When serious things come a bit too close

This evening I was returning from a design training in Bristol. We worked with several groups of young people, one of which was a group of 5 boys from a challenged school. They were pretty disruptive to each other and the rest of the groups, but their responsible adult kept stressing that they were very well-behaved for kids from their school. Apparently Bristol's a pretty harsh place in certain areas.

Settling into my seat on the train back to London my eye caught a headline about ..youths.. shooting.. London.. I thought to myself, oh, another one. Then I looked a bit closer and saw Stoke Newington in there. I flipped to page 11 and there was the name of my road in the text, a description of the boys that always hang out around my tower block, and a mention of the community centre that's nearly always closed and looks so sad with it's windows barred for protection.

3 young people have, while I was away, been shot just moments and meters away from my front door. My flatmate was home, and just like everyone else, he assumed the bangs were just the ubiquitous fireworks, and the group of kids just the kids that always hang out a the foot of our building. He didn't realise that 3 14-15 year old kids had been shot by a rival gang.

It's a bit scary, really. I've noticed lately that something's going on with the kids. There's been more of them, more often. And there has been more police presence on the estate, too, in the form of officers slowly patrolling the area, but certainly also in police vans chasing kids on scooters (only to get caught up by the lovely 60s urban design of the estate). This didn't happen when I first moved here a year and a half ago. I stopped a couple of officers on patrol just the other day to ask why there seemed to be more police, and they told me that they were just establishing a presence in the area in response to the young people here, nothing to worry about, ma'am.

Yeah, right.

What kind of places are we living in, where children have access to guns and shoot each other? And why the heck am I living in the middle of it all? And why is nothing being done to the physical, emotional, social and financial deprivation of my estate and of others around the country? Estates that encourage and enable behaviour that is not for the best of the community. Estates that do not inspire people to dream that their lives could be different of the lives of their parents, estates that are not legible, not accessible, not fit for purpose. Estates that have been built in one fell swoop, or estates that have developed piecemeal to a hodgepodge of disconnected spaces, linked by a series of non-places. No, I don't mean the Marc Augé ones; I'm on about the appallingly unpersonal and unwelcoming concrete leftover spaces that incompetent planners and designers failed to address in an appropriate manner. I'm talking about seedy concreted spaces that are fenced in and used for littering, broken curbs, a horrid back alley used for parking and dumping of all sorts of garbage and large household furnisings, narrow and poorly lit alleys and walkways, derelict green spaces, etc etc. Just outside my front door, and so many other people's.

As ever, my dear two readers, I hope you're doing well. Today I'll add in another hope - that you are and will remain far removed from gun-toting, balaclava-wearing kids on bikes.

Going batty, uh.. I mean dotty!

So. Here's a little taste of what I'm up to these days:



Presentation's tomorrow and I remarkably feel ok. I have LOADS to do still tonight, but I'm just working away. It makes such a big difference to be doing things for yourself not for some boss you don't really... well... like.

The weather has changed

(Posted with a day's delay,I'm afraid)

Yesterday was cold - real cold. I have brought out my long, woollen sweaters, but am waiting a bit to unpack my winter coat. That would just be too much of a commitment..!

The last couple of days have been really exciting, even more than just the changing of the seasons, which in itself can be a thrilling ride of “oh no, it’s raining again” interspersed with those moments of clarity where you realise that you are part of something bigger, a system that keeps moving, no matter what goes on in your own little life.

Tuesday was challenging. I was preparing for my interview the day after (had to do a 10 minute presentation on what I can bring to the firm + several other tasks), and so actually had something to do. The rest of my course-mates were frantically completing their work on the exhibition that was to open at 6.30 that evening. I felt bad for not taking part in the preparations and had to keep reminding myself that what I was doing was equally important. I just really like to take part in common things like that. The exhibition was great, and all the hard work really paid off in the end. There were so many people there that one could hardly move – success! Most of the time I was just really happy for everybody, they were so happy to be done, and I genuinely smiled on the numerous photos being taken. At one point, however, I felt so alone. I was not done, did not have any relatives or friends there to see my work. I was not overjoyed to have completed the course, because I hadn’t! I wandered aimlessly around, taking in all the people looking in awe at the boards displayed, chattering away about how much work must go into the projects. My mind drifted to the interview the day after, but eventually I got to talking to some people again, which allowed me to enjoy the ret of my evening.

The day after I had my very first serious interview. I wasn’t sure how it had gone, but I did walk away with a positive feeling, yet I wasn’t entirely happy with my replies. I guess they were, since they called me today to offer me the job – starting Monday! I am terribly happy and confused at the same time. I have had no stable rhythm in my life all summer, and all of a sudden both basketball and a job commence simultaneously. I have been looking forward to this, but now I won’t have all that free time and be able to organise my days as I please. Part of growing up?

Have a list of about 25 points that I would like to have done before starting my job (!), it’ll be a busy weekend (and oh, the first basketball game is presumably on Saturday, too).

Wish me luck :.)

Group work as opposed to individual work

What is more important: To be able to participate satisfactorily in group work or to be able to work entirely individually?

I sincerely hope that having capabilities in the group work category will bring me far in my upcoming career, 'cause my individual skills are truly lacking. It's just easier for me to be motivated when I'm working *with* someone.. I'm beginning to think that this "being independent"- thing is something I'll have to battle with forever, at least with regards to urban design :.)

I have got only two months to do some seriously sweet urban design work on my own, so I had better get going on a steep learning curve! Tomorrow, to the British Library, where I cannot procrastinate, at least not without getting so bored that I fall asleep.. which is then again also a challenge to my studies.. but it's better, at least I get SOME work done!

Here's a nice peaceful pic from Nordhavn in Copenhagen to wrap up a post about something entirely different..! Enjoyed a couple of hours with my dear childhood friend there (know her for 26 years!), watching the boats sail by and soaking up the last rays of the sun..


It's off to bed for me, so, one love to y'all, thanks for dropping by my very irregularly updated blog of sorts.

reflections: 2

Being back in the family home brings forth a great deal of emotional dealings.

My brother is graduating and is looking a lot older than my mental image of him as an annoying six-year old brat (!), and my parents are working on selling the house that we moved in to just prior to his birth; a house that has been my sanctuary for nearly 20 years. Here's a thought: Can their new home, in the mild, beautiful and calm countryside of the north of Sjælland, become as much a home and a base for me as this one is now? I'm hoping the cliché "home is where the heart is" will prove true. The pictures look lovely, totally rural idyll, with a thatched roof and halftimbered structure. I hope to go see the new house in the weekend, after the wedding on Saturday.

So many things are happening now. I have taken an opportunity to stop and reflect on what is important. My family, friends, "career", interests long neglected.... I am at a crossroads right now, without knowing what sort of roads I am facing. It is clear to me, however, that my choice of career needs a thorough thinking through. Perhaps it is time to pursue what I am good at, enhancing my strong points so I can actually have some authority in a field instead of being moderately good at a lot of things.

useful..!?

This website may soon become the most useful tool to come my way... Imagine the wonderous word compositions I can spew after a visit to this incredible generator! I may even begin to be able to communicate with my tutor through a language approaching his highly sophisticated constructions...

the neverending story...

I remember hearing about a book, written with red and green ink, and which would continue in a coherent fashion if you were to re-start it once finished. I was very fascinated by this and naturally read it as soon as I could ahold of it. I read virtually anything I could get my hands on back then, incuding the dictionary and any obscure mathematical/feminist books stored by my parents. Amazing as the book was, I didn't have the energy to re-read the book after the first go, at least not more than a few pages. I was however striken by the weaving of story lines and time that was necessary in order to create this endless loop of a book.

Now I find myself in a situation, that seems similar. Whenever I "finish" something, I need to redo it. Doing my portfolio for this semester, I am virtually redoing it all (and I am sure that I could easily redo it all once more when I am done) in order to make it just remotely attractive to the tutors. Perhaps not "just" like in the book, but the general drift is there. This is one long year of studies. And I am NOT impressed by the weaving and general messiness of this course.

∞

edited to add...

UD overdose?

Even though I seriously (err, relatively seriously) considered changing my career into that of a house wife the day before the crit, a few days of relaxing can do a lot for a struggling mind.

It was quite inspiring to see the other students' work during the two crit-days, a lot of very different ground is being covered. However, there is a strong tendency towards landscape/ecological systems/land tracings etc. My project is also in this field, dealing with the meeting of town and countryside in all kinds of ways. The project seeks to create a new form of city that is based on an analytical and relational reading and interpretation of landscape and town. Existing and desired building blocks of nature (hedgerows, watercourses, path systems, enclaves of plants) and of town (a variety of building typologies, programmes) are used to create an overlay that generates the new development. This is guided by basic principles of sustainability, connectivity, an inter-relational evolution between the town and the countryside. Really quite interesting. Unfortunately, due to time issues, we didn't manage to conclude the process, which was and is still very frustrating... Now that the crit's over, it's time to move on to the portfolio hand-in next Friday.. A week after that, the submission of a 6000 word essay, and a week later another crit. This time we're to propose the subject of our thesis project and report... Another 3 busy weeks ahead.

Perhaps I'll have a relapse to my desire to become a house wife during that period.

4 days and 5 nights to go...

Crit time is looming on the (unfortunately) not to distant sky.. My group-mate finally managed to get her visa renewed and has returned to London. Now we're trying to finish up 2 term's worth of thoughtwork, with only a few days to go. My motivation can be found only be performing a thorough search (that includes staring at my agenda in disbelief), and even then tends to stray relentlessly.

another week! oh heaven!

A couple of days ago I managed to finally get through my stand-still in the project. It was such a relief, that now I'm going to reward myself with an afternoon off ;.)

Recently I've been fretting quite a bit over my up-coming project hand-in, due late this month. Yesterday, however, I was told that the due date has been pushed a week, meaning that I now have more time... great! But it also means that I have an extra week to sit in front of the computer, fighting with a blasted expansion vision plan about St Neots... Oh well, I guess I should focus on the reason I'm doing this - because I actually like it and am interested in it.. *Keep telling yourself, keep telling yourself....*

And also, another bonus incurred by the shifted due date is the fact that I can now participate in the sports awards dinner at uni. It's a yearly do at uni for the participants in the sports organised by the school, celebrating the achievements. Clara says it's a lot of fun, so I look forward to having a nice dinner with my team mates (and getting a little someting-something for our 2nd place in the UK tournament!).

Anyways, it feels like summer over here, 25 degrees announced for today, and a nice warm living room.. It's remarkable how much the weather affects your mood - can't help but smile these days when a ray of sun hits the table I'm working at.

More 'n more...

How many sketches can I draw that illustrate the same concept? Incredible.

Over the last three weeks I've been feeling the result of what I guess could be called an urban designer's "writer's block" - to the effect that I can't move on from the point I've reached in the design process. Very, very frustrating as the project needs to be finished before the end of the month... ARGHH!

Hopefully I can now move on, having procrastinated/struggled for such a long time. I need to. Gotta pass the project. Only problem iiiiis...... it's summer outside! 20 degrees and neighbours hanging out in the garden all day, enjoying themselves. Bugger!

mahatma

A tribute to Gandhi stands in a leafy square near my uni. Actually, he graduated from UCL. The last few times I was there to discuss some uni work, he just sat there, peaceful and calm, reminding me of the great things he worked for. (I'm assuming he'll be there for a while).

If only more people would seek to look inside themselves so as to try to create a better, more equal order in society. Equal treatments for people, equal opportunities. Walked through a part of Hackney the other day, and was appalled by what I saw. Council estate after council estate after.. You get the picture. None of the houses appeared to have actual frontages onto the street - who would want their frontage onto a bleak, lifeless street with potential crime around the corner? All that I saw was brick walls, buildings set back from the road and boring, under-utilized lawns littered with plastic bags and candy wrappers. Actually, I fear that a lot of the council estates in more peripheral locations in London are in a much worse state of upkeep. Anyway, my point is that continuing to place people in utterly uninspiring and disjointed urban settings is not a fair nor equal thing to do. Yes, I do realise that they get a place to live for a cheaper price than the rest of us on the private market. But can we as a society really afford to have people living in a physical environment that restricts their social mobility? Maybe in stead we ought to subsidise people that need the help (god knows London's an expensive place to live in) in a manner that allows them to be a part of the city life around them. Spend the subsidies on topping up what they pay in rent in a "normal" flat. Mix people of different social classes, so we can potentially get rid of this horrid term, or at least not have a bad taste in our mouth when thinking of the way the lowest in society are treated.

Naturally I think in urban design terms. It is my profession. This is just one small, but important thing that can be done to alleviate the troubles of an unequal society.

Gandhi went to my uni. Look at what he achieved. Perhaps if you put your weight behind your good thoughts...

info overload

Lately I've been feeling that I have waay to many things going on (or irons in the fire, as we say in Danish)....!

Basketball is coming to a close for the year - meaning that we have been training, like, 4 times a week lately! Like the "good old days", almost.. Tomorrow's a knock-out game against a supposedly horridly bad team, and next weekend is the finals tournament in Sheffield - a full 3½ days. Hopefully we'll walk away the champions of the British University Sports Association's Women's Basketball League! We have a few tough games ahead, and I am looking forward to it.

However, uni is also pushing ahead, and a new draft of my essay on social sustainability in planning processes is due soon. Plus, we have a preliminary crit (i.e. critique/presentation) in the main project real soon (in which we are studying temporal development and planning, flexibility in the built environment etc). And, we have a number of lectures every Tuesday, which again deal with entirely different issues. Today was Sir Terry Farrell, who turned out to be an incredibly inspiring and knowledgable fella with a lot to say about London and the processes involved in making city.

Not to mention my continuous discussions on religion and society with my contact in the "muslim world".

I'm not complaining.

It's just a lot to handle, even for my multitasking-accustomed brain. Somehow, I just hope that I can manage to juggle all these inputs, 'cause actually I find all of them very... shall we say, educational.

Sometimes I just wonder...

Being in a course on Urban Design at the moment, a lot of my time goes with thinking about the solutions that people put forth for cities, both contemporary and historical. Having studied the suject for a few years now, and having read a number of books on the subject, I can feel the "wiseness" of not actually having to live in an earlier period. And it's all around me, tutors and students alike tend to have strong opinions on earlier strategies and manifests.

It's so easy now to point out all the things, which are wrong about for example brutalism in the 70es, but when it comes to today, we are less so inclined. We all (except the brilliant few) believe and practice what's the current mantra. As would any good student...?!

At my school it's called sustainability, balance on all scales, economics/environment/social issues.. It's not that I don't think that this is the way to go (because, you know, I have learnt in school that it is!), but sometimes I just can't help but wonder if we're all victims of living in the day and age that we do. That we can't see the flaws of the subject we're dealing with, because we are working with it every single day based on the theories that are in vogue. And, honestly, that scares me a bit.

I guess that's what separates the innovators and brilliant minds from the rest of us: The ability to see what's wrong with the models of today and to make it right. Or at least try another idea.

I for one am blinded by the flashes of contemporary hailings. Let's hope I wise up one day.

Which way, Venice?

Fancy a romantic weekend break? Then choose for Venice! Romantic gondola trips down the Grande Canal, lovely little coffee shops for a quick espresso and the most amazing historical buildings. Venice really has it all!

Or how about the architectural experience: To appreciate the grandeur of the beautiful churches littered throughout the city (at least one on each original island), and the Square of Saint Marc, the Doge’s Palace, the campaniles reaching to the sky, demarcating the open spaces of the city. What magnificence, what splendour!

There are many reasons why visitors come to Venice.

I came for the architecture, the city structure and naturally, a dose of Italy. Wandering about Venice gives a feeling of having entered another time. The romantic canals, denoting the underlying historical islands that constitute the city, lined with age-old buildings showing the wear and tear of centuries. The (conscious?) lack of upkeep lays visible the historical depth of the built form of the city, and the feeling of experiencing another time stays with me yet. However, after a while in this wonderfully different cityscape of bridges, canals, courtyards and small churches, I realize that others like me are everywhere… more tourists, all over, shooting away with their cameras (just like me!) in order to preserve the experiences they are taking away from their stay in the city of Venice. They are not following me, and yet they are everywhere.

Although I am sure that the Venetians are thankful for the constant influx of foreign currency into their economy, as well as the job opportunities this creates, it does create a situation of discord. People actually live in this city too. So, what does it mean for the city?

Venice is a city frozen in its tracks, presenting to tourists the historical values and beauties and at the same time supporting the lives of modern people in modern times. Perhaps it is a bit schizophrenic! The financially important tourist economy demands a preservation of the historical values (the main attractor) which means that the city cannot physically develop itself into a modern city. Its value lies in retaining the environment the way it is now, so that everyone can taste a slice of the old city. Really, it is a Disneyland of Venice - an institutionalised history, which, for the right price, is always accessible and consumable.

It is, however, also a (somewhat functioning) inhabited city. People live and work here.

Mainland visitors leave their vehicles at the large parking island by the road connection over the lagoon, passing to softer modes of transport: walking or boating. The fact that the islands of the city are car-free ensures that the pedestrians are having a field day (especially those that are not handicapped or have difficulties walking…).

Venice has several faces. The grand façade, illustrated by the storytelling of the Doge’s Palace, and other representative buildings constructed to induce awe in visitors. The age-old homes and workshops with cracked facades in variety of earthy tints. The Biennales of all varieties of arts.

Although I find great inspiration in the visibility of the layers of times in the city structure and the buildings, bridges etc., I have a disconcerting feeling. Is it right to “freeze” a city at a certain point in time, in order to make history readily available? At earlier times people made do with books and images. Is the spatial experience necessary? Does it convey more than simply the physical environs? The culture of the habitation is lost in the whirlwind of global tourists passing through canals and over bridges, and the few remaining Venetians have become not only custodians of the heritage of the city, but also themselves installations in the museum that is Venice.

Are we not robbing the world of the chance to see another Venice - a modern Venice, which might hold as much, or maybe even more value and quality as the historic city does?

This infatuation and obsession with historical monuments that are canonised onto the “things you must see before you die”-list, is rather an expression of a society that is in a standstill; hesitating to look ahead. I guess finding that balance between appreciating historical examples and developing and pushing forth new ideas is not to be kidded with…

I am split. Maybe it's because of my being a Libra.