Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
A curatorial approach towards deliberative cultures of assembly and a realistic scenario of decentralized power and descision-making. Miessen's ongoing research trajectory Cultures of Assembly was initially kicked off during a Harvard Graduate School of Design fellowship together with Joseph Grima, in which the two architects investigated the socio-political dimension of (urban) spatial design by looking at the Kuwaiti cultural and social landscape with a specific interest in the politico-spatial local phenomenon of a distributed urban form of para-institutional assembly known as Diwaniyah.
Diwaniyah can be understood and interpreted in multiple ways. Beyond a techno-futuristic idea of progress, it presents a showcase of an alternative that attempts to imagine a model of a (more) solidaric city. On the scale of a city, and in fact small country, it interrogates how we--as a society--can learn and produce other formats to talk to each other, working towards realistic scenarios of decentralised power and decision-making structures and spatial justice.
The book asks: how can spaces--both physical and virtually--be envisaged to create publics? How can we, today, offer and propose methods as to how to engage physical social interactions, publics, and civic life from the point of view of individual participation through novel and critical formats of collective discursive spaces? How is collectivity and society being generated spatially and in terms of critical policy? How do we "practice" society as a bodily, physical form, and how does this practice contribute to spatial justice? What kind of spaces can exacerbate these practices? What kind of spatial design--in terms of reflecting Mouffian agonistic realities--can we imagine as platforms for change? How can we, as architects, designers, and spatial practitioners devise methods and tools that make sure that formal and informal processes of politics, institution building, and societal becoming do not lose out on the physical, spatial, and bodily dimension?
Central to this project is the reflecting on and rendering of the underlying driving forces of informal institution building at the interface of deliberative (urban) spatial politics--in a general political climate of Fisherian capitalist realism in conjunction with the social-ecological transition while, arguably, facing a crisis of imagination.
This project articulates the curatorial potential for urban policy making, mediating between the city, state politics, and society at large. It triggers a series of potential interpretations as to what constitutes the physical parameters of a discourse in space. If we understand assembly as a form of gathering, and the fire as the starting point for gathering to occur, then Diwaniyah presents us with the concept of the fire. This is a starting point only. But a relevant one.
Synopsis
A curatorial approach towards deliberative cultures of assembly and a realistic scenario of decentralized power and decision-making. This anthology presents work on cultures of assembly. It stresses the relevance of small-scale and decentralized spatial formats of local knowledge production to community building and embedded political decision-making in the context of the socio-ecological transition. It reinforces the role of both individual and collective action while proposing distributed assembly and proximity as core attributes in the production of the contemporary and future city. It calls for a revised form of spatial politics.
Miessen's ongoing research trajectory Cultures of Assembly was initially kicked off during a Harvard GSD fellowship in collaboration with Joseph Grima, in which the two architects investigated the sociopolitical dimension of (urban) spatial design. Observing the Kuwaiti cultural and social landscape with a specific interest in the politico-spatial phenomenon of Diwaniya, this distributed urban form of para-institutional assembly established a starting point for a long-term body of research.
Diwaniya can be understood and interpreted in multiple ways. Beyond a techno-futuristic idea of progress, it presents a showcase of an alternative that attempts to imagine a model of a (more) solidary city. On the scale of a city, and in fact small country, it interrogates how we--as a society--can learn from and produce alternative formats of physical exchange, working towards realistic scenarios of decentralized decision-making and spatial justice.
Agonistic Assemblies asks: how can spaces--both physical and virtual--be envisaged to create publics? How is collectivity and society being generated spatially and in terms of policy? How do we "practice" society as a bodily, spatial form, and how does this practice contribute to spatial justice? Are there specific spatial settings that can intensify these practices? What kind of spatial design can we imagine as platforms for change?
Central to this project is the reflecting on and rendering of the underlying driving forces of informal institution building at the interface of agonistic (urban) spatial politics--in a global political climate facing what Mark Fisher famously framed as "capitalist realism" in conjunction with the social-ecological transition while, arguably, also facing a crisis of imagination.
This project articulates a curatorial impetus towards urban policy making in conjunction with spatial proximity as a tool to mediate between the individual, the collective, the neighborhood, the city, state politics, and society at large. If we understand assembly as a form of spatial gathering, and the bonfire as the prehistoric space of assembly, what constitutes its contemporary equivalent?
Synopsis
A call for a revised form of spatial politics. This anthology presents work on cultures of assembly. It stresses the relevance of small-scale and decentralized spatial formats of local knowledge production to community building and embedded political decision-making in the context of the socio-ecological transition. It reinforces the role of both individual and collective action while proposing distributed assembly and proximity as core attributes in the production of the contemporary and future city. It calls for a revised form of spatial politics.
Miessen's ongoing research trajectory Cultures of Assembly was initially kicked off during a Harvard GSD fellowship in collaboration with Joseph Grima, in which the two architects investigated the sociopolitical dimension of (urban) spatial design. Observing the Kuwaiti cultural and social landscape with a specific interest in the politico-spatial phenomenon of Diwaniya, this distributed urban form of para-institutional assembly established a starting point for a long-term body of research.
Diwaniya can be understood and interpreted in multiple ways. Beyond a techno-futuristic idea of progress, it presents a showcase of an alternative that attempts to imagine a model of a (more) solidary city. On the scale of a city, and in fact small country, it interrogates how we--as a society--can learn from and produce alternative formats of physical exchange, working towards realistic scenarios of decentralized decision-making and spatial justice.
Agonistic Assemblies asks: how can spaces--both physical and virtual--be envisaged to create publics? How is collectivity and society being generated spatially and in terms of policy? How do we "practice" society as a bodily, spatial form, and how does this practice contribute to spatial justice? Are there specific spatial settings that can intensify these practices? What kind of spatial design can we imagine as platforms for change?
Central to this project is the reflecting on and rendering of the underlying driving forces of informal institution building at the interface of agonistic (urban) spatial politics--in a global political climate facing what Mark Fisher famously framed as "capitalist realism" in conjunction with the social-ecological transition while, arguably, also facing a crisis of imagination.
This project articulates a curatorial impetus towards urban policy making in conjunction with spatial proximity as a tool to mediate between the individual, the collective, the neighborhood, the city, state politics, and society at large. If we understand assembly as a form of spatial gathering, and the bonfire as the prehistoric space of assembly, what constitutes its contemporary equivalent?
Contributors
Zahra Ali Baba, Ole Bouman, Francelle Cane, Giancarlo De Carlo, Claudia Chwalisz, Kenny Cupers, Anne Davidian, Diane E. Davis, Erhard Eppler, Jesko Fezer, Joseph Grima, Amelie Klein, Charlotte Malterre-Barthes, Florian Malzacher, Markus Miessen, Chantal Mouffe, Gustav Kj r Vad Nielsen, C sar Reyes N jera, Dennis Pohl, Patricia Reed, Vera Sacchetti, Nikolaj Schultz, Rahel S ss, Pelin Tan, Roemer Van Toorn, David Mulder Van Der Vegt, Sarah M. Whiting, Mirjam Zadoff