archiDATUM

  • Rebel Architecture: On activism in Architecture and away with Starchitecture

This week ArchiDATUM, through Joy Sapieka, seeks to draw your attention to a series on ALJAZEERA about  REBEL ARCHITECTURE which was broadcasted from  the 8th of August . The series profiled the architects around the world who use design as a form of activism and resistance, turning away from elite “starchitecture”  to design for the majority.

The  AFRICAN SECTION  was in Episode 5 and was entitled WORKING ON WATER and  focused on the work of Nigerian Architect Kunle Adeyemi . It  was be broadcasted on the 15th September.Working on Water

 

He is pioneering floating buildings to solve the issue  of flooding and land occupation that affect hundreds of thousands in Nigeria and other African coastal cities, including the 85,000 residents of the Lagos , Makoko Slum.  His studio have come up with an easy-to-build-,low-cost , sustainable prototype for a floating building – one of which is already coveted by an overcrowded school in the area.But despite winning numerous awards, he is still struggling to get approval from the authorities to roll out the prototype.

Several hundred kilometres away in Port Harcourt , a similar landscape , he is working on a floating radio station for a community NGO but the regional government is keen on redeveloping the area , and has a multi-billion dollar plan that favours displacing its current residents over improving living conditions in the slums. Can Kunle get his plans afloat in time?

Other Films in the Series include GUERRILLA ARCHITECT  looking at Seville’s most subversive architect  Santiago Cirugeda;Guerilla Architect

A TRADITIONAL FUTURE features Pakistani architect Yasmeen Lari, the first female architect in Pakistan, who uses traditional building techniques to rebuild villages in the flood damaged Sindh Valley;

Traditional Future

THE ARCHITECTURE OF VIOLENCE  - Eyal Weizman explains architecture’s key role in the Israeli occupation of Palestine and the evolution of urban warfare.

Architecture of Violence

In GREENING THE CITY architect Vo Trong Nghia attempts to return greenery to Vietnam’s choking cities and design cheap homes for those excluded from Vietnam’s rapid growth.

Greening The City

This he does through extensive use of Bamboo and natural materials with a strong presence of social change and impact;

 

and THE MASTER PLANNER Ricardo who is a a Brazilian “pedreiro” making his living as an informal builder in Rio’s Rocinha: but the government has a different plan for the future of the favelas.The Master Planner

The Master Planner

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