[polis] Archive
When I began working on my PhD in London in 2012, I tried my quill (so to speak) at different forms of writing on cities and urban life. I had the good fortune of doing this for [polis] - a collaborative blog about cities, where a collective of talented and passionate souls contributed regular pieces on everything from critical analyses of urban regeneration agendas to housing rights debates, architectural theory, cultural production, and lots more.
There is much that I value in the pieces I contributed to this platform - from the varied formats in which I could shape my observations (reportage, found objects, sound-recordings), to the freedom from academic jargon, and the incredible shock and pleasure of having a readership in the thousands at times (!). The posts are organized in inverse chronological order and feature the first paragraph of the piece. You can click on the title and it will take you to the original [polis] page, where you can read the full post.
A Tramway Arrives in Casablanca
May 5, 2014
As Morocco’s largest city and business center, Casablanca suffers from infernal traffic congestion, related air pollution and insufficient public transit. The municipal government has yet to realize longstanding plans for a subway system, but has recently completed a $1.6 billion tramway that connects much of the city’s east and west sections via the center. Such lines are becoming a global trend, promoted as environmentally sustainable and socially equitable urban renewal.
#OccupyGezi Fights to Save Historic Istanbul Park
June 1, 2013
On May 28, protesters occupied a central green space in Istanbul to stop bulldozers from razing it to the ground. The demolition is part of a government redevelopment plan that includes construction of a new mall and luxury housing. Local authorities sent riot police to disperse those gathered in Taksim Gezi Park, authorizing the use of water cannons and pepper spray. Newspapers reported that several protester tents were set on fire, which increased the resolve of those gathered in the park.
In Defense of a ‘Cultural Factory’
March 11, 2013
The Casablanca art world has been up in arms since the Feb. 15 print edition of Al Ittihad announced that the city government planned to transform a popular cultural space into a parking lot. The site of Casablanca's old slaughterhouses — known locally as "les abattoirs" or simply "l'batoir" — covers five hectares in the historically industrial neighborhood of Hay Mohammadi. Its buildings were designed by French architect Georges-Ernest Desmarest and completed in 1922. Abandoned 80 years later, the site became a rallying point for local artists and architects with ideas for its reuse.
Book Review: Edward Durell Stone ‘Modernism’s Populist Architect’
January 30, 2013
Despite a lifelong commitment to modernist architecture, Edward Durell Stone (1902-1978) is often associated with the movement away from modernism toward decorative and neoclassical styles. It is rare to find detailed studies on the ideas behind his transition from stark modernist buildings like the MoMA in New York City to the "Romantic Modernism" of buildings like the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. A recent book by architectural historian Mary Ann Hunting comprehensively addresses this transition.
Underground Map for Sprawling London
January 11, 2013
On January 9, Google celebrated the 150th anniversary of the London Underground with a doodle spin-off of the system’s legendary map. Harry Beck’s iconic design is considered so revolutionary that Eric Hobsbawm called it “the most original work of avant-garde art in Britain between the wars.”
Six New Year’s Resolutions for Better City Living
January 1, 2013
It's the time of year again when we take stock of the old and pledge to be better in the new. Since our goal at Polis is to foster dialogue and cooperation for improving city life, I'm proposing a short list of New Year's resolutions to help us all live better urban lives.
Innovation Lights the Way
December 17, 2012
Amenities are easily taken for granted if they're a common presence: temperature control, motorized transport, running water, electricity. When this is the case, we only occasionally stop to think about their influence on the world around us. Given the technologies currently used to secure their presence, covering the 5 billion people projected to live in urban areas by 2030 will place a critical strain on global resources.
Open Source Housing
July 30, 2012
“Imagine if we could make designing and printing your house as easy as shopping on Amazon — and put it into the public domain forever.” This is the challenge put forth by the minds behind open source D.I.Y. project WikiHouse, which recently won the TED City 2.0 award.
Summer in the City
July 16, 2012
In 1927, the Times reported that more than three thousand people had spent the night sleeping on the sand at Coney Island in order to escape the stifling heat of their tenements. Patrolmen had been assigned to stand guard over the sleepers. Many more spent their nights in Central Park, while others piled up on fire escapes to survive the sweltering heat of New York in July. Over the years, the image of children cooling off in the spray of a fire hydrant has become synonymous with summer in the city. Too poor to escape to the Hamptons, working class New Yorkers transformed available public spaces into impromptu vacation spots.
Adaptations of Vernacular Modernism in Casablanca
July 4, 2012
In the early 1950s, a group of architects found inspiration in Casablanca's slums, transforming an area at the city’s margins into a sandbox for utopian experimentation. The main participants were George Candillis, Alexis Josic and Shadrach Woods, who worked within GAMMA (Group of Modern Moroccan Architects) and were part of the controversial Team 10. Critical of the purely functionalist orientation of early modernist architecture, Team 10 aimed to develop a new approach rooted in the vernacular and the everyday.
Learning from Munich’s Olympic Architecture
June 5, 2012
In the past decade, the International Chair in Olympism issued a number of reports pointing out that the games have grown larger and more expensive since 1984. On one hand, growth has meant increasing participation from athletes the world over and more state spending on national sports. On the other hand, increasing commercialisation has been criticised as the main drive behind an event that has little to do with sports anymore. The games are also a major event in the history of the city in which they take place, leaving behind an image in the minds of spectators around the world and a legacy of steel and concrete in the urban landscape.
The ‘Teeming Silence’ of Condemned Social Housing
May 22, 2012
In the words of its most passionate biographer Peter Ackroyd, London is never silent. Even in its hushed hours, the city “teems” with the very present absence of people or business. This teeming silence can be felt and heard most acutely at the condemned Heygate Estate in Southwark.