Master course Bergen School of Architecture, 2009 Laura Ve

1. CITY AS BIOTOPE
MASTER COURSE AUTUMN 2009
BERGEN SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE

4. mosaïc::reading
mosaïc::reading is about discovering
and appreciating, - it is about how the
landscape must be explored again and
again, and how the plan can prepare for
the unknown futures. It is about a method
and a structure that open up instead of
proposing ready made images and sce-
narios, it is about creating acting space
where the big challenges of the future
are possible to solve.
mosaïc::reading serves as a metaphor
both for understanding the complexity
and significance of a city or a region, as
well as an open and inviting planning
strategy.
mosaïc::reading - the city as biotope is
a master studio at BAS run during the
autumn term 2009 by Gisle Løkken,
Magdalena Haggärde, Kjerstin Uhre and
Knut Eirik Dahl.
Under the themes of new hierarchies,
imbedded information, elasticity, dynam-
ic of small cultures, points of departure,
vulnerability and charging the landscape
with new energy different aspects, ideas
and possibilities of planning will be dis-
cussed and discovered - at the school
in Bergen, on study trips to Malmö and
Paris and on this blog. The blog will grow
with the students’ work, the presentation
of new themes and your comments - join
the conversation!

5. : THE BLOG www.cityasbiotope.blogspot.com
http://cityasbiotope.blogspot.com/

6. #1 new hierarchies
29 August 2009
new hierarchies is the theme for the studio September 1 to 14, an intro-
duction will be held by Gisle and Magdalena at the school.
Mapping the hyper normal -the strategy of the open and unfinished plan several rhythms and at several speeds’. They map individual cracks and
A traditional planning strategy is, even if it is based on laws and formal collective breaks within the segmentation and heterogeneity of power.
democratic processes, hierarchical and linear, and ideas and investiga- The ‘line of flight’, ligne de fuite, is defined not only as a simple line, but
tions are interpreted and implemented by a bureaucracy of experts. as the very force of a tangle of lines flung out, transgressing thresholds
In addition to the formal democratic structures in the society there is an of established norms and conventions, towards unexpected manifesta-
infinite web of knowledge and informal processes that creates a limitless tions, both in terms of socio-political phenomena and in individual des-
amount of interfering, weak connections. tinies.
As an experience of the computer technology and the internet’s struc- In an open plan-network it is possible for anyone to take position and to
ture of collecting and storing data and knowledge, it should be possible act (that means to influence the decisions) – a computer-assisted web is
to develop new, open and unlimited web-structures of planning. This a necessity for this type of processes.
again should open up for an infinite input and output of knowledge, The amount of data and knowledge is limitless – the strategy is to make
where there has to be more focus on the process than on the final prod- operational systems to receive, handle, store and re-call the information
uct (as a fixed plan). that is relevant, - like a librarian that that can find a book on the theme
A hyper-mapping might be more subjective and give focus to values re- that you, at any time, need. The interesting evolves in the meeting and
lated to the context of the plan, than being strictly neutral and objective. the crossing points (the folding) of information and action. In these con-
All layers of processes, programs and events contribute to an open web. nection points and foldings new things and exiting possibilities always
All citizens and all professionals can use the web and make their input exceed.
of ideas, events, wishes, visions and specific knowledge. The knowl- Through a rhizomatic thinking where former hierarchical systems no lon-
edge becomes endless and un-abrupt. The idea would be to access the ger are valid, new ideas of validation, new encounters and new priorities
knowledge by the google method, and to make it for everyone to use by will become relevant.
the wikipedia method. Deligny ́s use of lines differ from any other form of mapping exactly be-
By working within the hierarchical planning system, but at the same time cause they do not pretend to represent anything other than our own
continuously develop the weak networks outside the system, an elas- ignorance about what is mapped. Rather than a negative thinking, it is
tic, but continuously more robust rhizome structure will grow. The plan an active form of negative mapping of what is common within the mem-
will not be enclosed and conclude fixed images but work along a De- bers of an ‘impossible community’. (Losing control, keeping desire, from
leuze/Guattarian ‘lines of flight’ model. Doina Petrescu (Losing control, Architecture and participation, D.Petrescu, Routledge, London oct 2004)
keeping desire) describes; Guattari and Deleuze’s ‘lines’ challenge the
usual designer thinking about ‘lines’. They are an abstract and complex key word: Rhizome
enough metaphor to map the entire social field, to trace its shapes, its
borders, its becomings. They can map the way ‘life always proceeds at

7. 1800s - present
Many industries particularly those
located in cities were well known for
utilizing “wastes” of other industries as
raw materials in their own production.
1947
The term ‘industrial symbiosis’ was first used in
the economic geography literature by Renner
to describe ‘organic relationships’ between dissimilar industries,
including the ‘use of waste products from one as input to another
1950s
Large process industries including oil, nickel and alumina refining,
cement and chemical manufacturing,
and energy co-generation plants located
in the Kwinana Industrial Area in Western Australia.
1959
Major facilities (Statoil refinery, Asnaes powerplant,
Novo Pharmaceutical plant) located in Kalundborg, Denmark
starting up.
1970s
Industrial symbiosis activities begin in Kalundborg.
(Gyproc sited to use flue gas from Statoil,
HUSTON SHIP CHANNEL,USA
Asnaes joins Statoil in piping water from
Lake Tisso,
Novo begins shipping sludge to farmers).
inspiration for better economy.
1989
Frosh and Gallopoulos published the article
TORONTO,CANADA
“Strategies for Manufacturing”
that is regarded as the beginning
of the field of Industrial Ecology.
Industrial Symbiosis Timeline
1989
The inter-firm linkages in Kalundborg were
‘uncovered’ through a high school science project,
and the term ‘industrial symbiosis’
was coined to describe the system.
1990s
The US President’s Council for Sustainable Development
promoted the concept and development of
“Eco-Industrial Parks” modeled after
Kalundborg’s successful inter-firm synergies.
In spite of these efforts few EIPs ever came into
existence, however, there are many examples of
byproduct exchanges and utility and service
sharing throughout the US.
1991
The first industry association was formed
in the Kwinana Area in Western Australia
to collectively monitor regional emissions.
Its formation led to increased cooperation
on a number of issues of common concern.
UNITED KINGDOM
1996
Kalundborg Centre for Industrial Symbiosis
was formed to help facilitate inter-firm interaction
and provide education about the system.
- 2000s
STOCKHOLM,SWEEDEN
Symbiosis activities continue through
the present, with new links formed
between existing entities, new facilities
#1 industrial symbiosis
re-use, repair, recover, re-manufacture, recycle
located to utilize byproducts, and links
AUSTRIA
that were no longer economically
feasible were discontinued.
2001
RUHR-AERA,GERMANY
International Society for Industrial Ecology
was formed. It promotes “the use of
KALUNDBORG,DENMARK
industrial ecology in research,
education, policy, community development,
and industrial practices” around the world.
2002-
The Kwinana Industries Synergies Project
was established to identify and foster greater
resource-based synergies among facilities;
the region currently boasts 32 byproduct
exchanges and 15 utility synergies.
2002
China’s State Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA)
promotes the concept of the circular economy and
develops a program to highlight and assist model
eco-industrial parks across the country. The Tianjin
Economic-Technological Development Area (TEDA)
is one example of an existing industrial
region that has well developed industrial
symbiosis linkages among facilities. TEDA
was formed in 1984, and provides a
utility sharing infrastructure including
electricity, gas, steam, water and wastewater
treatment, for all regional facilities including
reuses of rubber, ash, metals,
CHINA
and organic materials.
2004
First International Industrial Symbiosis
Research Symposium
held at Yale bringing together researchers
and practitioners from around
the world. IS research symposia
KWINANA,AUSTRALIA
have subsequently
been held in Stockholm, Sweden;
Birmingham,
Symbiosis means co-existence between diverse organisms in which each may benefit from the other. In this
England; and Toronto, Canada.
2005
among others ; the UK and The Kwinana project, it continues to spread through networking,education and from
ties, all of which exploit each others residual or by-products mutually. Further, with initiatives and examples from
UK’s National Industrial Symbiosis Programme
(NISP) was launched as the first national scale
IS initiative in the world to promote
context, the term is applied about industrial co-operation. The Industrial Symbiosis or co-operation, has developed
edge has now spread to several other locations around the world between a number of companies and Municipali-
inter-firm synergies in regions across the UK.
spontaneously over a number of decades. Kalundborg is a very well known symbiotic-cooperative, and their knowl-
mance.
experience.
logical developement
from Kalundborg the value of a flexible regulatory framework?
Recycling Linkages, Pierre Desrochers
from the article; Eco-Industrial Parks and the Rediscovery of Inter-Firm
private initiatives, and is the most important lesson to be learned
scope, that public planning is unlikely to prove more efficient than
would prove more effective than planning to replicate the Danish
levels. A critique of current interpretations and policy prescriptions
and interfirm recycling linkages at both the local and interregional
parks and eco-industrial networks too narrow in their geographical
Is current attempts to foster the development of eco-industrial
based on the Kalundborg case is argued that regulatory reform
attempts to plan eco-industrial parks?It is important to look at the
firm recycling linkages are contemporary manifestations of much
Kalundborg and other newly documented cases of localized inter-
the creation of recycling linkages between different industries. If
ies may have, historically, played an important role in facilitating
been observed in other regions of Europe and North America. Cit-
cent years, however, similar by-product exchange patterns have
template for the movement to plan eco-industrial parks. In re-
economic incentives that have always led to the formation of cities
older processes, then what are the policy implications for current
situated firms in Kalundborg has become the impetus to and main
The exchange of wastes, by-products, and energy among closely
nesses improves the environmental factors and economic perfor-
It is in the process of exchanging byproduckts the system and buis-

8. google photo of Kalundborg industrial park, Danmark

9. #2 imbedded information
12 September 2009 From our side the introduction of this notion is directed to what is to
Imbedded Information is the theme for the studio September 15. to 16. come, it is forward orientated. To keep in the terminology of landscape
Kjerstin and Knut Eirik will give a lecture on the theme on Tuesday morn- we can say that temporality, concepts that can give a direction, an archi-
ing. Then we will present the second assignment: Encircling the Malmö tecture and landscape attitude that invites multiple actions, interpreta-
dynamics and having dialogues with you the rest of the day. Wednesday tions and programme represent this kind of embeddedness.
starts with a small lecture on The City under Pressure and is followed That what is imbedded in also introduces a kind of research that evolves
by continuos dialogues on the assignment. Gisle has urged you to start between surface and deep structure. When it comes to the discovery
The Malmö discoveries. We will appreciate that each of you present one and observation of how things relates the notion can be described in this
such finding, or discovery, on Tuesday. way, from another field of knowledge:
“Metadata represents a crucial difference between electronic and print-
Found papers and texts, and parts of texts, gives direction and connects ed documents. All the information in a paper document is displayed on
to a way of thinking, to a concept, a project. The notions we introduce in its face. Not so with electronic documents. Electronic documents carry
this studio was not apparent and clear, ready for use, when we started their history with them. Paper shows what a document said or looked
out on our two explorations in the Öresund metropole. They evolved and liked – metadata tells where the document went and what it did.” (Em-
appeared through series of readings and experiments with a kind of hy- bedded information in electronic documents. Why metadata matters by
per awareness and eagerness related to change. Scott Nagel in Law Practice today/2004)
In Florian Sauters conversation with Stan Allen the notion imbedded in- Related to the global financial crises the critical journey that research-
formation relates to what a concept, a project, introduces and opens for: ers, journalists and critics now explore – in the metadata - discover a
“One of the things we learnt from Bateson is that he understands ecol- problematic embeddedness between economic action and social struc-
ogy as information exchange. He is essentially applying a kind of cyber- ture to put it mildly. Therefore the philosopher Jürgen Habermas can
netic model to natural ecologies. This seems to me very powerfull for be interviewed on www.signandsight.com under the heading Life after
a number of reasons.: first of all it does not idealize natural ecology as Bankruptcy!
opposed to social ecology or any other kind of ecology. In other words When we discovered Iñaki Ábalos, El Paix chronicle “I would prefer not”
you can understand all of them as systems of informational exchange. as part of the up-front Mosaic reading, a paper document, we discovered
For example if you look at Central Park: it is a landscape with a certain his conclusion: “ A credible map of sustainability has yet to be drawn, but
amount of imbedded information. That imbedded information could be there can be no doubt that other aspects already trailed and trialled have
comprehended from the fact that the traffic is separated at different lev- run out of whatever credibility they had”. This lines, imbedded in the text,
els or that there is a way people have of using it with big open spaces was presented as the headliner for the mosaic concept and informed our
that provoke one kind of activity and dense landscapes that provoke an- project, gave a direction to it.
other kind of activity. You can separate Central Park from its sort of cul- In the Nordhavnen project the imbedded information concerning the sta-
tural or historical context and then you can understand what works about tus of Öresundet in different scientific research, in the text and images
it. The brilliance of Central Park arises from this continued usability” and from our guest writer Peter Sylwan showing a dying biotope, with sur-
Stan Allen summons up in this way: “Olmsted hit the dynamic just right: face earth floating into the sea and warnings from the biologist Peder
there is enough information to keep the system alive, but not to much to Agger on the possible dystopic futures alerted our concept,
overdeterminate the uses”1.

10. informed it and gave birth to the introduction of the edge dynamics be-
tween land and sea – and the introduction of the archipelago of biodiver- #2 human in its environment
sity. The deep structure of knowledge, the imbedded information on the understanding our role
seascape informed our project, and gave its direction. In the Mosaïc read- The role of humans Eco-economics and
ing the guest can be seen as the projects imbedded information. Each in the environment “natural capital”
guest opens their library exploring the mosaic-concept. is to understand “the wise gardener”
A conversation in the mosaic concept with professor Carola Wingren, who how it functions, Clément tells the story of the
we will meet at SLU in Malmø, is titled When beauty arrived in town ends and to promote wise gardener who attentively
like this: its continued functioning. observes every aspect of the garden,
Mosaic team: from plants to animals,
“And what is such a new topography in a landscape that is to be strength- Since man is just one spieces from wind to clouds,
ened as a network of biotopes, that must be understood as a productive among the great diversity on the strengt of his belife that
landscape of a new type, and that shall “farm out” new urban qualities?” of species in nature, “observation is the ideal mode of
CW “That we apparently don’t know. That’s what it is about. To give op- he cannot hope gardening for tomorrow”. Given his capacity to ob-
portunities and game rules so these processes can gain speed. I would to intervene serve and to understand the organisational complexity
like to describe it as a mesh of....why not “biotopes”, that can be looked and to exploit of nature, as well as to desipher the subtle relations
this diversity between living things,
upon and changed in different layers, and where every human being is a
without jeopardising Cléments wise gardener is able to
significantly more important actor than we have seen up to now in Malmø”.
the mechanisms engage nature`s own evolutionary
It is a fact that 30% of the inhabitants of Malmö lives in a kind of diaspora
of interaction processes and to guide its
(Carolas phrase), with imbedded information that can reformulate atti-
among creative forces.
tudes and actions in both the urban setting and its landscape that informs
the many forms How will Malmø be “gardened” in the future?
her thinking. Its our attitude toward the migrant that encloses or unfolds of life on the planet.
this embeddedness as creative force. How does one deside
from ; environ(ne)ment :
Related to discoveries in the Malmø DNA, how our rethinking, research approaches for tomorrow what matters more,
(on the teories and appoaches of and how will one learn about
and new kinds of explorations unfolds, We will propose this kind of at- Gilles Clément and Philippe Rahm)
all the cities (missing) ingredients?
titude towards conceptual thinking: Our method is to launch some initial
1 Comment
decisions that can expect to release a reaction both in the excisting urban Nice, or should we say brilliant, of you to introduce Gilles Clément to our studio. Our bookshelves contains
landscape and in the city to come – to hit the right dynamic, with traces to some of his books. In the magazine Scape 2007/2 (which also contains an intervieu with D&U) it is an inter-
esting intervieu by Loretta Coen with Gilles Clément titled “The Planetary Gardener”.
follow so to speak. You ask: How does decide what matters more, and how will one learn about all this ingredients. In the Scape
KED/KEU text Cléments attitude is described in this way:
“He bases his position on the work of sustained observation, patient experimentation, a knowledge fed by
all sorts of cross-disciplinary relationships. This complement the knowledge he acquired during his constant
litterature: 1Theory, Practice and Landscape, Conversation between Stan travels – to which Algeria, which he saw as a child, South Africa which he saw as an adolescent, and Ni-
caragua as a development aid volunteer, constituted the prologue. His attitude is the opposite of that of a
Allen and Florian SauterArchtectural papers III, Natural Metaphor, An An- specialist”.
thology of Essays on Architecture and Nature. ETH/Actar Gilles Clement notion “The Third Landscape” may contain some answers to your question – check it out. At
Alnarp on Thursday you will encounter “all sorts of cross-disciplinary relationships” that can enlighten your
When Beauty arrived in town questions.
Conversation between the mosaic::team and Carola Wingren. First pub- Your link to the Malmö Street Project reflects on what you can refer to as “sustained observation”.
KE+K
lished (in swedish) at www.mosaic-region.no

11. I WOULD PREFER NOT TO
Inaki Abalos 2007

12. #3 elasticity
26 September 2009 scapes, long impact of historical events and individual performance. In
Any system of nature and culture is in reality based on interaction and addition the region has an opening towards the world through economi-
dynamic. It is therefore easy to argue that a planning method that is cal, political and technological structures. The success of adaptation,
going to handle such dynamic systems has to be elastic and dynamic. sturdiness and change in the region, is dependent on the will to de-
This in opposition to a more traditional, linear and hierarchical planning velop open structures, and on the self image and collective hubris of the
regime, that to a far extent is built up on simplification and limitation. people living there. Today’s region is not homogeneous and in a mosaic
inspired planning it will open up for a wider equivalence in how the differ-
A ‘high’ civilization shall contain whatever is necessary (...) to maintain ent pieces are perceived and treated.
the necessary wisdom in the human population and to give physical, Any system of nature and culture is in reality based on interaction and
aesthetic, and creative satisfaction to people. There shall be a matching dynamic. It is therefore easy to argue that a planning method that is
between the flexibility of people and that of the civilization. There shall going to handle such dynamic systems has to be elastic and dynamic.
be diversity in the civilization, not only to accommodate the genetic and This in opposition to a more traditional, linear and hierarchical planning
experimental diversity of persons, but also to provide the flexibility and regime, that to a far extent is built up on simplification and limitation.
‘preadaptation’ necessary for unpredictable change. (Gregory Bateson, Bateson talks about survival not in resisting change, but in terms of ac-
Ecology and Flexibility in Urban Civilization in Steps to an ecology of commodating change. It means that your thinking has to be every bit as
mind. 1972/2000, p.503) fluent and adaptive as the kind of systems you are talking about. In other
Even though Bateson wrote this paper in 1970 it contains a strong pre- words you can not apply rigid or dogmatic principals to systems that are
diction of the coming climate changes and a foreseeing of the challeng- themselves fluent, adaptable, changing and always incorporating feed-
es that planners and architects have to deal with concerning profound back. (...) It is a way of thinking that mirrors the dynamism of ecological
ecological matters. Bateson prescribe the survival of our Civilization as systems themselves.
closely linked to our understanding of natural processes; We are not out- (Stan Allen in dialog with Florian Sauters, ‘Theory, practice and land-
side the ecology for which we plan – we are inevitably a part of it. (IBID scape in Natural metaphor’, architectural papers III, 2007)
p. 512) The new invention gives elbow room or flexibility, but the using The basic purpose of the plan as a dynamic process will always be as
up for that flexibility is death. (IBID p. 503) a tool, in opposition to how it often works today; as a goal in it self. The
The mosaic-metaphor is a picture of everything that happens, both on a idea of the plan should change from creating rigid structures to process
physical and on a metaphysical level. A mosaic inspired planning must a continuous work in progress.
contain a strategy for seeing, finding, and adapting everything that goes GL/MH
on. If one piece of the mosaic is painted in a different colour, the pic-
ture changes, - not much, but the sum of many small pieces changed, key words: Elasticity, adaptation, transformation and survival
eventually gives a totally new picture. The colours of the pieces are de-
pending on political visions, local initiatives and the collective will in the
region.
Our postulate is that the Öresund region is anti-generic but adaptable.
Anti-generic means multifarious and unique, generated of specific land-

13. #3 DISPOSING OF FUTURE RESOURSES
“Biodiversity matters for Ethical, Emotional, Environmental and Economic. Contracting Parties is to significantly reduce the loss of biodiversity by
Ecosystems have intrinsic value. They provide emotional and aesthetic 2010. This is an ambitious goal which can only be achieved through the
experiences. They offer outstanding opportunities for recreation. They concerted efforts and combined strength of all sections of society. We
clean our water, purify our air and maintain our soils. They regulate the therefore need both national and international alliances between policy
climate, recycle nutrients and provide us with food. They provide raw makers, science, the public and business.”
materials and resources for medicines and other purposes. They form
the foundation on which we build our societies. Biodiversity makes ecosystems//communities//cities more flexible.
...Human well-being is dependent upon “ecosystem services” provided So how will Malmø plan for the keeping and growth of the richness for
by nature for free, such as water and air purification, fisheries, timber the future? And what economic loss/gain is the potential for some sites
and nutrient cycling. These are predominantly public goods with no mar- historically and for the future?
kets and no prices, so their loss often is not detected by our current
economic incentive system and can thus continue unabated. A variety resource : water
of pressures resulting from population growth, changing diets, urbaniza- green areas // parks
tion, climate change and many other factors is causing biodiversity to preserved natural places
decline, and ecosystems are continuously being degraded. The world’s transitional spaces
poor are most at risk from the continuing loss of biodiversity, as they are undeveloped spaces
the ones that are most reliant on the ecosystem services that are being
degraded.” NATURE SERVICES
from the Biodiversity Policy of the European Commission Natural resources, and the ecosystems that provide them, underpin our
economic activity, our quality of life and our social cohesion.
reading: “There are no economies without environments, but there are environ-
The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) ments without economies”.
by Pavan Sukhdev for the German Federal Ministry for the Environment and the Euro- Ultimately we must answer to nature, for the simple reason that nature
pean Commission has limits and rules of its own.
Already we see conflicts caused by competition for biodiversity resourc-
The study is evaluating the costs of the loss of biodiversity and the as- es and ecosystem services (WBGU 2008).
sociated decline in ecosystem services worldwide, and comparing them
with the costs of effective conservation and sustainable use. It is intend- In the last 300 years the global forest area has shrunk by approximately
ed that it will sharpen awareness of the value of biodiversity and eco- 40%. Forests has completely disappeared in 25 countries, another 29
system services and facilitate the development of cost-effective policy countries have lost more than 90% of their forest cover.
responses, notably by preparing a ‘valuation toolkit’. Since 1900 the world has lost about 50% of its wetlands.
Approximately 30% of coral reefs, with higher levels of biodiversity than
In the foreword of this document Stavros Dimas (Commissioner for En- tropical forests, have been seriously damaged through fishing, pollution,
vironment European Commission) says; disease and coral bleaching.
“The aim of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and its 190

14. In the past two decades 35% of mangroves have disappeared, some
countries have lost up to 80% through conversion for agriculture, over
exploitation and storms.
The human-caused (anthropogenic) rate of species extinctions is esti-
mated to be 1000 times more rapid than the “natural” rate of extinction
typical of earths long-therm history.
HOW DO WE SET THE VALUE OF OUR LAND?
The task I had given myself turned out more complex than I had first
anticipated. The variables are many and the potential future advantages
complex.
production: food, fibres, medicine, timber, fuels
cleansing of surface water
cleansing of air
Co2 binding
climatic protection
habitats / biodiversity
When energy prices rises, price for food and clean water will rise.
How will natural systems supporting this be valued?
Potential economic valuation in the future.
Giving room for green structures in city planning is to invest in future
natural economical / energy efficient solutions.
50% of Malmø is hard surfaces; buildings without green roofing, hard
floors. In Malmø´s green plan (GRØN PLAN MALMØ) they want to in-
crease green areas from 33m2 pr inhabitant to 48m2.
For this goal they have developed a strategy:
Areal disposition and developing for nature services to take place through
ecosystems and biodiversity.

15. #4 dynamics of small cultures
12 October 2009 inside the city, interpreted the outside pressure, a changing world, as
Dynamics of small cultures is the next theme for the studio. Knut Eirik formative for the planning strategies for the future city. One interpreta-
will give a short introduction to the theme and present the fourth assign- tion of the notion weak voices lies inherent in that these voices where
ment: What informs your project at 12.00 Thursday October 15, in lille not heard before – they appeared through an intense research for new
auditorium. competence. We discovered them, so to speak.
The dynamics of small cultures introduces an awareness both related to The attitude towards these voices was described in this way in the
expertise, unknown voices and voices usually unheard of. The interior of Mosaïc::Region under the heading The elasticity of the thought and the
this notion demands a new type of observation and definitely it demands plan: “We pinpoint our guests from a field of knowledge, an energy net-
a vibrant cartography, or a (personal) rhizomatic library, leading up to work, and we are the receiving station. For us earlier ‘weak voices’ be-
the notion what informs your project. The asignment 4 also contains the come meaning-bearing and visible. The anthropological term ‘the gift’
journey to Paris and possible comparative studies on Malmö and Paris. may be meaningful in our dialogue between adaptive performing spaces
Up to the 5th asignment, Points of Departure, after Paris, we want you and mind fields. We have learned that only an ongoing and loving open-
to charge the aspects that are important in your Malmö City Reader and ness in this mosaïc must be the norm.
address how they will inform your project and your next step. Although not ‘everyone’ involves in the open network, an (op)position
developes that in the mosaïc-search is in a moving conversation with the
Our research and observations in the Mosaïc period set a searchlight superstructures - and undercurrents. When we ‘charges the landscape
on different aspects of how to aquire knowledge, how to enlargen our with new energy’ and discusses ‘the producing landscape’, we are in
views and how to direct our studies, summoned up in this phrase : What a discourse of the larger time span, in a larger shared scale between
informs our project? Inherent in this lies a critical approach to planning the two countries in the region. We open the discourse in an era in his-
statements and strategies that is more reductionist in its approach and tory where the imbalance is a recognition, that planning institutions of
methods. At a certain point in our Mosaïc explorations we discovered the all types are challenged to take in. The tableau of images of change
urgent need for voices and capacities in fields unknown to us. Through generated by our visits in the future pinpoints the need for new types of
an advanced research and with a little help from knowledgeable friends collaborations between hegemonic institutions both in the region and in
we discovered a series of possible guests all over Scandinavia, hitherto the wider European field. Meanwhile we are in the core (the internal life)
unknown to us, who were invited to enter our concept, charge it and of the mosaïc and discuss examples that strengthen the considerations.
transform it. Peter Sylwan, who you met at Alnarp was one of these Elasticity of thought where ‘everyone can have a position’ can thus lead
guests, who we met in person for the first time at this event. to a rupture in the planning regimes. ‘The Plan’ must therefore extend
The introduction to this kind of offensive discovery of unknown voices its elastic field, and recognize the ‘discursive nature’ by opening the dif-
(for us) had as its stepping stone our joint research under “The Year of ferent bases, cultures and practices - and understand this as the ‘gift’.
City Development in Tromsø. Most significantly in what we called The ‘Almost immediately, reality collapsed at several points - the truth is that
City of Chronicles, in this one year time-out and reflection on the appear- it wanted to give way (Borges)”
ing city. With KED as editor 40 articles from sources usually not known When KED guest-edited the magazine MARG, on the city, he was intro-
as informators in the world of planning appeared every Saturday in the duced to a story about an owner of a bookshop in Beirut who had as his
main newspaper in the Northern region. These voices, a pressure from ambition and intention to keep his bookshop open during all periods

16. of war in Beirut, which he mostly has managed. Keeping open this tiny prehistoric barrows and other small uncultivated areas laying within and
little bookshop as a continuous feature and vibrant location in the (dra- between the fields in the Danish terminology are named ‘small biotopes’.
matic) changing cartography of the city. The beauty of this stamina, this Conceptually they correspond to the ‘network’ that is embedded in a ‘ma-
tiny culture, confirms the possible discovery of importance on all levels trix’ of cultivated fields as defined by Forman and Godron (1986). They
of the activities in a city that can inform our way of thinking. To learn to can also be described as “ecotopes”, the smallest unit to be studied in
appreciate and observe different events and activities that can repaint the landscape (Naveh 1984).....”
our mosaic, charge it with new meaning. In our interpretation refering to ‘systems of informational exchange’
In the Mosaïc concept we described this attitude under the heading The (Bateson) this set a possible searchlight for our observations on what is
Dynamics of small cultures: “Research on premature infants in Lund is embedded in the Malmö matrix.
world leading, a reference culture in dialogue with a network of other
premature cultures. This mini culture is trying to increase the population In our contiunos interwiev with Stadsbyggnadsdirektør Christer Larsson
growth in the Öresund region, in a simultaneous dialogue with the lead- the next question to him is titled Does she speak Arabic. Refering to how
ing research journal ‘Pediatrics’. The small culture of the Art Academy Malmö explores the network that is embedded in the migrant community.
in Malmö has allied itself with a handful of state of the art art scenes We have asked Tove Helen on bases of her cartographic exploration, to
worldwide and is growing out of its pre-stage. The multi-cultural youth enter into this question and she asks: “I see the numbers, where are the
movement in Copenhagen has been out every Thursday to defend and facts? Visiting Malmö through the internet, I got to know that people from
develop the small vulnerable biotope “Ungdomshus”. Attempts at nor- 171 different nations live in the city. These people represent almost 40
malization of Christiania have the intent to direct that earlier attraction % of all ”Malmöers”. Getting to know Malmö by diving in to the world of
into a disappearing landscape. The region’s immigrant model, Malmö, statistics, I understand that ”new malmöers” are representing 12 - 60 %
is a universe of small cultures merging into the cityscape after Friday of the population in every township. At least 38 nations are represented
prayers in the mosque - and become something else than a superstruc- in each township by more than 10 persons. Centrum got inhabitants from
ture. The mosaic Metro-Polis quality is the small worlds of cultures and 94 different nations. The nation that is biggest represented in one town-
their networks and intersections, locally and globally. However, demarca- ship, is Irak with 2881 persons. Encircling the city of Malmö and being
tions and the distance to small (vulnerable) cultures dominate the larger a visitor that sees all the different townships by foot, by cycle, by buss, I
political picture in the metropolis. If the border between the two countries find the expression of different social layers, different life situations and
is to be challenged, the political challenge will be the sensitivity for the different ways of living. But, I can’t see and I can’t stop wondering, where
diversity in small cultures and the perceiving of their dynamics. When the does the diversity, richness and potential of all the new malmöers come
COP-15 launches “what we must understand and what we must do” in to expression? By using Knut Eiriks formulation “ Does she speak Ara-
December 2009, it is the energy and talent in urban habitats, their moti- bic?”, I wonder... Where is her cultural treasure expressed? How is her
vations, that can emerge as a reliable map of a sustainable Metro-Pole, cultural treasure expressed? When is her cultural treasure expressed?.
in a new premature situation”.
The notion The dynamics of..... is our transformation of the title of the The dynamics of small cultures introduces an awareness both related to
classical landscape study from 1988 by Peder Agger and Jesper Brandt expertise, unknown voices and voices usually unheard of. The interior of
titled The Dynamics of small biotopes in the Danish agricultural land- this notion demands a new type of observation and definitely it demands
scapes, where they say in the introduction: “Hedges, roadside verges, a vibrant cartography, or a (personal) rhizomatic library, leading up to the
drainage ditches, small brooks, bogs, marl pits, natural ponds, thickets, notion what informs your project.

17. The asignment 4 also contains the journey to Paris and possible com- STUDY TRIP TO PARIS
parative studies on Malmö and Paris. Up to the 5th asignment, Points Next week we are visiting Paris, a city known historically as an attrac-
of Departure, after Paris, we want you to charge the aspects that are tor on different migrants who has shaped and formed French life and
important in your Malmö City Reader and address how they will inform culture, we will explore The dynamics of small cultures and we will meet
your project and your next step. Doina Petrescu. Magdalena opens up our Paris journey in this way:
schedule: The micro politics of small cultures - aaa and urban tactics
oct 14: oct 15: How to discover and make visible the small cultures and develop their
09.00 09.00 12.00 dynamics, to capture desires, know- hows, relationships and skills?
assignment #3 review assignment #3 review presentation of assigment When the ‘small culture’ is not a network of researchers eager to put
#4 short lecture on dynamic of small cultures into play their knowledge but people invisible not only in the political and
planning processes but even in the public space and life: illegal immi-
Study trip to Paris assignment #4: oct 19-23 grants, women confined by cultural expectations or people linguistically
litterature:’Losing control, keeping desire’ by Doina Petrescu and/or socially restricted. People that for different reasons never show
up on those citizen meetings (that most of the time is the only, and com-
KED/KEU pulsory, outcome of ‘participation’ in planning) to claim their point of view
or knowledge, but still living a strong, pertinent and parallell reality in our
key word: what informs your project? cities.
Doina Petrescu and her studio aaa (atelier d’architecture autogerée –
studio for self-managed architecture (http://urbantactics.org/) in Paris
are using the tactics of micro-political acting and participation to ‘create
relationships between worlds’.
By the use of everyday activities such as gardening, cooking, playing,
chatting etc they make it possible for those previously excluded to par-
ticipate and even change roles in an ongoing process of architecture and
(local) politics: the cook becomes a debater, the inhabitant an architect
and the urbanist becomes an activist. Attending by one accessible entry
releases the possibility of participation on another level of collaboration
and exchange. Disused urban spaces in disadvantaged areas are trans-
formed into poetic and political gardens of urban biodiversity.

18. #4 (one) dynamic, cultural paris experience
An extrusion of the Paris experience must be the Chapelle neighbourhood in the 18th and
19th district;
The crazy tall housing-buildings in different shapes and sizes that makes la Chapelle vis-
ible on the parisian skyline
All the different people in the streets and in the parks
The difference in the building typology
The old parisian funeral parlour in Rue d´Aubervilliers, that is transformed into an arts
centre, the 104
The everyday park between the rail-lines of Gare de l´Est and Rue d´Aubervilliers, Jar-
dins d´Eole that almost lost the 12 year long fight for its right to exist to the plans for ex-
tension of a storage hall. Now it is a beautiful addition in peoples life in this aera; people
working out, playing, talking, growing vegetables and fruits in the parcel-garden, having
coffe and crèpe and talking, and the children experience to see how a sunflower grow, or
how a turnip they planted taste when it is finished (school project).
The beautiful metro stop at la Chapelle, when coming out; people playing ping pong
out in the park, while someone is watching... and talking. The wall-pieces of the narrow
streets giving them an extended sensation... While some of its history disappears with the
demolished buildings and transforms into something new... A beautiful skyline of crazy
buildings....

20. #5 points of departure From the competition text to the (70°N/D&U) entry; Exentral Park - Edge Dynamics, describing
the use of PoDs in Nordhavnen:
25 October 2009
-what informs your project? Points of Departure / PoDs - Activating the Field
Activating the Field is to create a ‘hyper responsive milieu’ where it is possible to leave
The term Points of Departure used as a planning tool is an invention an imprint - something that one can return to, charge with energy and follow in time.
made by 70°N/D&U for the competition entry Excentral Park - Edge Dy- The dynamics of small cultures
namics, in the Nordhavnen competition, Copenhagen 2008/-9 - (though The urban utopia created for Nordhavnen comprises a diversity of small cultures and
used by others with partly different meaning; - e.g. Henry Lefèbvre in programmes not easily attainable in usual developer-run processes. In the competi-
tion programme for Nordhavnen both Århusgade and Fiskerihavnen are mentioned as
Urban Revolution, as a theoretical starting point for analyzing urban con- ideal milieus one wants to preserve in the coming plan. In our strategy for Nordhavnen
ditions; taking real life as the point of departure, (Lefèbvre, Critique of we insert small enclaves (sociotopes) of free, imaginative and provocative structures
to be established now, and continuously, -
Everyday Life, Volume One)). independent of the plan’s timelines. These Points of Departure can be seen as embed-
The intention of the PoD is to confront the recent processes and ideas ded resistance and meaning in the future urban fabric. The coming urban structure has
to embrace and meet these programs in the same way as the Barcelona Cerda-plan
on urban planning and the strong belief in making long-term and rigid is dispersed in the meeting with the old village of Gracia, and Paris’ Haussmann axes
images of urban development structures. It is an attempt to define urban deviate when meeting ‘les buttes’ (aux Cailles/Montmartre). Strategically this is a new
planning as something more than urban design. By creating and defining way to establish constructive resistance in large urban projects, learning from historical
urban renewal processes.
the Points of Departure we are investigating and looking for entries to a Complex, dynamic fields of life forms and accumulated knowledge exist on several lev-
process and a project that contains a sort of otherness, -but which are els in Copenhagen and its region. Through such action this may evolve into a sustain-
able voice in the urban development process, and at the same time disturb a unilateral
strongly connected to the situation and the landscape. The PoDs could and defined developer-run process and imprint it with new meaning. This evidently is
represent an open attitude to the imbedded information there is, and lift true for those people who through time will settle in the area, but also for those land-
scape structures and events, which will be initiated. In planning terms it represents the
the importance of weak voices and small cultures (see previous texts). importance of weaker economies and voices that, allowed to work on all timescales in
In the Nordhavnen competition the PoDs were a reaction to the pro- Nordhavnen, representing an archipelago of formative opportunities in a constructive
gramme invitation to make plans for a period of 50-60 years. Instead of resistance to all linear development. This gives us the possibility to create what the
voices of the citizens express as: ‘No-regulation Zones’, ‘Use temporary functions and
creating a fixed urban fabric for the future, we opened for a long-term features’, ‘A bit rough, messy and unpolished, it would be great to be able to plan the
strategy of adaptation, changeability, resistance from nature and culture, unpolished’, ‘The unexpected is attractive’.
Urban woods
and in general; -a planning strategy of elasticity. In addition to the physi- In preserved places within a demarcation one invites to tree planting. This might be
cal information we find, the cognitive aspects of the situation open for a initiated somehow as a land art experience from the start and provides a possibility
for the inhabitants of Copenhagen to acquire a physical and mental belonging to Nor-
comprehensive approach, e.g.: -the historical relevance of the site, -the dhavnen. In the later urban development the woods planted will yield resistance in the
idea for an ideal urban life, -the context of neighbours and inhabitants structures and become programmatic crossings. The urban woods of Nordhavnen will
belong to the mythical narrative constituting the identity of Nordhavnen from the begin-
and so on. ning.
Urban gardening and agriculture
In citizen meetings, quoted in the competition programme, strong wishes arose: ‘Nord-
havn might become the green part of town’, or as a field which ‘one might set aside for
Creating PoDs is an exercise in investigating the hidden possibilities in experimentation’. In a demarcation of fields and lines, an urban farming and gardening
a situation, -for making a starting point and an entry to the plan and the strategy can be explored with two options: Cleaning the infected ground over time and
establishing temporal, seasonal large scale qualities in the global field
project, and finally create a consciousness about; -what informs your Nordhavnen - gardens of urban delight. Both Excentral Park and the delimited fields for
project? built-up structures will in time be introduced for intermediate actions, landscapes and
programmes that due to its quality might give a long term impact on the spatial concept,
- to be formulating Points of Departure. G/M (D&U/70°N)
key word: Points of Departure

21. #5 valuation of land and space
Our environment as a space to move in, nature // culture and the criterias
to meet others, experience others lifes,
and at the same time see the function it
figure architecture object culture
work
ground landscape space nature
provides.
g
site G
m
p
n a t u r e s e r v i c e :earth regulatingitself :
or
ef ies
sp
ac or )
em ces
g merien
environment g
The ID-builder of this common space, ori- in
ild xp
bu nd e object - event - relation
M m
enting ourselves on large scale in local (a
the developement of our lokal identity
p
scale. g
The consept of scale as a representation P m
of spatial difference to engage relation- p
ship between (rethinking) urban conditions
Lefebvre ;
nature / culture : architecture, everyday (r)urban spaces that do not exclude nature spatial difference
landscape and the city...
the consept of scale as a representation of spatial difference
“There are forces acting at multiple can be used to engage relationship between
scales, often invisible at the physical lo- nature / culture
(architecture, landscape and city)
cation of the site itself” across a range of formal, ecological, sosial and other
criteria
“there are forces acting at multiple scales,
(Linda Pollak; often invisible at the physical location of the site it self”
”constructed ground:questiones of scale”) (linda pollak;”constructed ground:questiones of scale”)

22. #6 vulnerability
16 November 2009 flow of information it is possible to find people, experts on their field,
Architecture and planning interacts with a wide range of disciplines. As researchers, humanitarian workers and artists that lend their eyes and
an architect you need to get an overlook, an understanding of the dy- voice to for us invisible people. You have all done discoveries on the
namics in fields far outside our own discipline. How to get there? We web, and we have shared with you our findings through the tests we
already, by keeping updated on the news, know too much about climate have introduced. These observations and findings can bring the dynam-
change, injustice, financial crisis, poverty and wars to be touched by ics of wast theoretical fields and actions within range, opening up for a
it. Only rarely something floats up, an image, a story, and moves us. possible cartography of vulnerability – a discovery.
We know too much and it does not exist. But in the undercurrent of this In mosaic::region, we related to vulnerability issues in this way:
flow of information it is possible to find people, experts on their field, Vulnerability mapping is a part of our anti-generic mindset where plural-
researchers, humanitarian workers and artists that lend their eyes and ity and diversity is crucial, and where the mosaic’s unique strength is to
voice to for us invisible people. You have all done discoveries on the be grown and processed. This applies of course the maintenance and
web, and we have shared with you our findings through the tests we protection of a diverse nature, but it applies just as fully to the Socio-
have introduced. These observations and findings can bring the dynam- topes of different origins that are vulnerable to economical and political
ics of wast theoretical fields and actions within range, opening up for a pressure and change. In both cases, it is all about strengthening by link-
possible cartography of vulnerability – a discovery. ing together and open up for new opportunities, rather than to preserve.
Through a hyper mapping of the super normal the survey answers with
This text is written with the possible vulnerability of the event taking place a flexible and evolving strategy, where the vulnerable, first and foremost
in Copenhagen in December, the United Nations Climate Conference in are protected by active intervention, and not primarily through boundar-
my mind – be aware. ies.
Vulnerability is one of the basic conceptions of survival. It is an aggre- Vulnerability is the new Geography
gate measurement that indicates susceptibility to be harmed. Vulner- While the vulnerability on the personal level is universal, the geography
ability is an intimate term in the sense that it is rooted in deep human of vulnerability is specific. Stresses and resources are unequally dis-
experiences. At the same time it applies to systems of all scales from tributed. Global forces and local dynamics interact and produce vary-
the smallest biotope to global systems, on all categories and all sectors ing regional conditions. When this information is put together, a new
of society. It floats through language, adapting content from the given geography is revealed, a geography where vulnerability comes in the
context and it always occurs with specific sets of associations borrowed foreground. This cartography spans from the local to the international.
from the context it appears in. Researchers enter this geography from different disciplines, with differ-
Architecture and planning interacts with a wide range of disciplines. As ent tools, traditions and interest. Vulnerability mapping and assessments
an architect you need to get an overlook, an understanding of the dy- are produced in all sectors of society. They are made to provide decision
namics in fields far outside our own discipline. How to get there? We makers with necessary knowledge to protect and strengthen vulnerable
already, by keeping updated on the news, know too much about climate social, economic and natural systems.
change, injustice, financial crisis, poverty and wars to be touched by When the impact from climate change and variations becomes manifest,
it. Only rarely something floats up, an image, a story, and moves us. it comes on top of already existing stresses, interacts with them and
We know too much and it does not exist. But in the undercurrent of this makes them worse.

23. As the insight of climate change began to make its presence throughout entitled to some form of protection. How this call for action are received,
the 1990s, vulnerability assessments began to focus on vulnerability in the ways decision makers relate to the information, will be dominant in
relation to environmental changes combined with socio- economic vul- terms of priorities. In planning and politics there will always be overlap-
nerability of individuals and groups. ping interests and needs in relation to territory and economy. When re-
IPCC’s 4 report from 2007, provides an overview on the geography of sources are under pressure, sector interests will impact on priorities and
vulnerability under climate change. Here they use a specific definition on
policy guidelines. Vulnerable landscapes often end up as the loosing
the term vulnerability in relation to adaptive capacity: Adaptive capacity
part in priorities.
is the ability of a system to adjust to climate change (including climateNational states do not only attempt to protect their territory, population
variability and extremes) to moderate potential damages, to take advan- and production, but also the global systems that they feed on. If those
tage of opportunities, or to cope with the consequences. systems are based on global injustice it is inevitable that they have nega-
Vulnerability is the degree to which a system is susceptible to, and un- tive impact in other regions of the world. Energy conflicts are an example
able to cope with, adverse effects of climate change, including climate of this: All big military and political conflicts from First World War up to
variability and extremes. Vulnerability is a function of the character, mag-
now have been related to the control of the world’s oil-reserves. (Ryg-
nitude, and rate of climate change and variation to which a system is gvik). A system that is not sustainable will over time become vulnerable.
exposed, its sensitivity, and its adaptive capacity. Biological, social, economic, technical and cultural systems overlap and
The impacts of climate change have big regional variations, but are reg- affect each other in structural dependencies. Many of the systems we
istered in the whole biosphere. Developing countries, those who have are dependent on are unsustainable, and as a consequence the vulner-
contributed least to the co2 emissions, are worst affected by the con- ability of communities and ecosystems increases.
sequences. Large and growing populations are climate refugees. The Decision makers are often ignorant to undercurrents in society as op-
human potential of entire regions is used up in a daily fight for survival.
portunities to redefine the future. When processes are closed, structured
When a country is preoccupied to tackle drought, flood, famine and con- and formalized, the experimental and not yet displayed potentials are
flict, it loses the creative expression of entire generations and the poten-
ruled out. It is crucial to open up and create a reception apparatus for
tial to work their way out of poverty and bring the world forward. vulnerable initiatives as potentials for change.
We need to find the ideas that is in the making, under the surface, the
“Man vet for lite, og det finnes ikke. Man vet for mye, things that we don’t yet know. To draw what exists out of the shadows of
og det finnes ikke. Å skrive er å trekke det som
what we know. Projects need to be extremely observant and proactive
finnes ut fra skyggene av det vi vet.”
Karl Ove Knausgård in pointing out new directions, to meet future challenges which can only
be met through a hitherto unseen dynamism and flexibility in planning,
We know too little, and it does not exist. We know too much, and it does international cooperation and development.
not exist. To write is to draw what exists out of the shadows of what we KEU
know.
Vulnerable potentials for change
The concept of vulnerability has a built-in appeal to do something about
a situation; it is a concept that mobilizes into action. This makes it a po-
litical tool. It is implicit that if something is highlighted as vulnerable, it is

24. #6 malmø facing future challenges
On background of analyses on Malmø
and Connecting urban public and semi-
investigations on the city through public rooms by a mentally easy re-
walking, reading, talking, googling etc membered and physically inviting
a blue-green web has developed. and easy oriented structure. It brings
The blue-green web strategically de- unexpected and new experiences to
veloped to better dealing with a wetter both the
The importance we give our senses future, visitor and the inhabitant.
handling the increasing amount of ur- Imagine walking along a small stream,
Three factors defines It is obvious that delights have a key role in giving iden- ban runoff in a more sustainable eco- with trees, straws, insects, flowers,
landscape in Ian
tity to the urban landscape. This assumption means that nomical way. birds and more living things and all
Thompson´s theory: However the most important issue of the different smells and sounds they
landscape aesthetic and its enhancement should be con- this structure is the experiences it cre- bring with them through the
sidered beyond its visual aspects, in combination with ates for people moving through the seasons.
Ecology other dimensions of the urban environment. The bal- streets and neighborhoods on their It might turn into a really refreshing
ance between natural environment and human societies way to their everyday destination. start of the day on your way to work...
has always existed in societies; and searching for delight
Community and aesthetics, delight and balance of human tasks and
their environmental relationship, has always been con-
Delight sidered in such a way that man can live comfortably with
nature. (From Thompson´s point of view “Ecology” is one
of the effective elements in landscape). not like this more like this
in the street-scape
private semi-public public
alotment gardens neighbourhood community garden-projects parks
Malmø,S:t Knuts Square may-03 artist project on Agenda 21
http://koloni.dbskane.se/kolonienglish.htm
Assuming fuels for private car use will be unattractive-
ly expensive in the future and that this will make the
use of private transportation less important, I focus on
alternative use of space in the street-scape regard-
ing amount of space for car parking, number of lanes
needed for cars in a street etc.
Using this space to receive, treat and experience wa-
ter gives a city and its inhabitants and visitors a lot
allotment gardens of Elisedal aerialphoto and view over Pildammspark showing parcelgarden-aera Ribersborgpark aera
more back.
next to Fosie industrial aera close to the Pildammstheater It brings life into the streets on a hole new level.

25. #DAV The walk as a method and an artistic practice
13 November 2009 search material in the space of the city and the changes as well as the
workshop with Publik urban population way of taking over the space of the city. Important to
How do we approach a space? How do we make research of a specific mention is the French theorist Michel de Certeaus thoughts in his book
place in the best way? What kind of impressions and experiences create ‘The Practice of Everyday Life’ where he analyses how people as indi-
the sense and the character of a certain place? How do we physically vidual has a need to create his or her own rolls and rituals in a mass-
experience places? How do our own body, experience and personality society such as the city. So when the citizen goes against the planned
influence our experiences of the new places that we explore? paths in the parks and makes her own ruts by walking across the lawn
she takes in the place in her own way and creates her own rules.
With this workshop we aimed to make a research on Malmö as a city
through the walk and the walk’s forms and methods. The students have Today many artists still use the walk as a method and an approach for
been working together in teams where they together have been given an artistic practise. Here plays the artists personality an important roll for
an area of research and chosen a theme for their research. As a starting the outcome of the artwork. This becomes clear in the choice of frame
point they have uses the area of research on a walk and represent it in or thematic the artist wishes to present. One of the most important and
their own chosen format. contemporary artists using the walk, as a method is the Mexican based
By this workshop the students have tried out their ideas and tested them artist Francis Alÿs. He has been doing his city walks in a lot of cities such
on reality by using the walk and thereby choosing an optic to see the city as London, Mexico City, Jerusalem, Copenhagen, Berlin and Lima – just
through. Here you can see the different results of the groups works. to mention a few. Before doing his work he first walks the city where he
research for the character and the special sphere of the city. Then he
Background knowledge sets a certain complex of problem in play of that specific place and often
By the beginning of modernity and the rise of the cities a new term was combined with an existential and self-referring approach. As for instance
made for a specific group of men that walked or strolled around in the his walk through Mexico City where he pushed a big ice cube, which due
city. They were given the name ‘flaneur’. A person with a certain self- to the high temperature quickly became smaller and smaller. This doing
consciousness who had time and peace to just walk around and watch for no reasons points at mankind’s ever lasting wondering around with
the life of the city and the ever changing character of the city – and there- no goal. The walks of Francis Alÿs are afterwards turned into videos,
by stood out of the mass but at the same time was the quintessence of photos, drawing and paintings.
the city. The perfect flaneur combined empathy and distance. Often the
persons were writers or artists who would depict their experiences in The workshop is made by publik – a Danish organisation producing
text and pictures. The movement is the essence for the flaneur and his contemporary art for public spaces in Copenhagen since 2005. publik
strolling through the city in contrast to the life of the city that he moves initiate and produces temporary art projects that has a debating and
through that constantly haste by him. This gives him the possibility to researching approach towards the boundaries of today’s public spheres.
voyeur the city but also to take it in on his own conditions. www.publik.dk
Concurrently with the rise of the city sociologists, theorists, artists, urban Nils Rømer and Johanne Løgstrup
scientists and city-planners have found a profound interest and core re-

26. #DAV : the xerox - project
Xerox- A tool for communication, on Møllevangen, a place for
sales and meetings in the city, a dazzling, vibrant place full of
ephemeral information and cultural activities. Our interpretation
of Møllevangen as an area was a place for cultural exchange, a
multi layered area were different cultures could intermingle and
exist side by side, how to strengthen this…An area of juxtaposi-
tion, no matter where you come from in the city you´re allowed to
enter and participate and after spending quite some time there
and observing the movements, our eyes frozed on the informa-
tion column. In the square, an old, battered information column
was full of posters, both political and cultural, we observed within
an hour approximately a dozen people walking up to it, pasting
different flyers about different happenings not only in Møllevan-
gen but also in the greater Malmø area, including Copenhagen.
This triggered our interest for cultural exchange, how to use this
element as a creation for a rhizomatic spreading of information.
Something uncontrollable, something that was made by the peo-
ple, for the people. Our idea grew on us and we started to flirt
with the idea of a Xerox machine for copying these flyers. By
strengthening the already existing column and by adding a Xe-
rox, was it possible to establish an autonomous place for gather-
ing the information, copy it and then spread and display it? Let
people come from all over the city to this exact point, do their
business and then again let them walk of in every direction as
they please, this is our story…