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Abstract submission dateline: Oct 1st, 2009 (billingual, max 300words, single space, times new roman 10)

Abstract Announcement       : Oct 3rd, 2009

Full paper submission          : Oct 25th, 2009

Sympossium date               : Nov 7th, 2009

Excursion                           : Nov 8th, 2009 (in confirmation)

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On Islamic Architecture

January 15: Yarshater Lectures at SOAS Lecture, United Kingdom

January 16: Heritage Issues of Hampi,Conference India

January 21: Contemporary Arab American Art Exhibition, United States

January 23: Conservation of Biodiversity in Protected Areas: Opportunities and Challenges, Conference India

January 29: 11th International Conference on Humane Habitat (ICHH) 2009, Conference India

http://www.archnet.org/calendar/

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New London Architecture, The Building Centre
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Munio Weinraub & Amos Gitai – Architecture and Film in Israel
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Bauhaus 1919 & 208;1933: workshops for modernity
The Museum of Modern Art
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Challenges of Urban Architecture – Design and Engineering of Construction Companies
Museum of Modern Art Saitama
Saitama-ken, Japan
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Building Sustainable Communities
Danish Architecture Centre
Copenhagen, Denmark
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The RIBA President’s Medals Student Awards
V&A RIBA Architecture Gallery
London, SW7 2RL England, United Kingdom
Now   to   January 31, 2009

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Word by word suffocated my lungs and so they hung there, limped and numbed. The scattered houses down bellow are a jungle of undeniable truths of how living squatters in Indonesia’s biggest city, Jakarta is conditioned. I am sure if you open the car window you would smell the bad odor rousing from down there. Haphazard developments of housing on unattended or under disputes of ownership lands are what had happened to form these squatters.

In contrast of the glamour cityscape, behind skyscrapers, beyond hope these funguses of development live and grow. They do not belong to no one, these slums we may call; belong to us as citizens of the world. They appear not only in Indonesia, but also in other cities and other countries; disguised in different names, favellas of Rio, shikumen settlements of Shanghai, kampung of  Indonesian cities, and many others.

This phenomenon is discussed thoroughly in Mike Davis’ Planet of Slums. There seem to be a laisez faire of mental by governments of these countries to let them grow. Unfortunately, there is not much can be done to improve their conditions due to many top bottom decisions that lack of attentions. Many of improvements program are misled and used not according to the inhabitants’ needs. Not to mention the mean strategy some of the capitalists are using when they want the land for a certain development.

So, is there a way out of this? Of course there is, if we would all sit together and listen! The need of these people can be assessed by a simple act of observing. May be they who sit up there do not need this, but we as planner do. Steps are more effective taken from bottom up approaches.

Use the inhabitants’ communal spirit. Most informal settlements everywhere around the globe have strong ties with their neighborhood.

Improvements can start with small things. Cleanliness of the settlements is a god start. Give these settlers the understanding of a healthier environment by keeping clean their living spaces.

Grow the feeling of common ownerships. Participatory planning in slum areas would be proven effective, because the inhabitants are also involved in the process. We need to let them know first of all, that this is for the common sake of everyone.

The United Nations in their reports mentioned that more than one billion people now live in the slums of the cities of the South. This is our chance to help creating betterment for citizens of tomorrow. So, step up to it, my fellow planners and architects!

Which one comes first, “form follows function”, or “function follows form”? This is just like how we can compare between egg and chicken, which one comes first, egg, or chicken?

Form follows function is a principle associated with modern architecture and industrial design in the 20th Century, which states that the shape of a building or object should be predicated by or based upon its intended function or purpose [wikipedia.org], and the other one is by the opposite. It doesn’t means as form follows function is the best answer for this, although an architect usually do the design process by creating the lay-out of the room and the arrangement first, and later designing the form of the building. Mies van der Rohe says that he did not stand against the form, but he think that form is a goal of the designing process. Rohe thinks that function follows form always end up with formalism, satisfied the building’s appearance from outside view, but we don’t know what will be happen inside.

But, many architects also do their design by not doing the same step, they design the form of the building first, and later design the lay-out next to be mixed up with that. Yes the building became magnificent, superb, and iconic, its appearance will looks like a sculpture. Tom Wright, one of the Atkin’s architect whom designed Burj Al Arab, said: “if you can draw a building with a few sweeps of the pen, and everyone recognizes not only structure but also associates it with a place on earth, you have gone a long way towards creating something iconic”. This is one of the examples of “function follows form” architect.

Another example of “function follows form” architect is Frank Gehry. Look at his work at MIT Strata Center. Iconic building with deconstructs style. But what happen next, MIT Sued Gehry much for that design. They said that accumulations of snow and ice have fallen dangerously from window boxes and other areas of its roofs, blocking emergency exits and causing damage. Totally disaster! Gehry did not follow the rule here, as Rohe already said above, we don’t know what will be happen inside.

I myself also do both of these designs process, following my clients’ order. I put one of the examples above, I called it: “The maestro’s house”. I like this one; it looks like an iconic building. Yes I think all of you know that it comes from the idea of a grand piano’s form. How bout you?

Andie Wicaksono

Architect, Urban Designer.

Now, this park has just became as one of city node, where just used by vehicles to circulate and maneuver to move around from one place to another, no people activity can be held in this park. Thomas Cartsen, one of Indonesian architect designed this place to be like colonial park’s concept, the European classic style. The symmetrical designs, fountains, pathways, nodes and several vocal points, can be describe as classic style. Trees were placed off at surrounding of this park, created an enclosure with dramatize vista when we go into it.

Another change was, at the first, Cartsen designed this park to be the same level as with the road, in order to give an enjoyable vista for travelers passing around it, matched with the theory of view from within and view from without. And now, this park has been change, the level was increased, and so with the placement of a lot of closing trees has been put surround there everywhere, so travelers cannot enjoy the beautiful landscape again from the outside. This can be fact that, the change of the urban design in some areas, can make impact for the activity support around there. Andie Wicaksono, © ar-chi-tect.org taken from Andie Wicaksono’s thesis : “Pengaruh sarana komersial terhadap karakter lanskap”, article has been published in Indonesian language at enclosure journal, UNDIP, 2003. Colonial map from Prof Sidharta’s collection, taken with permission.

Edited from Ariyanti (2008): “Themed Town, Thames Town” an unpublished article for Campus of Architecture and Urban Planning at Tongji University, Shanghai

It was a cloudy Saturday and our group of formerly 14 people has been reduced to 8 from the morning visit to Anting New Town. Exhausted, we found out that Thames Town is really far out from to the other direction, the only way to get there was with a cab, since our limited Chinese, we asked our friend to instruct the taxi driver how to get there. After another 40 minutes ride, we arrived at the compound, surrounded by fences, waterways and empty boulevards, the town was a place separated from its surrounding.

My first impression of the city was, how serene and quite it was. Then the architectural images sprang into my mind, the red brick Victorian style houses were aligned in rows and curved streets. We went into one of the fenced compound just on the out skirt of the “town”, and found out that those red brick used there were not actual red brick, they were tiles plastered on concrete wall. This had already brought realization into my mind. It was not what it seemed to be, this place was only a copy of an English styled town.

It was obvious that in the same moment, I remembered an excerpt from Sorkin,[1] he compared between cities that we have today with the EPCOT Disneyworld. The development is changing toward this new kind of ideal city, where you will have many kinds of differences tolerated and even accepted, less crime, hygienic life, and fantasy is received as a seed of future and not some crazy dream. Though he also mentioned that Disneyzone is not at all urban, it might invoke urbanism but it has not the real impact on the space created by the concept, it is in a sense just a conceptual place and not really a physical space. This place is exactly what Sorkin described and to be honest it is a nice place to live in. Of course it also lacked of authenticity, but it terms of ideal, I can assume that the place is safe and also clean.

Just as we moved though the space, there is something missing, there is no such thing as urban life happening on the street as what the usual town life has. Moreover, the fence around the compound gave us a surprise, since we cannot randomly go out of one compound to visit the next one; only one gate was open, which is the main one. At that time, it felt as if the town is a caged community, where you can see the view of the opponent neighbor, but cannot mingle with them straight away.

[1] Sorkin, Michael (1992):”See You in Disneyland” in Variations on a Theme Park: The New American City and the End of Public Space, New York: The Noonday Press.

As the examples each explain the differences and resemblances of the different types of festivities, I would like to point out here the lessons we can learn from the production of public space by these activities.

First of all I would explain the manifestation of Bourgeoisie’s role in the creation of public space in relation to the festivities. What is already became clear now that many of these actions being influenced by the part of society which has greater power than the nobles. At this period of time, the Bourgeoisie ruled over many aspects of life in Europe. Many of which contribute to the use of particular activities as celebrations and the places hosted them. As generators of the society, they motorized the public movements, change their common senses. These actions in some case succeed overruling many regulations and using their sovereignty as a way to influence the common views.

Secondly, I would highlight the festivities characters, types of space being created, activities they did and it’s characteristic. As we already know from the above discussed study cases, each of these spaces was a temporarily public space, which was usually open air space. In some cases, they used private space, but the meaning of this space became public. However, most of them were already considered public owned, like the street, park, etc. If we concluded their characteristic, it would depend on their grounds of celebrations. Their resemblances in space were mostly, mass used space, the free ambiance and the changing of norms during the revolution age. This affected the actors of the celebrations in spontaneous and hedonistic oriented actions.

At last I would like to mention that the public space creation in 19^th century Europe were characterized by the Bourgeoisie’s views. It is my suspicion that many of these festivities being politicized by their course of actions. To conclude, it may be a long research to proof that there are these tendencies, but my simple investigation proof that they were the ideals of this part of society being implemented in their act of festivities.

Study Case – 3

National – Bastille Day, France

We would not discuss the details of the long history in French Revolution. I will just refresh the memory of how things were and put more emphasize in the use of public space and the actors behind it. Bastille Day was declared as French national holiday on 6^th of July 1880 as the birth of the Republic. However, on 14^th of July 1790, the first celebration was held at Champs-de-Mars between the Ecole Militaire and the river Seine.

The day hosted many festivities but I will only mention here that has relation to the using of public space:

• A mass gathering at Champ de Mars, which was at that time considered out side of Paris. Earth steps on two sides were made to comprehend with the need of the 400,000 spectators on that day. A Triumphal Arch was built as the commemoration of the date. The Champ de Mars is a large public green-space in Paris, located in the 7th arrondissement, between the Eiffel Tower to the northwest and the École Militaire to the southeast.

• Military parades on Champ-Elysees avenue in front of Palais de Republic in the morning. The street was celebrating the day with colours and dances. The main use of the space was a past by track for the parade, where as the sides was used by the spectators to enjoy the celebrations. Many of the Parisians dressed nicely and the joy were seen as a nationwide celebration, completed with fireworks at night.

• Popular feast at the garden of Chateau de La Muette, where meals were offered to 22,000 before the balls took place. In the year 1790, at the height of the Revolution, the city of Paris offers a great civic banquet for 15 000 federal soldiers in the now-abandoned gardens of La Muette (the present-day site of the Ranelagh gardens). The Curiosities Cabinet is dismantled and all scientific instruments moved to the Observatory. The 18^th century building, which housed the laboratory is sold off with other outbuildings of the châteaux and incorporated into the urban fabric at what is now the corner of Rue de Passy and Rue de la Pompe.[1] The garden which was particularly belonged to the royal family was used as a symbol of the over-thrown power by the Bourgeoisie. Open space like this has a quality of vast variations of uses and in this case the ball took place.

Even though the people who participated in the celebration were mostly common citizens, but the generators of this event were sitting on the parliament and in the military service, since they were the ones having the political powers and the influences. The dancing parties organised by the fire fighters was a popular tradition created by the Parisian; in addition to that there were also art festivities, and banquets. Objective of the feasts were the manifestation of power of the civil right on the public space. Characteristics of the festival were full of national values, patriotic, military related, nation-wide and the many days of celebration. Middle class roles were the support system and powerful fund source.

[1] http://www.oecd.org/document/63/0,2340,en_2649_201185_1956607_1_1_1_1,00.html

Study Case 2

Monarchic – Millennial Festivities, Hungary

Budapest, the capital of Hungary was the host city of the festival. The story behind this millennial celebration was about the 1000^th years coming of the Magyar tribe (from Asia) as the solely ancestor of the Hungarian. The initiatives were the Prussian Emperor Franz Joseph I and the Prime Minister Dr. Alexander Werkerle who engaged this celebration as a display case to the world; how magnificent the Kingdom was. Despite the unfortunate fortune the Monarch will meet, Budapest was considered the strongest Capital of Central Europe in the 19^th Century.

Behind this powerful monarchical structure however, the parliament (non-royalties) were the one who hold the rein of the actual political conditions. In this case, I would refer them as the Hungarian Bourgeoisie. Every decision was taken over by the Parliament and this is apparently a stronghold of the Monarch. The objective of the Festival then was they wanted to declare to the world how the two powers in the government structure of the country can work together and create a strong nation. This was achieved through the international guests they had, i.e. Ambassadors, Representatives, etc.

The processions of the festivities had taken place mostly outdoor.

• Firstly it started with the street parade of the representatives from different counties, all in their best dresses and genuine costumes. The common use space served as a media where access is granted through many ways and the spectators were enjoying the processions from the side. They would gather on Heroes’ Square, which was built in honouring the ten great Kings of the nation.[1]

• The festivity moved to the inner part of the castle, where they hosted an exhibition called the Hall of Industry.[2] This is again a show case of advances that were achieved during that period of time by the nation. This hall was a part of the whole huge scale exhibition that was performed during the celebration. The World Exhibition left a legacy of several permanent structures, including Vajdahunyad Castle (a copy of the original in Transylvania) now the site of the Agricultural and Transportation Museums and the first electric subway line in Europe.[3] The Mûcsarnok (Exhibition Hall), beside the Városliget (City Park), which had been the site of the erstwhile national exhibition, was restored for the occasion, and hosted an exhibition conjuring up the varied faces of its outdoor neighbour a hundred years ago.[4]

• Out side, in the city park built by János Jankó[5], the parties were also held as the contribution to the wide range of society. This park is inherited by the inhabitants of today as a jewel in their urban fabric, which served as their public and urban space. The spaces they used were as a matter of fact had a more grandeur then its regular elegant character. On that day, everything looked overwhelming. The quality of the spaces created was in the standard of a high level society; therefore the magnificence and brilliance of the space lied in the monarch tradition and culture.
  

  

[1] Sisa, Stephen. The Spirit of Hungary

[2] http://www.c3.hu/scripta/books/96/04/02lovei.htm

[3] ibid 10

[4] From Varga, Katalin (ed.), 1896: Magyarország az Ezredévi Kiállítás tükrében (1896: Hungary as Reflected by the Millennial Exhibition). Budapest: Atlasz Publishers, 1996.

[5] http://www.neprajz.hu/english/muzeum/index2.html

Popular – Hambacher Fest, Germany

The Hambacher celebration was found in 1832 on 27^th to 30^th of May. It has taken place in the city of Hambach in the Pflaz. The occurrence it self was actually a marching procession of the 30,000 citizens, men and women from the town’s market place to the Hambach Schloss’ ruins. It was a crying of demands for Liberty, Civil rights and National Unity. The performers of this rally were traders, Frenchmen, Polish, members of parliament, farmers and students. They were carrying a flag with the combination of black-red-gold as what we see today as the German flag, and then it was its first public appearance. [1]

The initiatives were journalists, Siebenpfeifer and August, which organised the meeting as a non-political disguised long march, because at that time political gatherings were banned. This action was taken as a result to the control of Bavaria, where the local population suffered from high taxes and censorship. They called the day as the birth of German’s democracy.[2]

As the spaces that were used; the path from downtown to the castle’s ruin and the Shooting House. Although the qualities of those spaces were different, each speaks for it self the role it has taken. I will explain their qualities and characteristic as follow:

• The pathway made the long march symbolised power; it made the course up hill a tremendous show of force. The red area shows the path that was taken by the participants. Although it was a ruin at that time, the Schloss symbolised the Prussians, by that it helped to understand the mean behind the march towards the place; it was a protest to their dominion and an expression of the public sovereignty.

• The Shooting House as a closed environment to meet and to gather. This private owned space that has changed momentarily to a public space. Main character of the space has served the need of inclusion to the actors who participated in the action and exclusion to the outsiders.

[1] http://www.opendemocracy.net/arts-festival/article_542.jsp

[2] 2007 by Hambacher Schloß – Impressum- SpeyerNet AG