Since 2009, CAPALab has been bringing together the local community with the municipality government to initiate this commission to discuss the ecology, hydrology, biology, culture, history issues of this estuary, San Jose del Cabo, Mexico.
CAPALab’s aim, by combining two main attractors (activities + green public areas), was to encourage the locals and visitors to use the estuary, and in turn take ownership of this essential natural resource. Such ownership will foster a greater interest in the environment and allow locals and visitors alike to be part of the conversation which brings together recreation, education and creativity for the future of the estuary.
Some people are celebrating the 21st century as the century of the city - as more than half of the human population is now living in cities, suggesting that their inhabitants have a better life as before. But they overlook the unstable side of the cities, their lack of community, their gangs and crimes. The influx of people is not an act of free choice, but a consequence of poverty, exploitation and in many cases a forced movement instigated by government policies, and land grabbing by multinationals and the rich. Modern nomadism is on the rise, the climate change and the unequal distribution of wealth on a local and global scale will only push more people to move from their ancestral lands just simply to survive.
As a reflection on Nomadism, The World in a Shell is a mobile artist's studio located in areas inhabited by indigenous peoples in the proximity of UNESCO World Heritage Sites to document the people, cultures and the surroundings of these sites, and turn them into the living-mobile world heritage sites.
However effective and connective the internet is nowadays, a big part of our world is still beyond our understanding. A great amount of building activities are, in fact, out of the media interest. Examples of local community built work, vernacular & traditional building techniques, informal settlements or disaster reconstruction are part of our everyday reality and are invaluable human experiences & innovations. Today this indigenous building knowledge is becoming fragmented, poorly documented and thus easily forgotten & lost in our fast changing digital world.
Is there a way to collect this scattered local architecture knowledge, and make it accessible and valuable to everyone? And with this available knowledge, how can we learn from each other and collaborate on sustainable development?
According to the state of the world's cities report 2008/2009 by the UN, South Africa tops the world's most unequal cities list. Since my first stay in Orange Farm (a Township in the very south of Johannesburg) in 2006, with a 'design ‐ build' course by the TU Vienna, I have been fascinated by the enormous spatial divergence between the haves and the have nots within a single metropolis.
The objective of this research is to analyze the spatial practice and spatial patterns of the unplanned and planned city within the context of the 'evolved city'. By pointing out the potential of non formal structures, available capacities and the needs of the inhabitants, planning strategies for an integrated urban planning and appropriate architecture in underdeveloped areas can be generated.
Originally published in airoots/eirut
The emerging economies of today – especially Brazil, India and Africa – are responding to the same impulses and imperatives as the post-planned city in Russia, US or Europe. The form that dominates much of the new urbanscape is what is often misrepresented as slums or the informal city. We refer to this as the natural city. The natural city is a urban cyborg, in a constant process of simultaneous decay and regeneration. It is neither pure nor perfect. Often polluted, corrupted and toxic itself, it is simply a manifestation of certain irrepressible processes of urban growth. It flourishes anywhere planning fails.
Originally published in Spatial Agency
Atelier-3 was founded by the Taiwanese architect, Hsieh Ying-chun (謝英俊), who moved his studio to rural Taiwan in the wake of the devastating earthquake of 1999. The earthquake prompted a complete rethink of architecture and construction in Taiwan and resulted in the New School Movement, which began with the rebuilding of destroyed schools using vernacular techniques. Especially affected by the earthquake were remote aboriginal communities who were living in ecologically sensitive areas with a rich cultural heritage that was already under threat.
We welcome everyone to share stories written with respect to the local societies, cultures, traditions and environments. Your contributed stories will be featured on our homepage which updates every 3 months.
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|  | |  | .jpg "Juan José Olavarría") |
