COMBO, collaborative animation by Blu and David Ellis

This time the project was realized on the occasion of the 2009 Fame Festival. Location: a deserted Apulian masseria (farm). Production: studio cromie. Music by Roberto Lange

Street art lovers, we use this occasion to remind you that the Writing Movement bible, All City Writers curated by Andrea Caputo will be released and presented tomorrow at Lambretto Art Project. A 1500 mq exhibition and a party will follow the book presentation.

layout preview of All City Writers. The book is a real event and summa on the Writing history until nowadays. 410 pages, 1250 images and 620 articles on 250 different artists make All City Writers one of the most significant research ever produced on street art.

On November 7, 2009, the Institute for Urban Design will host a day-long event titled, Arrested Development: Do Megaprojects Have a Future? The symposium will examine the effects of the global recession on large-scale developments and the ramifications of the re-emergence of megaprojects.

Astoundingly, this era of economic contraction has brought progress in environmental policy at local, national, and international levels. As megaprojects like New York City’s Atlantic Yards and the UK’s “eco towns” slow down, stall, and even stop, local and national leaders are rethinking the nature of these projects with respect to social and environmental sustainability. Historically, megaprojects have been controversial. Although there have been outright failures, megaprojects can offer opportunities for great urban renewal. Institute for Urban Design panels of experts will examine how market mechanisms enable megaprojects, what characterizes their success, and why, how, and if megaprojects have a future.

The symposium is organized in three sessions: in the morning, two panels will discuss Megaprojects in Suburbs and Megaprojects as New Towns; in the afternoon: Megaprojects in the Metropolis. More information can be found on the official website. The symposium will be the basis for the second publication in the Institute for Urban Design’s Notebook series. Click here for more information on, The New York 2030 Notebook.

The renowned tree-shaped Palm Jumeirah project in Dubai which will include around 2,000 villas, luxury hotels, shopping complexes, cinemas and the Middle East’s first Marine Park

Arrested Development: Do Megaprojects Have a Future?
Public discussion with an array of experts – from architects and developers to policymakers and economists – on the state of megaprojects in light of the stalled economy.
November 7, 2009
From 9:30 am
Institute for Urban Design
17 West 17th Street, 7th Floor
New York, NY 10011
T 212 366 0780
F 212 366 0781

Coomaraswamy hall, Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya
formerly Prince of Wales Museum of Western India

M. G. Road, Fort, Mumbai, India
info: +46 7 077 55 014

Artists: Stefan Canham & Rufina Wu, Francesco Jodice, Maria Lantz, Anna Erlandson, Johan Rutherhagen, Michele Masucci & Sofia Wiberg, Erik Rosshagen & David Herdies, Monika Marklinger, Johan Widén

Curatorial team: Jonatan Habib Engqvist, Anna Erlandson, Maria Lantz, Michele Masucci

© Maria Lantz, Roof-top view of Dharavi

Old Lahore Street scene, 1890

There was a Lahore that I grew up in, and then the Lahore that I live in, though I am now living away from it.

Till my 10th grade I studied in Queen Mary College, established on 10th December 1908 (by consort of the reigning British Monarch, King George V). I can still remember my class. During lectures I often found myself dozy, outside the temperature could reach 45 degrees, yet the classroom was cool without any air-conditioning, only with two big ceiling fans hanging from long rods and running at slow speed. The moment I would get out of the class, the heat would almost slap my face and I would run home, where an air-conditioned room waited for me. I used to wonder at this strange paradox – how come my school was so cool during the afternoon while my home needed air-conditioning? I came to know the answer to this conundrum thanks to my later Fine Arts bachelor’s degree.

Queen Mary School in Lahore

My city, Lahore, is a historical city dating back more than 1000 years. The Queen Mary School I referred to is just an example and it was built during the British Empire over the subcontinent. The city is full of gardens and monuments; architecture is definitely the icon of Lahore’s glory.

During the Mughal reign (1526-1850 ca.), Lahore was the capital of the Mughal Empire. Mughal monarchs did not only encourage the local architects and builders to apply themselves to the most innovative techniques, but they also invited foreign architects and craftsmen to enrich Lahore’s impressive buildings. Hence, after many centuries, this heritage enhances the beauty of the city and stimulates and inspires contemporary architects.

Red sandstone Royal Mosque

The building techniques and materials used by the Mughals – their roofing techniques, their dome and the special features of the Mughal jharokha (type of overhanging balcony)- are astounding even today. Builders were fully aware of the hot climate typical of the of Subcontinent. Much of the Mortar used is of a “soft” nature, as compared to the typically hard mortar usually used. This is so as fortifications must be strong, and a soft mortar is best in hot and humid climate as it develops small soft cracks that automatically heal themselves.

Typical Jharoka balcony where kings used to sit and give their speeches

Dried mortar visible at Empress Noor Jehan Tomb

But the use of these soft mortars, made from pure or (class A) fat limes is far from raw form. The technique was set in two ways:

• By simply drying when they lose their plasticity

•By in duration process in which the lime becomes, carbonated (part of the calcium hydroxide combines with carbon dioxide from the air, in the presence of moisture, to form a firm matrix of calcium carbonate)

Material Weight used ( Srs = Mughal unit measure for volume) 1. “ Lime water 10 Srs Surkhi or crushed brick 14 Srs Putson or Fiber Jute ¼ Srs is used for lime plaster. Gond or Gum, preferable of babbool or neem is also mixed in lime plaster.”

Pillars at Lahore Fort, the mortar is made out of burnt lime

2. The celebrated Madras Chuna is a stucco laid on in three coats of shell lime, sand and jaghery water (brown sugar). In addition to all this, every bushel, (around 36 liters) of this paste were mixed:

• whites of ten or a dozen eggs. • half a pound (225 g) of ghee (which is butter clarified by melting over a slow fire). • quarter of tire (which is sour curd fresh prepared) to which some soap stone is added to improve the polish. Each master brick layer has generally a recipe of his own which he boasts of as superior to all others. In Jharoka (typical Indo-Muslim Architecture feature) the mortar is described as a mixture of Gypsum or baked lime, sand and ash. For plaster and for masonry purpose, following were mixed with kankar lime2.

(”Vicat, L. I. Treatise on Calcareous Mortars and Cements”, translated by Capt. J. T. Smith. London, 1837)

Lahore Fort Entrance (bricks with mortar coat)

Main materials used by the great Mughals & their specialized purposes were: 1. Curd Dahi – kind of yogurt used for soft finishing. 2. Dal Curd – pulse is used as plaster 3. PutSan – jute fiber for better bonding. 4. Gond – gum from plants use as retarder 5. Gur - jaggery sugar for hardening 6. Batashe – raw sugar used as bonding agent 7. Sirish-i-Kahi – Glue increase bond strength 8. Bhus – straw used for reducing cracks

Mud Bricks – The scarcity of suitable building stone in the Indus valley led to use mud or clay as the main building materials. Mud may be used in several forms: mud brick, baked brick or pies. Mud brick was first used in the cities of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro (Indus Valley Civilization) over 4,000 years ago and continues to be used in many of the villages of the Punjab today. Baked brick is used for more permanent structures such as wells, big houses or mosques whilst pies is used for structures which need to be built cheaply and quickly. On the Sind River coast mud is used as a thick plaster over a wooden frame to produce wattle-and-daub constructions. Since heat has always been an issue in the subcontinent, the mud bricks play an important role in absorbing the heat and at the same time keeping the cool temperature inside.

Colonial Style -Lahore Museum (Red Baked Bricks)

Red Sandstones – It is interesting to note that red sandstone was used for huge buildings and forts. However, red sandstone was replaced with white marble (massively used nowadays), especially during the Aurangzeb Alamgir period (6th Emperor of Mughal, 1658-1707) when the stress was more on the buildings aesthetics through colored designs, precious and semi-precious stones, gold and silver waters and minute carvings. Red sandstone was mainly imported from Iran.

Hiran Minar

In brief, the material technology in those days not only added hundreds of years of age to the buildings, securing them from environmental effects, but it also kept the buildings cool in the summer and warm in the winter, through their natural abilities and innate qualities.

Lahore was a Mughal dream translated into architecture. Little wonder the adulation with which the English poet John Milton in “Paradise Lost” wrote in 1670:

His eye might there command wherever stood City of old or modern fame, the seat Of mightiest empire, from the destined walls Of Cambalu, seat of Cathaian Can, And Samarchand by Oxus, Temir’s throne, To Paquin of Sinaean kings; and thence To Agra and Lahore of great Mogul,

(Bibliography: Lahore Nama by Khalid Hassan; Lahore Nama by Santosh Kumar)

Glass Palace/ Lahore Fort, detail on interior craftsmanship

Almost needless to say Aresha Gul comes from Lahore, Pakistan. In 1995 she achieved her BA in Fine Arts and English Literature and in 1999 she studied e-commerce and attended the Cisco Certification (CCNA). After working 4 years for a Canadian Immigration firm investor in Pakistan, she started her career as a free lance designer and painter. Cityscapes and landscapes are her main subjects while her favourite media are watercolors and oils. Since january 2009 she’s in Milan to explore the Italian cultural horizons and attend Naba’s Interior Design Master.

Fondazione PLART
presenta / presents

PLARTONVIDEO: mischer’traxler

a cura di Marco Petroni in collaborazione con Giovanni Innella /
curated by Marco Petroni in collaboration with Giovanni Iannella

Inaugurazione Sabato 7 novembre 2009 – h. 11/ 19
Opening Saturday November 7, 2009 – h. 11am/7pm

Dal 7 al 14 novembre 2009 la Fondazione Plart di Napoli ospita, nell’ambito della rassegna Plartonvideo curata da Marco Petroni, i giovani designer austriaci mischer’traxler, recenti vincitori del prestigioso premio DMY promosso dal Bauhaus Archiv / Museum für Gestaltung di Berlino con il progetto “Idea of a tree”. L’evento si avvale della collaborazione di Giovanni Innella.
Katharina Mischer e Thomas Traxler hanno sviluppato una macchina autocostruita alimentata ad energia solare che segue un processo di produzione autonomo combinando il naturale corso della luce con un processo meccanico. “Idea of a tree” traduce direttamente l’intensità del sole attraverso un apparato meccanico. La macchina comincia a produrre quando il sole sorge e si ferma quando il sole tramonta donando il raccolto della giornata, l’oggetto/frutto su cui si può leggere il crescere e il decrescere dell’energia solare.

Attraverso la proiezione di due video e l’esposizione di alcuni oggetti prodotti dalla loro macchina, il Plart promuove uno dei progetti più innovativi emersi sulla giovane scena del design internazionale.

—

Between November 7 to 14 the Austrian designers mischer’traxler will feature in Plartonvideo, a series of video-related events curated by Marco Petroni at Fondazione Plart in Naples. The duo has been recently awarded the prestigious DMY prize, promoted by the Bauhaus Archiv / Museum für Gestaltung in Berlin, with their project “Idea of a tree”. The event also features the collaboration of Giovanni Innella.
Katharina Mischer and Thomas Traxler have developed a self-built, solar-powered machine capable of an autonomous production process combining the natural flow of light with the mechanical process.
“Idea of a tree” translates directly the sun’s intensity through a mechanical apparatus. It begins producing with the sun rises and stops at twilight. The daily harvest is the fruit/object on which to read the increase and decrease of sun-provided energy.

Through the screening of two videos and the exihibition of a few objects produced by this machine, Plart promotes one of the most innovative projects emerged on the young international design scene.

Scarica l’invito / Download the invitation
Info: Marco Petroni

All of us have been witnessing a new-born boom in Latin America related to architecture. There are so many new young studios [young means under 40 approx] working intensely in projects to be realized, in competitions but also in utopics non-solicited ones that are just a perfect exercise to re-think what is architecture and which ones are the ways to be focused on. This is the first of a serie of three post about Latin American architecture studios.

Caracas, Venezuela, circa the late 1950s

Block 52 and ranchos in Sierra Maestra

Some of these architecture studios are working under the new concepts of architecture and some of their projects include data visualization, films, spatial practices and research. It’s common now that the web 2.0 and the social networks provide tools to develop projects for international teams.

Metrocable San Agustin by UTT, Caracas.

This is the case on Urban Think Tank aka UTT. They describe themselves as a multi-disciplinary design practice dedicated to high-level research and design on a variety of subjects, concerned with contemporary architecture, urbanism. The office consists of 10 permanent staff members working out of Caracas, Venezuela and was founded by Alfredo Brillembourg and, in 1998, Hubert Klumpner joined as principal. Working at Columbia University they have formed the SLUM Lab [Sustainable Living Urban Model Lab], focused in identifying and developing architectural technologies for the informal city.

Their most well known project is the Metrocable in Caracas. The project includes five stations for the Metro Cable, a 1.3 mile loop developed to connect the San Augustin barrio to Caracas’s metro system. It is new and revolutionary approach to urban planning was developed in Caracas, and its main contribution is the cable car system, which is integrated with the Metro System of Caracas, is 2.1 km in length and employs gondolas holding 8 passengers each. Metro Cable’s capacity allows for the movement of 1,200 people an hour in each direction. It was exhibited at Salzburg Festival 2008 and at the Venice Biennale 2008.

The book Informal City: Caracas Case is the result of an extraordinary urban research project undertaken in the Venezuelan capital Caracas, as an interdisciplinary urban studies and/or interventions in Caracas. Caracas serves hereby as a prototypical Case study of the current critical situation of the Latin American Metropolis, and offers in that respect a field for exploration whose results can be transferred to comparable situations in other countries of the region. The publication both confirms and explodes the prevailing myths about formality and informality, about First and Third Worlds, and about the roles of architecture, urban planning, and community organization in a dynamic and changing environment.

Mariscal Sucre International Airport by Paisajes Emergentes, Quito.

In this context we can talk about the work of Paisajes Emergentes, a Colombian studio founded in Medellin by Edgar Mazo, Sebastián Mejía and Luis Callejas. They have been working on several competitions in the field of landscape and architecture and have been winners of some small projects that are right now under construction. Some other projects with more utopian approaches like Clouds are suppose to be constructed in the forthcoming years. Let’s take a look:

Clouds by Paisajes Emergentes, Ituango Hydroelectric Plant.

Clouds is a project for the Ituango Hydroelectric plant which is going to be finished in about 15 years. The towns that surround the area are not going to be flooded, but their economy will suffer some big changes. Paisajes Emergentes were really concerned about this and want to give the best response possible to the client’s request, that want to make a project that generate 3 different kind of objects to communicate what they want to say to the people of the towns.

Clouds by Paisajes Emergentes, Ituango Hydroelectric Plant.

The project, developed in collaboration with Lovisa Lindström, Sara Hellgren and Sebastian Monsalve is based in the idea of totem with elements that are suppose to keep as a permanent installation when the event comes to it’s end and will be floating at 150m high all over the towns with the final idea of create and open new relationships between the towns that are right now separated and isolated by a complex topography.

Quito’s Mariscal Sucre International Airport was a design competition to generate ideas to repurpose the airport. Paisajes Emergentes won the Second Prize entry at the international competition for a lake park in Quito. We can read at Pruned that, according to the organizers, “the coming availability of 126 hectares of space with a flat topography, located in the midst of a consolidated area, which thanks to the decision of the Quito Metropolitan Council, will be transformed into a park, constitutes an exceptional event and a unique opportunity.”

The project designed by Paisajes Emergentes flooded the 3-kilometer runway to create an “active hydrologic park,” which they then partitioned into 6 programmatically discrete areas: At the north end of the park are wetlands, open air aquarium, aquatic botanical garden, pedestrian walkways, public pools and thermal baths and finally a recreational lake.

Library for the children’s home Villa de los Niños in Guatemala by Solis Colomer

We’re used to read [sometimes much, sometimes little] about Latin American architecture studios, almost focused in well known countries like Mexico, Argentina, Chile, etc. But what’s happening in Central America? Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas, in between Mexico and Colombia and because it’s smaller size with an area of some 592,000 square kilometres it’s not so mentioned in the architectural world.

Sisters of Mary building by Solis Colomer

Solis Colomer, a studio founded in Guatemala in 2002 was created as an architectural workshop by Mauricio Solís and has won competitions as Alliance Française design and winners of the First Biennale of Architects Under 40. Let’s see some of their projects:

Library for the children’s home Villa de los Niños in Guatemala by Solis Colomer

The Library for the children’s home Villa de los Niños in Guatemala is part of a group of buildings built using international donations and founds and that’s why it has to be extremely efficient in the use of resources. This approach resulted in a low cost building that requires minimum maintenance with a composition that is “honest” as Mauricio Solís quotes, talking about the reduction of the programme to its simplest expressions.

Sisters of Mary building by Solis Colomer

The Sisters of Mary are a religious order that contribute to the development of needy communities around the world. The project combines high quality design with a low budget and as result of these conditions, there is a building that identify the community. Solis Colomer wanted to make a connection between Mexico and Guatemala and they found a common denominator in textiles, which led them to crate a formal abstraction of a Guatemalan Güipil to be incorporated in the design.

Su Casa en Vivo Pavilion by Sanjosereves, Guatemala

Sanjosereves is a studio from Costa Rica focused in the development of architectural projects plus video and web services. It was formed by Diego van der Laat and Marisol Rimolo in 2007 ad their projects have received and honourable mention in the 5th Student Biennale Sao Paolo and the 3rd Prize for the project MoMA Mumbai.

Su Casa en Vivo Pavilion by Sanjosereves, Guatemala

Su Casa en Vivo Pavilion is a project worked over the ruins of a house in Barrio Amón, one of the oldest neighbourhoods in San José. There, a framework of a window, which once connected the living room with the patio, became a physical boundary for the intervention, making the height and the width of the space.

Su Casa en Vivo Pavilion by Sanjosereves, Guatemala

The proposal was generated from the existing spaces of the old house and was inserted among his without changing them. The outcome was a white prism formed by three sliding skins. With the movement of these skins the user can glimpse the different sides of the surfaces that form the prism. It is form and function, because depending on the skin’s position, the user can go through the space or just stay in it.

Costa Rican Trails by Sanjosereves, Costa Rica

Costa Rican Trails is based on the concept that tropical architecture in Costa Rica has been misunderstood, becoming just the ornamental act of adding exterior elements to the main volume of the buildings. Costa Rican Trails is an attempt to reinterpret the traditional and conventional elements used to adapt to local weather conditions but looking for a more simple and effective architectonic language. It is a L-shaped building in which the two main warehouses are united in a triple height lobby. In this lobby, circulations are divided in different paths and bridges that lead the users to the offices.

Costa Rican Trails by Sanjosereves, Costa Rica

(Stay tuned for part 2/3!)

Unveiled Jordan along Via Dante

During the past week (October 22-30), Milan had the chance to experience a tour in Jordan’s culture and get to know more about Jordanian products and arts.
The Jordanian week started with “Giordania Svelata” (Unveiled Jordan), photo exhibit launched by the Jordan Tourism Board (JTB) featuring 60 spectacular images taken in different parts of the country by Italian and Jordanian photographers and displayed along the pedestrian Via Dante.

This special week was inaugurated by Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah and developed around three main locations: outdoor along Via Dante, in Via Dante Quattordici Gallery and in Galleria Meravigli. The event at “Via Dante 14 Gallery” was a photo exhibit too, while in Galleria Meravigli a real Jordanian market took place selling Jordanian handmade products and artworks. All images displayed in the gallery were on sale; the revenue will be assigned to various charity projects promoted by the Jordan River Foundation (JRF).

Artwork in glass bottles using colored sand in Galleria Meravigli.

Handmade Jewelry by Jordanian designer Lama Hourani.

The Jordan River Foundation (JRF), was established in 1995 and is chaired by Her Majesty Queen Rania Al-Abdullah. JRF is a Jordanian non-governmental organization (NGO), it was founded to improve the quality of life of Jordanians by empowering society, especially women and children, through education. The (Empowerment Program) mission is to promote, in partnership with stakeholders, the development of a dynamic Jordanian society by initiating and supporting sustainable social, economic and cultural programs that can better community and individual lifestyle starting from real needs and priorities.

Handmade products made by Jordanian women involved in the Jordan River Foundation projects

Specific programs on handicraft aim to teach women in underprivileged communities while preserving Jordanian artisanship. Tutors and designers from all over the world take part in the management training and transfer their professional skills to the Jordanian. Here following an interview to Jordan River Foundation marketing manager at Galleria Meravigli:

Nataleen Daas comes from the Kingdom of Jordan. She got an Interior Design BA and, while still a student, she co-operated in interior design projects for offices, houses and showrooms. In December 2008 she came to Italy to attend a Master in Interior Design at NABA, Milan. Nataleen says “During my Master I’m always questioned how Jordan is, how Jordanians are like etc. The only thing I’m used to get as a compliment is always about my Queen Rania. Although I love my Queen and she is the pride of my country, Jordan is not about the Queen only, it is also about its history, culture, arts and design. Yskira.com soon becoming ymag.it, represents a golden opportunity to unveil Jordan, its talent and culture. I hope I can familiarize the readers of this website to the real Jordanian Kingdom.”

Projects for the upcoming Milan: MABarquitectura, Consalez Rossi Architetti Associati + Vudafieri Saverino Partners, studio elementare Paolo Pasquini Architetti e 5+1AA Agenzia di Architettura alfonso femia gianluca peluffo

curated by Luca Molinari and Simona Galateo

november 3 – 28, 2009

from tuesday to saturday, h 3 – 20 pm

Free entrance

Vernissage: tuesday, november 3, h 6.30 pm

SpazioFMG per l’Architettura
Via Bergognone 27, Milan

Video reportage “PROGETTARE > ABITARE #1 shopping / food” by Paolo Riolzi (on Food Park and Retail Park projects) on show.

Download here the invitation

The CCA’s exhibition Actions: What You Can Do With the City travels to Chicago’s Graham Foundation. Opened on october 16, the exhibit will go on until 13 March 2010.

After the great critical and public acclaim while it was on view in Montreal (November 26, 2008 – April 19, 2009), the Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA) has announced that its exhibition Actions: What You Can Do With the City is now presented by the prestigious Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts in Chicago until 13 March 2010.

Featuring 99 actions that instigate positive change in contemporary cities around the world, the exhibition documents seemingly common activities such as walking, playing, recycling, and gardening that are pushed beyond their usual definition by the international architects, artists, and collectives featured in the exhibition. Their experimental interactions with the urban environment show the potential influence personal involvement can have in shaping the city, and challenge fellow residents to participate.

Conceived and curated by CCA Curator for Contemporary Architecture Giovanna Borasi and CCA Director and Chief Curator Mirko Zardini, the exhibition and its accompanying publication present specific projects by a diverse group of activists whose personal involvement has initiated vital transformation in today’s cities. These human motors of change include architects, engineers, university professors, students, children, pastors, artists, skateboarders, cyclists, pedestrians, municipal employees, and many others who address the question of how to improve the urban experience.

At the exhibition opening in Chicago, Mirko Zardini said “I am delighted to see the exhibition travel to Chicago and especially to the Graham Foundation. The Graham Foundation is deeply committed and passionately involved in sustaining a range of relevant studies in the contemporary debate on the city. Right now Chicago is an interesting place to discuss urbanism in a climate of openness and experimentation. I’m looking forward to seeing how the exhibition will continue to enhance new ways of thinking about how we interact with our cities “.

It is important to note that Actions: What You Can Do With the City is presented in Chicago during a year when the city celebrates the centennial of architect Daniel Burnham’s 1909 Plan of Chicago. “Actions provokes us to consider the exact opposite of the often quoted Burnham charge to ‘Make no little plans.‘” says Sarah Herda, Graham Foundation Executive Director and Curator. “In many ways the work brought together in the exhibition could be considered a collection of little plans — all demonstrating that creative thinking and participation at every scale has the potential to shape the urban environment.”

Furthermore, the 99 distinct actions presented in the exhibition are drawn from a larger number identified by the curators. They include projects related to the production of food and urban agriculture; the planning and creation of public spaces to strengthen community interactions; the recycling of abandoned buildings for new purposes; the appropriation of urban sites into terrain for play, such as soccer, climbing, skateboarding, or parkour; the alternate use of roads for walking or rail lines as park space; the design of clothing to circumvent urban barriers against loitering or resting on benches; and many others. The exhibition places particular emphasis on the activists’ tools, which comprise unusual materials ranging from large-scale inflatables and fruit-collecting dresses to seed-bomb rocket launchers and wheelbarrow-bicycle hybrids. Included are masks disguising children as horses, or sneakers customised for sliding along railings.
In their individual critiques of urban modes of production and consumption, these actors share a conviction that the traditional processes of top-down civic planning are insufficient, and new approaches and tools must be developed from the ground level upwards.

The design concept for the exhibition is by Andrea Sala, Milan, and the graphic design including display brochures is by Project Projects, New York City.

The catalogue for Actions: What You Can Do With the City is the fruit of a collaboration between the Canadian Centre for Architecture in Montréal and SUN of Amsterdam; the 30 essays are published for the first time and include personal observations by a range of activists alongside scholarly reflections on the positive impact these individual initiatives have on the city. The volume is available in English and French editions for $42.95 CAD/USD.

Actions:What You Can Do With the City, snapshot of the official site homepage. Gorgeous!

The website www.cca-actions.org was created by Montréal design agency Bluesponge to accompany the exhibition. It allows users to participate and post their own initiatives or thoughts about individual actions that can improve the city .