I like it here.
So why is my neighborhood and thousands more like it, so often ignored by architects and architecture schools? The very environment where a good number of students were born and raised is relegated to a bench seat when it comes to academic discourse, or – even worse – treated with derision or scorn. “Leave it to the developers,” is the refrain.
I whole-heartedly disagree.
There is fantastic essay by Albert Pope, a professor at Rice University in Houston, where I received my education, entitled “The Primacy of Space.” In it, Pope writes:
“The contemporary city, the city that is, at this moment, under construction, is invisible. Despite the fact that it is lived in by millions of people, that it is endlessly reproduced, debated in learned societies, and suffered on a daily basis, the conceptual framework that would allow us to see it is conspicuously lacking. While the contemporary city remains everywhere and always seen, it is fully transparent to the urban conceptions under which we continue to operate.”
In other words: old rules don’t necessarily apply. The formal ideas which stem from urbanity are often rendered powerless or irrelevant when haphazardly overlaid on suburban spaces. We need new tools in the toolbox. Hell, we need a whole other toolbox.
HALIFAX – The above image and text is care of Halifax Architect, Eric Stotts and was originally published on the blog, Building Social Value; a blog about Socially Responsible Architecture that features writings and observations by Stotts, as well as Angela Henderson. Stotts’ above text and photo montage will likely provide an interesting entry point into his PechaKucha (PK) presentation (20 images, shown for 20 second each) tonight at The Carleton, and is likewise fitting for his PK presenters tag name – ‘Suburban Apologist’. Angela Henderson, will also be giving an engaging presentation at PK#7. From her blog entries on co-design, community building, public space, and place-making, I can understand the correlation between her two-word PK presentation descriptor – ‘Incurable Humanist’.
With 14 presentations on the roster for PK #7 tonight, an event organized by a collaborative partnership between Breakhouse Inc and Dalhousie University’s School of Planning conference – IMAGINE, don’t miss out on the other other 12 presenters, such as planner, Frank Palermo (aka – Practical Optimist), who is the Head of the Urban and Rural Planning program at Dalhousie University’s, School of Planning and the School of Planning’s resident urban designer, and lead researcher on several First Nations community planning projects in the Cities and Environment Unit or the ‘Enthusiastic Localist’ David Fultz talking about the inter-galatic connections to the local.
WHAT: PechaKucha Night #7
WHEN: Thursday, March 10th, 8pm-10pm
WHERE: The Carleton – 1685 Argyle Street – Downtown Halifax
HOW MUCH: $6
While Breakhouse Inc. has been responsible for initiating these innovative dialogues – PechaKucha, in Halifax – on a variety of topics, they have partnered with the Dalhousie School of Plannings’ conference – IMAGINE, with the focus this year on long-term planning, and have made it the theme for PK volume #7. Evidently, both Breakhouse Inc. and the School of Planning’s Conference, share a common goal in coordinating innovative dialogue on urban matters and are both invested and interested in the future of the city of Halifax.
PechaKucha Nights are informal and fun gatherings taking place internationally, where creative people get together and share their ideas, works, and thoughts on just about any topic. The idea behind PechaKucha is to have many people sharing their thoughts and work within the course of one night. Therefore the 20×20 Pecha Kucha format was created: 20 images, each shown for 20 seconds; 6 minutes 40 seconds per presenter; 14 presenters; 1 wild night. Drawing its name from the Japanese phrase for the sound of conversation (“chit chat”), the PechaKucha format is simple – 20 images x 20 seconds – and designed to keep presentations concise and moving at a rapid pace.
Photo care of Building Social Value.