"'Actions' anthology a handbook for urban revolutionaries" by Christopher Hume... - The Diigo Meta page

• 19 Jan 09
  

  Yule Heibel

  Discussion of Montreal's Canadian Centre for Architecture's publication "Actions: What You Can Do With The City" (Mirko Zardini and Giovanna Borasi): 98 examples of "techniques, events, ideas and strategies aimed at making cities more sustainable, humane, efficient, livable and, not least, fun." I was especially intrigued by what Hume describes as "Actions"' subtext, *waste* - see article.
  QUOTE
  "Our whole economy has become a waste economy," writes Zardini quoting Hannah Arendt, "in which things must be almost as quickly devoured and discarded as they have appeared in the world, if the process itself is not to come to a sudden catastrophic end."
  UNQUOTE

  thestar christopher_hume waste cities urbanism

  • "Between the utopian fantasy of starting over and the impossible dream of continuing in the direction that we are headed," writes architect/activist Fritz Haeg, "there lies a middle ground in which we come to terms with the urban decisions that have already been made and repurpose aspects of our existing built environment in strategic ways. ... No matter what has been handed to us, each of us should be given licence to be an active part in the creation of the cities that we share."

    • 

      Yule Heibel on 2009-01-19

      Well said, and interesting to think about in relation to someone like J.H. Kunstler, who thinks there's a tabula rasa coming up.

  • If Actions has a subtext, however, it's that of waste. Many projects included are based on reclaiming the vast quantities of food we throw away – a quarter of all food produced in North America ends in a trash bin, much perfectly edible.

    "Our whole economy has become a waste economy," writes Zardini quoting Hannah Arendt, "in which things must be almost as quickly devoured and discarded as they have appeared in the world, if the process itself is not to come to a sudden catastrophic end."

    Arendt's words, written half a century ago, have never been so pertinent.

  • 1 more annotations...
  • • At the same time, Action recognizes that livability can be a strictly local issue.

      • 

        Yule Heibel on 2009-01-19

        V. true.

Public Stiky Notes

• 
  Yule Heibel on 2009-01-19
  Well said, and interesting to think about in relation to someone like J.H. Kunstler, who thinks there's a tabula rasa coming up.
• 
  Yule Heibel on 2009-01-19
  V. true.

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