reflections

The Pruitt-Igoe Myth One of the most iconic architectural projects of modernity, the Pruitt-Igoe complex in st.Louis. The images of its demolition in 1973 have become the symbol of the passage to the post modern era, according to a famous Charles Jenks’ assertion. We saw the excellent film The Pruitt-Igoe Myth at the Rotterdam Architecture Film Festival. The […] jo pixel No responses 2014-06-07
Stare Sajmište The urban periphery is a field of conquest and investment. It is the frontier of the advancing city, the front of the urban growth machine. Essential modern means to foster urban development are exhibitions, temporary events, the use of spectacular processes as ice-breaking operations towards new investment and settlement. The invention of modernism is indissolubly […] jo pixel No responses 2014-04-10
Modernism in-between (…) then, Yugoslav culture was not entirely open either functioning inside a systemic “membrane” that filtered the exchange with the outside world. Similarly, Yugoslavia’s position between the “three worlds” of the Cold War was not symmetric either. The chief reference points of exchange shifted at first from East to West and then only slightly back […] jo pixel No responses 2014-03-09
Spomenik, Kosmaj The monuments (spomenika) that Tito commissioned to artists and architects to commemorate events of the Second World War are one of the most capturing outcomes of a modernist idea of Yugoslavia. These works translate in concrete gestures the aspiration to settle a national identity and commemorate traumatic history without nationalist rhetoric, revering the past while translating […] jo pixel No responses 2013-09-24
Times Square Blues Talking about centre / periphery relations, Times Square is probably the most central space in the world. It is at the centre of New York City, it is at the centre of the global spectacular entertainment industry, at the centre of the american economy and its cultural domination over the world. Times Square is a […] jo pixel No responses 2013-08-26
Fordism “È un bene che il popolo non comprenda il nostro sistema economico e monetario, perché se accadesse credo che scoppierebbe una rivoluzione prima di domani mattina.” Henry Ford The first use of the term Fordism to define a political paradigm is attributed to Antonio Gramsci. Undoubtedly the Fordist organization of production has been an essential source of […] jo pixel No responses 2013-07-08
From Disurbanisation to Hyperurbanisation “Following the Marxist theory of cancelling the difference between city and countryside, de-urbanization called for the abolition of cities in favor of “field urbanism” an evenly distributed industry intermingled of agriculture and residential areas. First imagined by Soviet Constructivist avant-garde in the 1920s, de-urbanization was the red, communist version of Ebenezer’s Howard Garden City.” (Mihai […] jo pixel No responses 2013-06-21
From center to periphery The main focus of our project, clearly expressed by the title, is in the relation between periphery and centrality as produced by modernist principles. Adopting a wide scope, this means also investigating the relationship among political, economical, cultural forms of marginalization and the spatial organisation of society. Started as an almost random exploration of modernist […] jo pixel No responses 2013-06-18
East-gate Marzahn is one of the last huge settlements of DDR urbanism. The dormitory city logic is perfectly complementary with the shopping mall logic imported by capitalism. The synthesis of mass housing and mass consumption reinforced by efficient transportation infrastructure pleases the new consumerist citizenship. East-Gate is one of the more than 200 commercial centres owned by ECE, […] jo pixel No responses 2013-06-17
On the preservation of Modernist Heritage Since our involvement as invited artists with the Moskonstruct campaign, and later with RKM, where we took care of the communication and graphic design of the EU funded cooperation project, we have found ourselves involved in the issue of preserving the heritage of modernist architecture. Our project and blog have also become a sounding board for campaigns and petitions. This […] jo pixel No responses 2013-04-30