“Civil world is the free play of forms-of-life; it is the principle of their coexistence” Tiqqun, Introduction to civil world

Intense migration flows witnessed recently in big cities has been challenging the traditional understanding of the political organization of human living in the urban realm. The unprecedented clash of different forms-of-life due to these changing conditions has established not only a new relationship between inhabitation and the city, but also a redefinition of the key agents in political terms. Latest social unrest in Islamic countries has shown us that contemporary society concerns are not discussed in the traditional parliaments or councils anymore, but in the public spaces of the city itself.

Following this principle, Inter Unit 8 – Politics of fabrication II understands that the coexistence of diverse and conflicting forms-of-life in the contemporary city needs to be readdressed and reframed in the urban ground itself. This implies a new spatial and physical layout of enabling the presence and frictional interaction/negotiation of these forms-of-life of those who share the city. The location chosen is the city of Miami, the major entry point for Latin American immigrants in the United States. In particular, the focus of students work has been the Little Havana neighborhood, for years the epicentre of the political expression of the dominant Cuban immigrants and the most multicultural neighborhoods in the city at the present. In this area a pervading logic of city space privatization has lead to an increasing tension between individuals and groups with different cultural, social, ethnic and economical backgrounds inhabiting the neighborhood. Exploring this particular matter, students have thought about the importance of public space as the necessary space of encounter, interaction and negotiation between these different ways of living now present in the city, and recovering its political value in a contemporary Latin-American metropolis.

8.4.11

Symposium "Politics of Fabrication Laboratory"

As part of the Politics of Fabrication Laboratory Workshop held in the Open City, Valparaiso, form the 1st to the 12th of August, we are organizing a symposium in Chile next May. Please read the text below,

SYMPOSIUM POLITICS OF FABRICATION LABORATORY Friday 13th May 2011 E[AD] Escuela de Arquitectura y Diseño Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso From Felix Candela’s double-curvature concrete shells to Eladio Dieste’s undulated brick surfaces or Alberto Cruz Covarrubias poetic wood constructions, Latin American architecture has demonstrated an outstanding vitality in material expression. However, the work of these architects not only traced new symbolic and expressive architectural trajectories in the history of modern architecture, but also challenged the relationship between architecture and the public in a broader sense. Following this tradition, Politics of Fabrication Symposium (PFS) explores the changing political implications of material experimentation when applied to the construction of public spaces. The symposium brings together academic leaders, practitioners and architectural personalities to open up a conversation on the implications between particular socio-cultural conditions and current digital fabrication techniques. Participants will include Brett Steele (AA), Politics of Fabricaton Laboratory (AA), Franklin Lee (AA), Mauricio Puentes Riffo (UPC Valparaiso), David Jolly Monge (UPC Valparaiso), Marcelo Araya (UPC Valparaiso), Rodrigo García Alvarado (U Bio Bio), Juan Roman Perez (U Talca), Juan Baixas (UPC Santiago), Pablo C Herrera (UPC Peru), Drago Vodanovic and Tomas Jacobsen (U San Sebastian). The PFS will be held at the Universidad Católica de Valparaiso (Chile) the 13th of May 2011.
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