tag_magazine.

tag_ is a crowdsourced magazine done by international bloggers and photographers. It’s a magazine on urban issues exploring current happenings from across Europe.

Monika Kanokova (KATHMOGRAPHY) asked me to contribute an interview and photo to her project tag_ a magazine for urban issues 2011/2012. Take a few minutes to check out the whole magazine for free: http://issuu.com/kathmography/docs/tag.

film and the city: vertical expectations – the shard.

Vertical Expectations – The Shard from Simolab-Creative AV on Vimeo. A documentary by Simona Piantieri, music and sound by Jo Hutton.


The Shard, is a skyscraper under construction in London Bridge, London. When completed in 2012, it will be the tallest building in the European Union and the 45th tallest building in the world.
Vertical Expectations is a 26 minutes documentary that explores the nexus between architecture, development and society through an ethnographic analysis of the current building of the Shard.As a resident in the area I was particularly interested in investigating this phenomenon and the impact it will have in its surroundings and the city.
This documentary highlights some of the questions that can inform a more nuanced understanding of architecture’s social ramifications and the relevance space art and technology have on local people and the city as a whole. It raises questions about how architecture and space reflect social needs, the role of urban planning in the construction of public areas and the impact it will have on the community. -Simona Piantieri


TIP for all of you out there in London on February 22, 2012: Join a collaborative night on vertical space!
Further info`s available here.

call for papers: urban europe [conference]

From 20th to 22nd of September 2012 the European Urban Research Association (EURA) is going to hold its annual conference titled Urban Europe – Challenges to Meet the Urban Future at the Vienna University of Technology:

“Cities are both drivers of economic, technological and organisational development and the places of remarkable social change. The conference “Urban Europe – Challenges to Meet the Urban Future” reflects the actual urban situations and the main challenges and outlines outcomes and solutions.
The aim of the conference is to collect critical and practical relevant theses and results to stimulate debates on the European urban future. It particularly addresses the governance of cities which have to deal with contradictory challenges between economic competitiveness and social cohesion, technological aspects of energy management (‘smart cities’) and settlement growth, shrinking cities, increasing segregation and environment protection. There is a need for new forms of governance to integrate the increasingly different interests of heterogeneous urban societies and to come up with growth coalitions that combine competitiveness and responsibilities for balanced developments.”

EURA invites you to submit abstracts  until the 17th of March 2012 for the following tracks:
Track 1 – Aim, Process and Deficits of the Joint Programming Initiative “Urban Europe”
Track 2 – Patterns and Driving Forces of Long-Term Urban Dynamics
Track 3 – Competitive and Inclusive Metropolitan Development and Governance
Track 4 – Vulnerable and Resilient Cities
Track 5 – Metabolism of Urban Areas – Resource, Energy and Land Use
Track 6 – Innovation Hubs and Living Labs

For further information download the conference flyer EURA2012.pdf or visit the EURA website.

conflict kitchen.

source

Take-out restaurant meets public art project, serving food from countries that the United States is in conflict with. Et voilà: The Conflict Kitchen in Pittsburgh is born. Jon Rubin, Dawn Weleski and John Pena are the minds behind this intervention in Pittsburgh, intending to satisfy your appetite while educating the folks on political issues.

“Conflict Kitchen is a take-out restaurant that only serves cuisine from countries that the United States is in conflict with. The food is served out of a take-out style storefront, which rotates identities every 6 months to highlight another country. Each Conflict Kitchen iteration is augmented by events, performances, and discussion about the culture, politics, and issues at stake with each county we focus on. We are currently presenting the third iteration of Conflict Kitchen via La Cocina Arepas, an Venezuelan take-out restaurant that serves homemade arepas, grilled corncakes served to order with a variety of fresh fillings. Developed in collaboration with members of the Venezuelan community, our arepas come packaged in a custom-designed wrapper that includes interviews with Venezuelans both in Venezuelan and the United States on subjects ranging from Venezuelan food and culture to issues of geopolitics.”


Conflict Kitchen
124 s. Highland Ave,
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Conflict Kitchen on facebook

Mode Report.

Some of you might remenber, that I curated the blog for Das Gemeindebaufestival 2012/2011. All contributions from collages to text to photos have recently been honored with a great 400-pages publication, and, furthermore, the whole thing is online for all of you to take a look or download for free. By the way, you get the chance to meet the whole team as I´ve been around to interview almost everybody.
Thanks to the Vienna-based agency Halle34 for caring for the whole production, from graphics to organizing photographer Michael Dürr for some awesome portraits of the team!