 16 februari de plannen van het comité. Eén van de opvallendste veranderingen: de viering van 5 mei verhuist naar verschillende locaties in het centrum van de hoofdstad.

4 mei: extra aandacht voor avond en nachtprogramma

Naast de meer dan zeventig herdenkingsactiviteiten die op 4 mei 2010 in Amsterdam plaatsvinden, werkt het Comité mee aan nieuwe programma’s tijdens de avond en nacht van 4 mei. Het initiatief Theater Na de Dam is daar een voorbeeld van: in theaters in en rond de Nes vinden voorstellingen plaats. Ook in Felix Meritis, verschillende kerken, de Hollandse Schouwburg, de OBA, het Concertgebouw en diverse andere locaties worden na de twee minuten stilte activiteiten georganiseerd.

5 mei: nieuwe locaties Bevrijdingsfestival

Het Amsterdamse Bevrijdingsfestival krijgt een programma met muziek, theater, debat en tentoonstellingen verspreid over de Amsterdamse binnenstad. ‘We willen een nieuwe generatie kritisch mee laten praten en denken over vrijheid. Elke organisatie die daaraan een bijdrage kan leveren is zeer welkom’, aldus voorzitter Noorda. De titel van het festival dit jaar is Amsterdam Liberty City.

Op de Dam zullen onder andere Junkie XL, Moss en Gotcha! Allstars optreden. Er is ook een muziekpodium op het Nesplein en in drie clubs in de binnenstad. In een tentoonstelling staat de vraag centraal of Amsterdam de meest vrije stad ter wereld is. ‘De Grote Vrijheidsstrijd’ is een avondprogramma in Felix Meritis, waar tal van opinieleiders en kunstenaars hun visie geven op het thema vrijheid. Daarnaast zijn er ook op het Spui, het Beursplein en de Veemkade activiteiten. Op de Amstel vindt traditiegetrouw het 5 mei-concert plaats, georganiseerd door het Nationaal Comité 4 en 5 mei. 

Voor meer informatie en interviewafspraken kunt u contact opnemen met:

arthur@partizanpublik.nl

The renovation of the Bus has started. A team of VMBOT students from the Bredero College began their internship today under the guidance of Joost Janmaat, Gerbrand Dros and Jaspar Harlaar. Below the student group will be shortly introduced.

Milo Lammers. Milo is heading towards a bright future at the Maritime Academy after graduating. He likes the renovation project since together with his father he’s used to working on their own house boat in Amsterdam Zeeburg.

Ralf Hovers. With his 17 years of life experience, Ralf is a senior at Bredero. After graduating he’s in for a career in the media field.

The bus from above.

Sander Roos. Sander is 17 and working as a pizza delivery boy, which is a fundamental function in the food chain for the Staalvilla.

Michelle Cairo. Michelle is going to be a real estate agent later on. But as a experienced carpenter - helping out her dad regularly at home - she’s going to teach the boys a lesson, if need be.

The bus from the back.

Jonathan ‘John’ Cakici. John is 15 years old, and despite the freezing temperatures, he says he likes the project until now. John is gonna shake up the media landscape later on.

Bülent Karay. This 15 years old guy knows what he wants. His master plan is becoming a pilot, and if this does not work out, as a back up he ’would consider’ becoming a teacher.

Jasper and Gerbrand at the workplace.

Photos and text by Bjorn and Christian

'Since the development of technology and the dissapearance of ideological differences has led to a globalization of economic, cultural and social life on our planet, the horizontal frontier is vanishing.'

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This writes Bart Goldhoorn, former editor in chief, in Project Russia (2000/1). He follows by saying: '[...] our challenge lies in the vertical direction - in space.' But what is the value for contemporary culture of the exploration of the cosmos does Goldhoorn ask.

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He suggests that the key for solving this question might be found in the work of Igor Kozlov. He and his colleagus tried to find an answer to the question: 'how to create satisfactory living conditions in an environment that does not offer physical impulses.'

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Here above some examples of his work as published as published in Project Russia.

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5. Cosmic architecture and the Russian Avant-garde

Partizan Publik's Christian Ernsten and architect Andrea Brennen are leading a Volume research project on the relation between architecture and science with as a case study the Moon.

The Staalvila started its first collaborative project: the Bus.

1.

Partizan Publik and Tolhuistuin-caretaker Jasper Harlaar in collaboration with students from the Bredero college in Amsterdam-North will execurte a first renovation.

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The bus is strategically located at the back entrance of the Tolhuistuin and the front entrance of the Van der Pek Neighborhood. Next steps might include a workplace/residency for local neighbors, a coffee bar and a free wireless project.

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Joost, Jasper, Pieter-Paul, Touria en Francis hebben met vereende krachten de Moonshine Bus een zeer lastige bijzondere verrichting laten uitvoeren. Na een paar rondes langs de pont en een mislukte poging om de bus achter uit in te steken, reed Joost terug naar de Mosveld rotonde, alwaar zij opgewacht werden door de politie die hen vroeg; of waar zij wel niet mee bezig waren?
Met een grijns en een knipoog reden Jasper en Joost en Leon( van Whilling Wheels) langs de  dubbelgeparkeerde auto's op de Van der Pek. Hier werden zij met luid gejuich ontvangen door Touria en Francis.
Op naar de Tolhuistuin voor poging twee. Na veel heen en weer gemanoeuvreer,  heeft de bus voor de Staalvilla een straatje weten te keren. Palen en nietjes en plantenbakken werden door de noeste strijders naar betere oorden verwezen.
Joost op de trekker, Francis achter het stuur, Jasper het brein, Touria het hart en Pieter-Paul de longen en interne organen (koffie en Gas op die Lollie!)
Kortom......feest!
De Bus staat.
En kijk dan hoe strak hij langs de stoep staat!

Beyroutes. A guide to Beirut was reviewed in NRC Handelsblad, the Dutch quality daily newspaper on 30 January 2010. The guide book initiated by Studio Beirut was celebrated because of its succesful collaboration between Lebanese and Dutch architects, artists and others. 

Journalist Herien Wensink mentioned the maps by artist Jan Rothuizen, photos by photographer Cleo Campert as well as the 'Fantasy Houses' article by Rani al Rajji and Christian Ernsten.

Order at your local bookstore: Beyroutes. A Guide to Beirut ISBN 9789077966549. Or online via NAi Booksellers of Reisboekhandel Pied a Terre.

In 2004 heeft de Gemeenteraad gekozen voor de slogan ‘I amsterdam’. In de opdracht stond dat deze helder, kort en krachtig moest worden. Reclamebureau Kesselskramer is hierin geslaagd: de huidige slogan is makkelijk te onthouden en mensen kunnen zich eenvoudig mee identificeren. Maar is dit genoeg?

[Photo via Flickr, By Duncan Davidson]

Den Haag staat bekend als de ‘stad van de vrede’, en ‘Rotterdam werkt’. De boodschap ‘I amsterdam’ daarentegen verwijst slechts naar zichzelf. Er worden geen kwaliteiten van de stad of haar inwoners benadrukt of uitgelicht. Het benadrukt eerder individualiteit dan gemeenschappelijkheid.  Wanneer zou je ‘Amsterdam’ zijn? Ben je ‘Amsterdam’ na een dagje in de Kalverstraat? Ben je ‘Amsterdam’ als je er als expat woont maar de taal niet spreekt? Ben je ‘Amsterdam’; zodra je je hebt ingeschreven in het register? Is iedereen ‘Amsterdam’? Maar wat ben je dan?

'I amsterdam' blijft een inhoudsloze slogan, een zwakke kopie van de beroemde slogan‘I love New York’ (waar een sterke emotie uitspreekt). Of scherper geformuleerd: I amsterdam lijkt een hedonistische oneliner voor een stad die veel meer te bieden heeft. Waar gaat het nu echt om in Amsterdam? Wat maakt Amsterdam nou echt tot een unieke plek in de wereld?

Op vrijdag 2 oktober jl. stond er een interview in NRC Next met priester Wilson Varela die in 1999 vanuit Colombia naar Nederland kwam. Hij wist bij aankomst niets van Nederland, maar zijn gedachte over Amsterdam was tekenend: ‘Mijn beeld ging niet verder dan kaas, molens en Amsterdam als icoon van vrijheid.’ Inderdaad, Amsterdam is internationaal bekend als hoofdstad van een gidsland op verschillende terreinen, zoals euthanasie en het softdrugsbeleid, homoseksualiteit en vrijheid van meningsuiting. De Amsterdamse openheid richting andersdenkenden en de bereidheid omstreden kwesties met een objectieve blik tegemoet te treden is een traditie die eeuwen teruggaat. En dit is wat Amsterdam wereldwijd bekend en geliefd maakt.

Amsterdam zou erkend moeten worden als stad van de vrijheid. Nergens anders dan in Amsterdam is het zo duidelijk dat vrijheid een handeling is - Amsterdammers nemen de vrijheid: van Gay Pride tot het in de wind slaan van het rookverbod - maar ook een dialoog. Discussies over gedoogbeleid, het recht om te discrimineren en kraakbeleid zijn geen trends, maar kenmerken van een diepgewortelde traditie van vrijheidsbeoefening die voortdurend getest wordt.

Dit is Amsterdam. De stad waarin buurtinitiatieven floreren, waar alternatievelingen naar hartelust kunnen experimenteren met kunst en muziek, waar iedere nieuwkomer de kans krijgt eigen initiatieven te ontplooien. En vooral de stad waar we over al onze verschillende waarden en opvattingen kunnen discussiëren. In Amsterdam leeft men, sinds eeuwen, in vrijheid. Dat moet we koesteren en toekomst geven.

Partizan Publik

P.S. Bij onze oosterburen in Hamburg is in augustus 2009 een manifest gepubliceerd dat in gaat op de gevolgen van city branding, herstructurering en top-down gentrification. Het manifest was de aftrap van een in Duitsland inmiddels op nationaal niveau gevoerde discussie over stedelijke ontwikkeling en het 'recht op de stad'. 

Reactie van Richard Florida op het manifest van Hamburg.

Or actually - finding a wind turbine - for electrification was one of the outcomes of a meeting Partizan Publik had with people from the Tolhuistuin about designing a self-powered Neighbourhood-Coffee-Bar-Bus.

1. Bus, Buiksloterham. 24 January 2010.

Inquiry with our friends from Design 99 in Detroit proved very usefull. Mitch Cope explained that for their Power House project they use the Air Breeze wind mill. Mitch also explained he's using a Deka 8a8d 225 amp/hr battery.

2. Power House by Design 99, 16 December 2009. Air Breeze on the roof.

3. Power House by Design 99, 16 December 2009. A Deka 8a8d 225 amp/hr battery.

In the Netherlands the Air Breeze is sold amongst others by Eco-Energy in Spaarndam. I remembered then that also artist Marjetica Portc did projects with wind turbines. She did a project at the Catherine Ferguson Academy in Detroit, but also more recently she did a project in collaboration with Vriza at the Piraeus buiilding in Amsterdam, entitled Wind Turbine and Look Out.

4. 'Look Out with Wind Turbine' by Marjectica Portc. 24 January 2010 Piraeus Building

5. 'Look Out with Wind Turbine' by Marjectica Portc. 24 January 2010 Piraeus Building

It will be an interesting assignment to figure out how to use a wind turbine for the electrification of the bus. But besides that we still have to do work on isolation, heating, the roof, the floor and furniture. Help and advise is more than welcome.

6. Bus, Buiksloterham. 24 January 2010.

7. Interior Bus, Buiksloterham. 24 January 2010.

8. Driver's Seat. 24 January 2010.

HOW ARMENIA'S FUTURE OUTNUMBERED IT'S PASTS

Yerevan, March 2009. Photos by Karin Grigoryan

In March 2008, Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, a former Soviet republic in the Southern Caucasus, briefly made its way to our television screens. News channels displayed how, after a disputed election, angry masses filled the city’s central streets and squares. Northern Avenue, a recently finalized prestigious development project in the centre of Yerevan, being one of them. After an intense period of daily demonstrations and protest, outgoing president Robert Kotcharian declared a state of emergency and restored order. In response to his aggressive intervention, during which many were severely beaten and imprisoned, citizens made Northern Avenue into the key site for civil disobedience. During several months, mothers with children, elderly and veterans ignored the ban on public gatherings and held daily meetings at five o’clock in this street to demand accountability of the public administration.

Yerevan, March 2009. Photos by Karin Grigoryan

Although the buildings’ mortar is still fresh, the Northern Avenue is the final realization of a city plan, designed by bolshevist architect Alexander Tamanyan in 1924. Tamanyan circle shaped city is based on the fictional Sun City in Tomasso Campanella’s early utopian work La città del Sole (1602).  The twenty-seven meter wide Northern Avenue with eight to nine floor buildings on either side is the first pedestrian street in Yerevan. The owners of the expensive apartments are, amongst others, the more affluent members of the Armenian Diaspora. The assortment of shops and boutiques on the ground floor, notably Dolce & Gabbana or United Colours of Benetton and alike, clearly also cater to the high-end consumer. With the Northern Avenue the post-soviet elite of Armenia fulfilled their desire to create a place for all Armenians to be proud of and ‘an earth quake in terms of the architecture of their city.’(1)

Aerial photo of central Yerevan, the circle shaped city.

Indeed, some distraction from daily life of Yerevan seems more than welcome to its inhabitants. The ending of the Soviet Union and the subsequent war between Armenians and Azeris over Nagorno Karabakh (1988-1994) brought the average Armenian a lot of hardship. Not only in terms of war trauma and loss of family, but since 1994 a clan controlled economy, as well as, a blockade imposed by Azerbaijan and Turkey have resulted in widespread poverty. Fifty percent of the population lives below the poverty line. And even though a committed Diaspora guarantees a steady influx of money, really only the happy few live a better life since the political transformation from communism. (2) That said, the Northern Avenue has little to offer for the majority of the inhabitants of the city accept as a shortcut route for pedestrians or as a symbolic place to protest at against the current regime.

Destruction of homes

The city quarter of which the Northern Avenue is part is as large as ten hectare and used to be made up by ‘illegal’ partly wooden houses of one or two stories. These buildings were in bad condition. According to Narek Sargsyan, the city architect, the structures were of no particular architecture and could be considered as ‘a cancer in the city’(3). The privatization of the area in 2000 cleared the way for a radical urban makeover. Approximately 2000 inhabitants were convinced to evacuate from their houses. They were entitled to have a reimbursement of 300 USD per square meter. Interestingly, a bonus system gave people an incentive to abandon their houses promptly: leaving within five days meant gaining 40 percent extra per square meter. Yet, since real estate prices in Yerevan during the last few years rose at an incredible pace none of the original inhabitants of this area found alternative housing in the neighbourhood.

Numbered house, Yerevan 2008. Photo by Aukje Dekker

Not only were tenants forced from their homes and were their houses destroyed, the realization of the Northern Avenue project also meant the destruction of an important site of memory. When clearing the area, bulldozers destroyed the green zone in the nineteenth-century Pushkin Street. The old fruit trees in this street were of symbolic meaning to the inhabitants of the city. They had survived the onslaught onto the city’s greenery during the winters of the early independence years. In this harsh period electricity black outs were so frequent that people desperately burned whatever they could find to survive temperatures of minus 25. Yet, families living in Pushkin Street adopted the fruit trees. They protected them and confined them their secret stories. And over the course of time also many others sought shelter and comfort with these plants. The destruction of the neighbourhood let to protest and to the founding of a National Citizens’ Initiative, which examined potential violation of property rights. Yet, the government muted its efforts by incriminating the lawyer who defended some of the residents.(4)

Numbered house, Yerevan 2008. Photo by Aukje Dekker

Instead, in order to pacify the people, officials promised to preserve some houses on a different location. Indeed, they pledged that the buildings would be carefully taken down stone by stone, stored, and rebuild on a later moment. They envisioned a proper nineteenth century street to be fabricated, a thematic collage from the fragments of the old buildings. Twenty-nine houses were considered worthy of rescuing according to government researchers. And thus, in a truly bureaucratic way – numbering each stone of the houses carefully - the facades of the newly appointed monuments were rescued. Yet, most inhabitants of Yerevan do not believe the government’s story. The only house that was reconstructed until now happens to be the current headquarters of the ruling Armenian Nationalist Party. Still, no one knows for sure what happened to the stones, feeding to the haunted ambiance of the Northern Avenue area.

Dreams of the future

‘This street makes me afraid’, remarked Vardan Azatyan, a local art historian.(5) According to Azatyan the new avenue, connecting Republican Square with the Opera House represents a new type of totalitarian politics, which came about since the ending of the Soviet Union. The street’s architecture is the product of an agreement between the post-soviet political regime and the capital from the Diaspora and Russian developers. The cultural vision transpiring from this agreement seems to be based on a complex set of Armenian experiences. The Northern Avenue could namely be understood as inspired by a four-vectored dream of the Armenian future: to the left – based on the remnants of the country’s Soviet legacy, to the right - celebrating the country’s national traditions, backwards - into the mythical Christian past and forward – firmly embracing market capitalism.(6) And, as such, the realization of Northern Avenue is an attempt by the Armenian elite to fix the post-soviet identity.

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2. Northern Avenue, Yerevan 2008. Photos by Aukje Dekker

Indeed, strangely enough, the design of Northern Avenue is inspired by Stalinist architecture but becomes carrier of new type of Armenian nationalism (7), ‘high technological nationalism’, according Azatyan. To Sargsyan, the architect of the city, the Northern Avenue is, first and foremost a stylistic synthesis of the Neo-classicist Opera House and Modernist Republican Square. Yet, in explaining the origins of the project, he firmly places the dream to finalize Tamanyan’s city plan in the period of the nationalist war with Azerbaijan. It was in 1990 that Sargsyan and his colleagues were under siege in Nagorno-Karabakh, when he decided that Armenians all around the world needed the Northern Avenue as a new national symbol.(8) For Diaspora Armenians their visits to Yerevan could be seen as a spiritual experience and, align to this, their contribution to the city’s renewal a way of paying redemption for their absence. Financing the Northern Avenue is a way for them to re-root or regain a home they were once forced to abandon.

Northern Avenue, Yerevan 2008. Photos by Aukje Dekker

Mourning the past

Paradoxically, due to the construction of Northern Avenue again a part of Armenia’s past is lost, namely that of the Pushkin Street quarter. The realization of the street exemplifies how one man’s dream can be another’s nightmare. Moreover, it displays how the destruction of habitat appears to be a returning element in the Armenian history (e.g. the Armenian genocide and the loss of the national symbol, Mount Ararat).  Azatyan detects a strategic mourning amongst Armenians leading to an extreme spiritual seclude in terms of the national collective experience, namely a focus on the exclusive role of the Armenians in the Christian history and the suffering they had to endure. Explaining the remaking of the capital, he argues that Armenians make their own suffering last longer by a perpetual destruction of their own cultural environment. As such, Northern Avenue can be seen as cutting open an old historical wound.(9) And, as a result, the every day memories of the old neighbourhood are erased by mythologized history of collective survival.(10)

Northern Avenue, Yerevan 2008. Photos by Aukje Dekker

Northern Avenue constitutes a particular dream about the Armenian future, align to a nationalist ideology; the numbered stones of the houses are the evidence of a more fragmented past. The memory the neighbourhood only lives through in oral history of the people. Consequently a question comes to mind, namely: who owns the Armenian past? And, would there be space for a different politics of hope? Instead of contributing to a further marginalization of the urban poor, urban professionals could give an incentive to deal in a more profound way with the socio-economic and cultural challenges of post-Soviet Armenia. Could the Armenian dream encompass an ambitious urban agenda and a vision on human rights and social justice? At the moment, the first people move into the new apartments above the fancy storefronts of the Northern Avenue. As their first act they could reconcile with the old inhabitants of the place, which pasts were outnumbered by their vision on the Armenian future.

By Christian Ernsten and Joost Janmaat

Sources

1. Interview with Narek Sargsyan, 29 May 2008.

2. URL: http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=2454&l=1 (5 October 2008).

3. Interview with Narek Sargsyan on 29 May 2008.

4. URL: http://oneworld.blogsome.com/2007/02/28/protest-outside-presidential-palace/#more-1388 (12 October 2008) and URL: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/EUR01/017/2006/en/dom-EUR010172006en.html (12 October 2008).

5. Interview with Vardan Azatyan on 17 Januray 2008.

6. Idem.

7. Interview with Vahram Aghasyan on 22 January 2008.

8. Interview with Narek Sargsyan on 29 May 2008.

9. Public Culture 2 (2008).

10. Interview with Vardan Azatyan on 17 Januray 2008.

Housing Corporation Ymere, which owns about 100% of the housing stock in the Van der Pek neighborhood in Amsterdam - North has made two buildings available for testing out future model homes.

1. Looking from the Van der Pekstraat towards the Tolhuistuin.

2. The boarded up building on the Van der Pek Street.

The buildings at the Van der Pek Street and the Begonia Street, which will be transformed from eight household blocks into something new, are boarded up at the moment. The neighborhood use to be totally social housing for lower income families. 

The families are in a process of being relocated to elsewhere in Amsterdam and during the last years these houses where inhabitants by artists.

3. The Van der Pek Street

4. Side view of the building on the Van der Pek Street.

A critical discourse on these urban renewal development in Amsterdam is coming together. Take a look for example at the Nomads in Amsterdam - West project or at the work of academic Justus Uitermark.

5. Gardens behind the building.

6. The boarded up building on the Begonia Street.

7. Front view of the building on the Begonia Street

8. View from the Buiksloterweg on the transformation of the former Shell terrain.

At the Staalvilla we're in the process of setting up a cooperative, why? The Staalvilla is part of the Tolhuistuin a so called: incubator or broedplaats. Amsterdam has the 'creative class' high on the agenda, and these incubators are part of their vision on how the cit should develop. But what is our possition is creatives in this? Especially we as small independent creatives, that are not primarily driven by earning money, but by doing the projects they believe in.

We as 'creatives' have to acknowledge that we are being instrumental:

- IN THE CITY’S IDENTITY A.K.A ‘CREATIVE CAPITAL
- IN THE CITY’S URBAN DEVELOPMENT A.K.A ‘BROEDPLAATS’ OR ‘INCUBATOR’
- IN THE GENERATION OF REAL ESTATE VALUE A.K.A ‘AWARENESS OF A PLACE TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC’
- IN THE PROCESS OF ‘GENTRIFICATION’

We as 'creatives' are primary driven by oppurtinism:

- AS LONG AS THE RENT IS LOW ENOUGH
- AS LONG AS THERE ARE ‘KINDRED SPIRITS’ AROUND

It's all OK, because what we want is:

-  AS LITTLE HASSLE AS POSSIBLE.
- TIME & SPACE TO CREATE. 

So how do we move beyond being used by, the municipality and real estate developers, we could ask ourselves these questions:

ECONOMICALLY
- CAN’T WE GET A BETTER DEAL FOR ‘MAKING A PLACE’ ‘GENERATING REAL ESTATE VALUE’ THAN JUST A “LOW” RENT?

IDEOLOGICALLY
- AS ‘CHANGE AGENTS’ CAN’T WE PLAY A MORE MEANINGFUL ROLE BESIDES KICK-STARTING GENTRIFICATION?

SO: LET'S UNITE!

A perfect way to do this, where economic and ideological interests of the group 'small creatives' can be brougth together is in the cooperative model.

- DEFINITION: A co-operative is an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and democratically-controlled enterprise.

- VALUES:  Co-operatives are based on the values of self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity and solidarity. In the tradition of their founders, co-operative members believe in the ethical values of honesty, openness, social responsibility and caring for others. - More can be found here: Statement on the Co-operative identity

So what would be the objectives of a cooperative for small creatives are our interests:

ECONOMIC
- SHORT TERM: GET A BETTER DEAL - LONG TERM: DEVELOP OURSELVES

IDEOLOGIC
- SHORT TERM: GET INFLUENCE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF NORTH - LONG TERM: DEVELOP AND EXECUTE ALTERNATIVE STRATEGIES OF CITY DEVELOPMENT IN WHICH ‘GENTRIFICATION’ IS COUNTERED

Now we'll work out what would be the first steps in terms of who to enter in dialogue with, and how to actually set up a cooperative in legal terms.

More next time ...

In fields of business, politics and design unfamiliar partnerships focused on the necessity of radical urban change seem to be occurring. These collaborations are focused on sustainable innovation among communities of different types of users. Local neighborhood strategies are enriched with experiences from elsewhere on the globe. Industrial research organizations are trying to mobilize knowledge from across the globe to innovate better and faster. Municipalities are trying to stimulate neighborhoods and their industrial base.

The incentive of these experimental collaborations, which could perhaps be referred to as ‘community labs’ is a refreshing type of culture of engagement: a process–oriented collaboration, with an open type of communication, which is not necessary end-goal driven, yet focused on sharing knowledge in order to improve.

This type of engagement can be observed among artists and architects. It is emerging out of a sense of urgency and seeks to exploit the opportunity for a new kind of artistic agency in post-industrial cities, in which, to paraphrase curator Charles Esche, ‘regional art and site-specific production are combined, a kind of everyday life art’. The role of Design 99 in Detroit is notable in this context. The architect and artist that make up this collective do not only work as commercial design consultants, they collaborate with neighbors in a social and economic deprived neighborhood where urban governance has failed to make a difference in order to develop a more sustainable security level in terms of energy and security.

These unfamiliar partnerships can also be seen to emerge in business and social institutions. The roundtable projects of economist Jeremy Rifkin are of interest. In collaboration with national and city governments Rifkin intends to develop a system for generating clean energy and of sharing the production surplus through an exchange network with the neighbors. In collaboration with architects as Stefano Boeri, he is developing a scheme for buildings that can produce energy.

A third example is the lightning division of the Dutch company Philips, which is collaborating with local governments and museums in Eindhoven in order to further develop their society driven innovation approach. In a quest to find the successor for their successful home lab, an innovation test facility, Philips opened its communication channels to communities.

As Rifkin says, if successful, these projects could very well help what explore different types of human settlements. These cooperative projects, which have a clear local basis yet are very globally linked in the peer-to-peer world wide web. They could represent a form of transformation in which a small community supervises a process of improvement in close communication with the larger urban community, which is perhaps more skeptical and less flexible.

Sources: Jeremy Rifkin, The Hydrogen Economy (New York 2003), URL: http://www.bamboostones.net/, Stefano Boeri Lecture, 'Sustainanable City', Amsterdam 18 March 2009.

Edited by Christian Ernsten, Edwin Gardner and Andrew Herscher and designed by Nina Bianchi, the Detroit Unreal Estate Agency presented in Volume #22 the ATLAS OF LOVE AND HATE.

The Atlas, which was conceptually based on an idea of the geographer William Bunge, includes amongs others work by The Netherlands - based artists Lado Darakhvelidze, Jimini Hignett and Raymond Huizinga.

Andrew Herscher wrote the introduction, other University of Michigan affiliated contributors were Mireille Roddier, Marc Maxey and Craig Wilkins.

Herscher invited Detroit - based artists Nick Tobier as well as Shelby Moffett and Robert Smiley Jr. to contribute.

Partizan Publik's Ernsten, Gardner and Joost Janmaat developed three Utopia/Dystopia scenarios based on real existing urban renewal scenarios in Detroit.

Dutch Femke Lutgerink and Corine Vermeulen contributed with beautiful material from their 'Walk-in Portrait Studio'.

Bianchi's design was published as part of Volume #22 entitled 'The Guide'.

Available in Amsterdam in Atheneum and Architectura & Natura booksellers. Soon also in Beirut and elsewhere in the world the Studio Beirut initiated BEYROUTES. A Guide to Beirut published by ARCHIS and produced in collaboration with Partizan Publik and Pearl Foundation. 

If you want to read more about the Eifel Tower, the Tate Modern or the Time Square of Beirut then don't buy this guide. BEYROUTES is not an ordinary guide, it won't bring you to the usual places.

Instead of providing facts and figures, landmarks and places to eat BEYROUTES presents a series of stories about the Lebanese capital. The stories are told by a varied group of individuals. 

Experienced researchers, artists and writers as Tony Chakar, Mona Harb, Hassan Choubassi and Michael Stanton but also by local professionals and students in the fields of architecture, arts and design as well as foreigners as artist Jan Rothuizen and other frequent visitors of the city contributed and made BEYROUTES into a guide to experience Beirut at this moment of time.

The book which designed by Pascale Hares under art direction of Nicolas Bourquin and Jeanno Gaussi is losely organized around four chapters. The First Impression City, the Official City, the Emotional City and the Invented City.

By changing in each chapter the perspective on Beirut the editors attempt to give visitors tools to engage with the city and its inhabitans without providing an over-arching narrative.

Purposely BEYROUTES focuses both on known areas as Hamra and Ashrafieh or Solidere as well as lesser known quarters of the Lebanese capitals as Dahiya, Karantina and Bourj Hammoud.

Each chapter of BEYROUTES includes a background essay from a cultural or architectural perspective, a walking tour and a series of subjective tales about the different city quarters.

BEYROUTES can also be ordered online via NAI Booksellers.

As a supplement to VOLUME # 22 The Guide, Partizan Publik presents the separate publication Beyroutes, a guidebook to Beirut, one of the grand capitals of the Middle East. Beyroutes presents an exploded view of a city which lives so many double lives and figures in so many truths, myths and historical falsifications. Visiting the city with this intimate book as your guide makes you feel disoriented, appreciative, judgmental and perhaps eventually reconciliatory. Beyroutes is the field manual for 21st century urban explorer.

Beyroutes was initiated by Studio Beirut in collaboration with Partizan Publik, Archis and the Pearl Foundation. Supported by Prince Claus Fund, Fund Working on the Quality of Living and the Netherlands Embassy in Lebanon.

The launch wil take place at Athenaeum News Centre, Spui, Amsterdam, December 22, 5-7pm.

2030: War Zone Amsterdam is an international curatorial program by Brigitte van der Sande that explores the possibility and consequences of conflict in a far-future Amsterdam. To kick off the Warzone program, Joost Janmaat and Christiaan Fruneaux took the thirty international artists on a tour to the open society that is contemporary Amsterdam. We visited the vast squatters free state at the ADM wharf, went for a beer at Angels Place, the sancto sanctorium of the radically autonomous motor club, and scrambled through the Red Light District, the world's Free Zone of bad taste, cheap food, sex and drugs, and sleazy morals.

The Amsterdam Radical Freedom Tour took off from the observation that the freedom and peace this city enjoys is not a static affair: it is constantly made. Many of the unique and very specific freedoms of Amsterdam, prosper in the cloudy realm of toleration. Euthanasia, the selling of drugs, prostitution, squatting: all these freedoms are constantly balancing on the edge between the legal and the illegal. Of Law-enforcing and toleration. This particular notion of toleration ensures that the sharp edges of freedom in this city remain a continuous matter of interpretation, discussion and doubt.

The results of the one-week artistic research will be presented at Mediamatic BANK, Saturday November 28. Don't forget to make a reservation.

At the weekly neighborhood market next to our Staalvilla, Joost, Bjorn and some friends organized a garbage boat race. The two teams had four hours to build themselves a floating contraption out of locally harvested garbage and trash. At exactly 16.00, cheered by a hundred outrageous fans, they raced each other to the other side of the Buiksloter canal, to plant a flag on the Shell compound. Notwithstanding the nifty design and the buckets of bravery, Joost and Bjorn sank on their way back.

The next garbage race will be at the Trash Festival, planned for the 5th of June at the Stenen Hoofd, Amsterdam.

Partizan Publik is op zoek naar een enthousiaste en zelfstandige stagiair. In opdracht van het Amsterdamse comité 4 en 5 mei doet Partizan Publik onderzoek naar Vrijheid in Amsterdam. Dit onderzoek moet o.a. uitmonden in een tentoonstelling in Amsterdam in mei 2010.

We zoeken iemand die affiniteit heeft met artistieke producties, maar die ook het geduld heeft voor gedegen onderzoek. Je moet zelfstandig kunnen werken.

Wij bieden een interessante werkomgeving (een jong project- en onderzoeksbureau) veel verantwoordelijkheid en de mogelijkheid om ervaring op te doen in het doen van onderzoek en de originele vertaling naar de praktijk. Partizan Publik is net verhuisd naar de Staalvilla op het oude Shell terrein net over het ij. Hier zitten we in een leuke werkomgeving met architecten, theatermakers en kunstenaars. Onze werkzaamheden liggen op het terrein van onderzoek, actie, evenementen en publicaties. Zie: www.partizanpublik.nl

Interesse: stuur een korte motivatiemail naar jeroen.visser@partizanpublik.nl

Op 19 Movember is het Internationale Mannendag en is de snorrenactie van Movember net over de helft. Tijd om op deze dubbele mannendag iets speciaals te organiseren: De Movember Fotoveiling!

Veertien talentvolle Nederlandse fotografen doneerden speciaal voor deze actie een foto aan Movember. Deze veertien foto's worden op 19 november geveild bij het Sid Lee Collective in Amsterdam. Mannen in zilveren Speedo’s zullen de stukken laten zien en veilingmeester is Charin Singh uit Nieuw-Zeeland. 

De deelnemende fotografen:
Anoek Steketee, Aukje Dekker, Cleo Campert, Danielle van Ark, Dirk-Jan Visser, Jasper Groen, Leon Hendrickx, Masha Osipova, Michiel Landeweerd, Rob Hornstra, Robert van Waarden, Roger Cremers, Roos de Bolster, Wouter Vandenbrink.

Je kan de ingezonden foto's bekijken op onze Movember Viewbook site.

Alle opbrengsten gaan naar het Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Kanker Researchfonds.

Kom ook naar de Movember Fotoveiling: een unieke kans om een mooi kunstwerk te bemachtigen, een goed doel te steunen en je te vergapen aan de snorren van de aanwezige Mo Bro’s!

Tijd en plaats:
Donderdag 19 november 2009 
Vanaf 20.00 uur
Sid Lee Collective
Gerard Doustraat 74
Amsterdam

Jameson trakteert op cocktails, Kleurgamma stelt de prints beschikbaar en Sid Lee Collective hun prachtige ruimte. De foto’s worden ingelijst door Frame Products.  De opbrengst van de veiling gaat naar het Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Kanker Researchfonds, www.avlkankerresearchfonds.nl. Movember Nederland is powered by Partizan Publik, www.partizanpublik.nl

To celebrate International Men's Day, we'll be holding a charity auction of some fantastic prints kindly donated by some of this county's top up and coming photographers and established names. Our lovely hosts for the evening will be the creative geniuses at Sid Lee Collective - they'll be laid back sounds, Jameson's Whiskey (thanks Mr Jameson!) and plenty of fun.

Up on the auction block will be 10 limited edition professionally framed photos. If you've ever wanted the chance to buy some top quality art, this is it - some of these items sell for over €1500 in the galleries, and so this is your opportunity to pick up some absolute bargains! And of course, you’ll be helping to support us in 'Changing the Face of Men's Health' in The Netherlands – all funds raised will be going straight to our beneficiary partner – the Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Cancer Research Fund.

So make sure you come on down on the night, share a drink with us and show us your latest Mo styles... and who knows, you might just be lucky enough to take home something new for the house.

As a supplement to Volume #20 the Warren Special Report: From Crisis to Project imagines the redefined American Dream. Analyzing an utilizing the current crisis, the report seeks to imagine future suburbia taking Detroit's largest suburb Warren as a rolemodel. Bold visions, tools for transitionmanagement and new forms of organization and collaboration are the result of an ongoing research practice leading the way from Crisis to Project.    

As of Yesterday, Mo Bro's from all over the world work for a single cause: to grow their Mo to raise money for cancerresearch. Check the website where you can still register to join Partizan Publik in becoming Mo Bro's. Last week we've launched our media campaign. The following article was published by De Telegraaf.

Horace Cohen en Mike Starink behaard de herfst in

AMSTERDAM Acteur Horace Cohen en presentator Mike Starink laten de hele maand 'Movember' een wintervachtje staan om aandacht te vragen voor kankeronderzoek. 

Staat oktober wereldwijd bekend als 'borstkankermaand', vanaf 2009 is de november in Nederland omgedoopt tot 'Movember'. In deze maand laten mannen hun snor staan om aandacht te vragen voor de strijd tegen prostaatkanker.

Maar niet alleen met Horace en Mike zit het wel snor, iedere man kan een Mo Bro worden Sinds de oprichting van Movember in 2003 heeft deze campagne wereldwijd meer dan 35 miljoen euro opgehaald. Vorig jaar deden er zelfs meer dan 173.000 mannen mee om geld voor het goede doel in te zamelen", vertelt Charin Singh, woordvoerder van de Movember-campagne. "Eindelijk kunnen Nederlandse mannen ook meedoen. Ik weet zeker dat de snor hen goed zal staan.

Op 28 november is het tijd voor een feestje voor alle Mo Bros. Dan vindt het grote snorrengala plaats en wordt'n deelnemer gekozen tot 'Man van Movember'.

As a supplement to Volume 21 Partizan Publik published Microrayon Living, which is basically an inventory of everyday life strategies and D.I.Y. practices in the Post Soviet Microrayon. Together with several local partners we conducted research in Gldani, Tblisi and in Veshnyaki, Moscow, two identical city quarters in terms of layout, the former at the periphery of the former Soviet Union, the latter in the center of power. Striking similarities and differences came to the fore.

Microrayon living is also part of the International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam:Open City. The next step in the research trajectory will be the development of a scenario for a social housing strategy in this context which will be presented at the Moscow Architecture Bienalle 2010.

You can follow the research on our Social Housing after the Soviets blog. You can also order the publication at our office for free.

The Amsterdam Biennale 2009 is the first ‘crowd sourced’, ‘user generated’ biennale in the world. More than 30 curators from the Mediamatic Travel network present contemporary art from their city.

The exhibition opens on Friday with the pavilions of Kabul, Napels, Amsterdam, Melbourne, Belgrade, Boston, Talinn and Brooklyn. We will have weekly openings of new pavillions untill the end of the exhbition.

The Biennale is a part of Mediamatic Travel, the new travel-office to the contemporary art worldwide. Friday travel.mediamatic.net will go on-line.

Mediamatic and Partizan Publik will present the Travel Catalogue Destinations 2010.

With a live perfomance of Firestone and DJ Margit (Talinn), DJ Katja Novi (Talinn, Amsterdam) & DJ Velovich (Belgrade, Amsterdam).

The Amsterdam Biennale 2009 is opened from 17 October till 13 December 2009. Open from Monday – Friday from 1 pm – 7 pm and Saturday + Sunday from 1 pm – 6 pm. Location: Mediamatic BANK, Vijzelstraat 68, Amsterdam

Mediamatic Travel is a project of Mediamatic and Partizan Publik. The project is made possible by Hivos-NCDO Cultuurfonds, the Mondriaanstichting and the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds.

Also this week: Pecha Kucha #11

On Wednesday 14 October from 20.20 hrs a Pecha Kucha in Mediamatic BANK presenting 12 elevator pitches with the lock pickers of Toool, Strawberry Earth, Hete Bliksem, 'Hot100' Sander Veenhof and more.

Vast urbanizations in developed, developing and under-development countries have one common denominator: an immediate need for quality housing. Housing the billions: never before were those involved in architecture and construction confronted with such a challenge. A one-fits-all solution seems unthinkable since most mass housing schemes in the past failed and originated in dictatorship or total absence of power. Based on an analysis of one of the housing experiments of the past, the Soviet Microrayon, Volume proposes a new prototype. A housing block, which is custom-made but mass-produced and conceived via open source standards.

Partizan Publik contributed to this edition with the Microrayon Living Supplement and an interview with James C. Scott on Societies of Rejected Standards.

The publication and exhibition that are the outcome of the "Social Housing After the Soviets" research workshop has been presented at the International Achitecture Biennale Rotterdam at the Dutch Architecture Institute (NAi) in Rotterdam under the title: "Microrayon Living"

More info and pictures here

On thursday september 25 2009 the 4th edition of the IABR will take off. The theme of the 4th International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam is the Open City, a city that is diverse, lively and socially sustainable, where people can productively relate to each other culturally, socially, as well as economically.
More specifically, with the theme Open City: Designing Coexistence, the 4th IABR raises the question of social cohesion in the city from the point of view of its designer: how can architects and urbanists make realistic contributions to the sustainable quality of the urban condition.

With three exhibitions, a unique collaboration with a public broadcaster and an extensive side program of lectures, film screenings, debates, workshops, an international master class and other events, the fourth edition of the International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam (IABR) embraces the theme of the Open City, a city that is diverse, lively and socially sustainable, where people can productively relate to each other culturally, socially, as well as economically.

Partzan wiil participate in the Collective exibition were new concepts for the Microrayon are being elaborated.

> More about the exhibitions
> More about Urban Century - VPRO
> More about the Open City Event Program
> More about the Partner Program

The first Dutch Movember campaign in history is about to take off. Partizan Publik is bringing this annual, month-long celebration of the moustache, highlighting men’s health issues, specifically prostate cancer to the Netherlands.

Mo Bros, supported by their Mo Sistas, start Movember (November 1st) clean shaven and then have the remainder of the month to grow and groom their moustache. During Movember, each Mo Bro effectively becomes a walking billboard for men’s health and, via their Mo, raises essential funds and awareness for Movember’s men’s health partner – The Prostate Cancer Charity. At the end of Movember, a series of Gala Partés are held to thank Mo Bros and Sistas for their support and fund raising efforts. Movember is an annual, month-long celebration of the moustache, highlighting men’s health issues, specifically prostate cancer.

Talking about Gala Partés...Here are some impressions of earlier showdowns across the world:

Underground Travelling through art and culture.

What better way is there than to discover a city through its contemporary art treasures? As of October 10th 2009 there is a new way to explore artistic travel destinations, Mediamatic Travel. Focusing on art and culture this website opens up a world of local scenes in Tehran, Tibilisi, Nairobi or any of the other uncommon destinations. The site acts as a network of cultural professionals from all over the world. Local city experts guide travellers through their city favourites. The guides also give on the spot consultations that help to navigate through the art scene of the city you plan to visit. A one-hour consultation with a Mediamatic Travel guide uncovers places unseen for the ordinary traveller. The fee for this service is € 45,-. Mediamatic Travel is a growing network where cultural professionals can meet and adventurous travellers can plan their trips. New local city experts join the website everyday making more interesting places within reach. Mediamatic invites local cultural experts from all over the world to join Mediamatic Travel.

After some weeks of serious construction work, painting, carpeting and moving under the lead of head carpenter Joost Janmaat, the Partizan Office finally arrived in it's new haven, the Staalvilla. Situated in the Tolhuistuin, the Staalvilla is slowly turning from cooperate hospital of the Shell Foundation into a pumping, energetic place where a lot of different initiatives and people finally will settle down. To name a few...Archis Foundation, The Office for Unsollicited Architecture (an initiative of the NAi), Golfstromen, Studio Rooie Jas, Erik de Vroedt and many others still to come...

We are very pleased to have the opportunity to be a part of what is happening here and we are looking forward to fruitful collaborations, tons of inspiration and loads of fun!

In an interview with Metropolis M Christian Ernsten of Partizan Publik and Merijn Oudenampsen are elaborating on the importance of breaking down demarcations between various disciplines and different segments of society in order to come to a more collective approach in tackeling societal issues.

Volume #20 is dedicated to the art of storytelling. It presents the storylines of current events and architecture to show that while the truth is important, so is the ability of fiction to elevate fact. Storytelling communicates facts, but it also builds upon real-life accounts to enrich public expectations and elevate beliefs. For good reason, people say a story isn’t worth telling if it can’t be told to a child. A simple, distilled story that clarifies the crisis, and that aids the formulation of policies to better understand and animate the physical environment, is definitely worth telling.

With contributions from C-Lab, Geoff Manaugh and many others...

Today we met at de Balie to brainstorm how the exhibition and publication could look. We heard from the NAi that our space will be a 3×3m room, and we developed the following concept:

As our space is located at the exit point of the “collective city” exhibition, the idea is to build a portico entrance in the space, either at the exit from the rest of “collective city”  exhibition (conceptual coherence) OR as the exit into the stairwell to the rest of the “open city” exhibition (visual coherence? – exit into the stairwell).

A stack of newspapers will allow visitors to take home the content of our exhibition, while newspapers in the rack will be for on site consumption.

Mock-up Portico entrance at the biennial exit (collective city section):
- two sofa-chairs
- stack of give away newspapers
- bulletin board
- newspaper rack (grand cafe style)
- painted wall (funky -cheapest- green)
- code-lock/intercom on the door
- extra authentic details … like garden, etc

Inspiration:

Picture by Bert Elzerman

Students Joeri Jörg and Koen Elzerman initiated a place where people can leave items (clothes, books, sleeping-bags and domestic products) which they do not need anymore, while other people still might be happy with it. In this manner people can contribute to the daily-struggle that people have to cope with their limited economic situation. Amsterdam North is a district with many socio-economic problems, and the exchange closet delivers a micro-economic service for those who need it.

Similar to this alternative form of recycling, the focus lies on informing people about homelessness and addiction as important societal issues. The city of Amsterdam wants to initiate new asylums spread over the city, but history has shown some bad examples of starting such an asylum. The NIMBY-effect (‘Not In My Backyard’) can ruin the relation between asylum and neighbourhood, while people rarely realise that the asylum fulfils an important part of the societal needs. Above that, the line between having a house and homelessness is not that big as people might think. It does not take very much to lose your house and become homeless, especially in Amsterdam North.

The crew exists of people who have lived on the street, have been addicted or have worked in prostitution. They concentrate on telling their personal stories to the visitors of the Mosveld market, the place where the closet is situated. Goal is to decrease the NIMBY-feelings which people have in relation to these marginalised groups of society.

The launch on Saturday 13^th of June showed that people respond very positive on this form of interaction. Most of them understood the importance of facilities for homeless and addicted people, and several people spoke out their enthusiasm about the project. One of the strengths of the closet is that it does not only serve the homeless and addicted people: it also benefits the local residents and the deprived neighbourhood around the Mosveld market.

Publications in the media (NoordNieuws (2), De Echo and Het Parool), widespread enthusiasm by project partners, the city district of  Amsterdam North and housing corporation Ymere, social partners and the local residents form the basis of a long term continuation of the project.

After the successful launch of the closet, both students are now in discussion with several social partners, in order to ensure the sustainability of the intervention. The students will be related to the project until these negotiations result in a societal coalition which can maintain the exchange closet as a social facility, embedded in the neighbourhood.

You can also view the final presentation of the ‘Addicted to the City’ case at the Amsterdam City Hall last week.

Is there a way to involve neighborhood residents with a developing city park?

The 4 students of the ‘Green Team’ of the minor ‘Social Engineering in the Amsterdam Metropolis’ researched the development of the new ‘Noorderpark’, an urban park that is now being developed into one of the largest city parks of Amsterdam. Compared to other parks in the city, the Noorderpark is lagging behind in the number and diversity of its park visitors. Can the Noorderpark become as widely and highly appreciated as the popular Westerpark or the Vondelpark?

The Green Team observed a remarkable ‘invisibility’ of the Noorderpark within the adjacent neighborhoods and the borough of Amsterdam Noord. Together they created an elaborate ‘visibility’ campaign with green ‘welcome in my backyard’ posters on the windows of empty social housing, with guerilla sign posting all over the neighborhood and, together with the people of ‘Streetprov Amsterdam’, they organized a performance and a video about the ‘secret of North’: the beautiful Noorderpark.

Picture by Poland Pupupin

How can old and new communities be connected through a new form of social architecture?

The 4 students of the Overhoeks/Van der Pek case researched the possibilities of improving social ties between two neighbourhoods in Amsterdam:  Overhoeks and Van der Pek. The former is being developed at the moment, the latter is and ‘old, traditional neighbourhood in town.  What’s special is that the two are situated literally in each others shadow. According to the students, improving social ties implies “encountering each other on a regular bases in a natural and informal way”. To empower this process, the students developed the concept of the ‘Floating Market’. Their pilot was situated on the Johan van Hasseltkanaal, which wasn’t more than a physical barrier between the two neighbourhoods before their intervention. The ‘Floating Market’ transformed this barrier into a place where people can meet. The concept is based on the floating gardens developed by ‘Provo’ Robert Jasper Grootveld. The gardens consist of 1,00 x 1,00 x 0,50 foam blocks,  each of them having a floating capacity of 500 kilograms. Tied together, these foam blocks form an incredibly stable floating surface.

Based on a purely economic relation the market could function as a shared icon for the two neighbourhoods and also as a positive impulse for the wider area as well.

You can also view the final presentation of the Overhoeks/vd Pek Team at the Amsterdam City Hall last week.

Last week the university minor program ‘Social Engineering in the Amsterdam Metropolis’ reached it’s ‘official’ tipping point at the Amsterdam City Hall. The students presented the results of their 16 weeks lasting full time research trajectory to the mayor of Amsterdam Job Cohen and an elaborate jury of professional social engineers. The jury consisted of Linda Brasz (foreperson, chief secretary borough Amsterdam North), Franka Kanters (manager at private social housing cooperation Ymere), Jos Gadet (senior policy maker at the Department of Spatial Planning Amsterdam) and Bert de Reuver (member directory board IIS). The students seized the moment to put forward their case in front of this audience of influential ‘agents of change’.

Here are some impressions:

Just City with James C. Scott

To what extent do rules and standards lead to a just society? Planned utopias proved not to lead automatically to a free and equal way of living, or all-inclusive solidarity for that matter. State governance seems fated to produce a certain form of social marginalization.

Could engineering a just city entail the conscious incorporation of the lawless, the untamed and the subversives within our city borders? Do these groups, which are evading or excluded by the system, represent a way of living that we could learn from? How can their rules inspire us in engineering a more righteous place, a just city?

Yale University Professor James C. Scott is author of the most eloquent critique of the tradition of high modernist planning Seeing like a State (1998). His latest research focuses on the contrast between the lowland city-state and its labor control vs. the non-state-hill periphery in South East Asia. Based on this expertise he will comment on how the city should be studied as a living, breathing and dynamic process.

Here are some visuals of the Liberty City Liberation Day Festival at the Museumplein in Amsterdam.

Partizan Publik is building Liberty City. Until 5 May 2010 we are researching the theme of freedom in Amsterdam. What does freedom mean to citizens of Amsterdam almost 70 years after WWII? How should we celebrate liberation day nowadays?

In the months running up to May next year we are engaging in a research that will take us to many different areas of Amsterdam. We will talk with veterans, former activists and former immigrants about their fight for freedom. We will listen to policemen, teachers, youth workers, students and many other citizens of Amsterdam to hear their opinion on freedom issues. You can join our research via the Liberty City website.
You will also find the latest information on our public activities in Liberty City and on our research results.

Liberty City is a project for the Amsterdam 4 en 5 mei Comité.

Our Partners are
Studio Rooie Jas
Mediamatic
Theo Deutinger

Improv City with Alexander Scordelis

To what extent can a brave city be planned? History shows that Dream + Power + Lack of Resistance = Utopian Totalitarianism. The reign of big ideas over a blissfully ignorant society.

Engineering happiness could potentially mean balancing out planned utopias. We wonder, how to practise our urban freedom? Blissful ignorance or freedom of initiative? Routine or improvisation? What’s the function of spontaneity in pushing the boundaries of public normality? Can improvisation improve urban daily life? Raise awareness of the collective and forge solidarity? What are the rules that keep our society alive and which boundaries do we need to push to give our cities future?

Alexander Scordelis is a New York based writer and agent in the prank collective Improv Everywhere. He was involved in numerous collective performances, such as No Pant’s Day in the New York subway. He’s co-author of the book ‘Causing a Scene. Extraordinary Pranks in Ordinary Places with Impro Everywhere‘ (to be published this Spring).

A story about the importance of causing scenes for chaos and joy in securing public places and forging collectives of happy citizens.

American and international media coverage of the cultural activities by actors as Design 99, the Detroit Unreal Estate Agency and others in Detroit tends to highlight how artists makes use of the current real estate crisis, how they are attracted by easy living in $100 houses and the post-industrial spectacle of the city. Without trying to negate these qualities of Detroit, I would like to argue that there might be something more to it.

Speaking as a member of the Detroit Unreal Estate Agency, I'm curious about the lessons that can be learned from Detroit. Learning from Detroit starts I think with a re-evaluation of the urban development discourse that engineered the city, and a different understanding of what engagement with this place and its people means.

Below I drafted some of the credentials of the Unreal Estate project:
The Unreal Estate project intends to tap into the inventories of local assets and expertise in the city. In an interdisciplinary team we imagine stimulus strategies for local make-ability. As such, we don’t necessarily work against the effects of deindustrialization, suburbanization and outsourcing. Renovating the postindustrial city - along the lines of Richard Florida’s creative class – or, in turn, seeing the urban ruins as artistic opportunities is not our central motivation.

We respect that Detroit’s urban environment is still the home of many individuals and families, who ‘built’ their lives here. Align to this, it is our ambition to design or support stimulus strategies for urban transformation that lead to a resilient user-based city, which is enabling a vision on local opportunities. And, simultaneously, we intend to re-interpret and built on the value of decay, as well as, the intrusion of wildlife in the city. Decline is also creation and growth of something else if we can reframe our expectations, and offers different potential for co-existence, and strategies for urban development.

We intend to understand in artistic ways how urban engagement, as well as, urban play work under this condition. The collapse of the free market ideology creates a sense of emergency and the opportunity for a new kind of artistic agency, in which, to paraphrase Charles Esche, regional art and site-specific production are combined’, a kind of everyday life art.

Thus Unreal Estate project poses these questions:
How to intervene on the city seeking the participation of the less advantaged people? Is it possible to start urban transformation as artists avoiding the traditional patterns of gentrification and economic exploitation of symbolic values? How to imagine a new equilibrium between the city, the human communities and the natural elements (plants, water, wilderness)? How to exchange culturally between this particular (urban) situation and other places in the world?

We realize that Detroit is an important example of contemporary urban living and, potentially, a case for a hands-on study on future urban scenario’s, which are also applicable for other places in the United States and in the rest of the world.

Yesterday I made a 20mi / 32km bike trip in Detroit. From Hamtramck to Downtown and back. Traveling this distance by bike gives you a good sense of the vast scale of this city, although this distance is but a small fragment of the size of the entire Metropolitan area of Detroit.

Where some of my initial thoughts on the derelict homes, factories, warehouses and skyscrapers were tainted by romanticism, now they're drained in the realization that this is an urban reality that is everywhere. An omnipresent sprawling landscape of destruction, generated by the rationality of hyper-capitalism. Fed by the misplaced escapism of the American dream, of starting over-and-over-and-over-and-over again in the suburbs, sub-suburbs, exurbs to the point that the notion of urbanity evaporates completely.

How to reinvent living together, 'a community' and perhaps even civilization on top of the ruins of the raison d'être of the previous one...

HAPPY CITY with Nader Vossoughian

Can we build a happy city? Can we engineer happiness?A Masterclass on creative industry, social cohesion, participatory planning and creating new worlds. What is left of the highmodernist ideals? How do they translate into the Wijkaanpak, the national push to uplift the Dutch ghettos? And what instruments have we got to engineer society and change people in their beliefs and behaviour?

Sustainable City with Stefano Boeri

Financial Crisis. Ecological Crisis. Mental Crisis.

Our days are gloomy days. Yet all these crises present opportunities for a positive outcome as well. They could open the way to a fundamentally different way of social engineering, green planning and a new financial system. In the reshaping of our world after the crisis, a sustainable city is possible.

Stefano Boeri understands non-growth and human retreat as producing valuable urban eco-systems. Reforestation protects natural zones and green corridors shelter animals from the anthropocentric world. These potentially create new ways of exchange between wildlife and human beings, a new ethical order of urbanity.

Stefano Boeri (1956) is an architect, director of Boeri Studio and editor in chief of the international design and architecture magazine Abitare. Boeri teaches urban design at the Milan Polytechnic, he is visiting professor at the Harvard Design School and he is the founder of the research agency Multiplicity. With Rem Koolhaas he co-authored the immensely influential Mutations project. Boeri will share his visions on sustainable utopia and dystopia in an urban context.

A story of how innovation and creativity may change the way we build, engage and live… for decades to come.

More on Stefano Boeri:

Stefano Boeri’s personal website

Abitare – International Design Magazine

Check out these link for an overview of the complex dimensions of sustainability:

The Complex History of Sustainability - made by Amir Djalali, with Piet Vollaard (Archis.org)

BEIRUT: Walk its streets, visit its hip quarters, check the destroyed but completely resurrected city centre, talk to the armed soldiers at the street corners, listen to the old and not-so-old war stories from the cab driver, explore its old, new and upcoming neighborhoods. Only a few cities in the world offer so many layers of hidden meaning as Beirut does. In the public realm of this town there seems to be merely suggestion, projection and differences of opinion that somehow interact with people’s daily movements and actions.

Participate in the BEYROUTES guide project organized by Studio Beirut, Partizan Publik, Pearl and Archis. A project that enables you to go beyond an exotic visit to the people, buildings and places of Beirut, and to get engaged: in its past, present and future. To produce a guide that provokes to construct your own anecdotes, actions and architecture of the city.

If you want to contribute in writing, drawing, research, photography or design: sign up now for the 2nd RESEARCH workshop at ranije[at]yahoo[dot]com

Social Engineering in the Amsterdam Metropolis 2008

To remind you what social engineering new style is all about, have a look at the 2008 video compilation (dutch) edited by Studio Dus.

As a first action of the Unreal Estate Agency Andrew Herscher and Femke Lutgerink placed signs at various sites of unreal estate throughout Detroit. They were taken around by Dirk Bakker from the Detroit Institute of the Arts and Glenn Manisto.

The agency will produce, collect and inventory information on the ‘unreal estate’ of Detroit: that is, on the remarkable, distinct, characteristic or subjectively significant sites of urban culture. The project is aimed at new types of urban practices (architecturally, artistically, institutionally, everyday life, etc) that came into existence, creating a new value system in Detroit.

The project is an initiative by architects Andrew Herscher and Mireille Roddier, curator Femke Lutgerink and Partizan Publik's Christian Ernsten and Joost Janmaat.

In collaboration with the Dutch Art Institute and the University of Michigan, generously funded by the Mondriaan Foundation.

During the Beirut Summer Workshop on Public Space, Partizan Publik conceptualized a side project. Together with the workshop participants we re-designed the Lost of Room of the Lebanese National Museum.

In the Lebanese National Museum the room dealing with modern history is not there. Apparently there is no agreement on what Lebanon’s ‘National History’ is. Yet Lebanese seem to be united in the love for their capital. Although it is a contested and violent city, Beirut encapsulates many places, which are full of sweet, loving, memories and nostalgia. Indeed it is a city saturated with favorite places.

Click here to view the online result of this project.