Culture and imperialism

In this seminar by F. Recchia, we talked about globalisation, colonalization, culture and imperialism. Globalization could be seen as the change of spatial and temporal contours of social existence, or internationalization of national economy. the impact of globalisation is interconnectivity due to the flow of capital. Spaces are being shrinked.

Imperialism on the other hand is the practice of expanding the authority and power of a country by acquiring territory or dominating the economic and political systems of other countries; empire's system of government. In the past, we talk of colonization, but in the present it is imperialism. Third world countries have gained their independence but they are still dependent. Some could say there is no more colonization, but personally, i think imperialism is a modified version of colonization. western countries have economic power and the third world countries depends on them a lot.

However, there was a debate on what gives global power?, is it the control of media or the control of economy?

Biomapping

These workshop is based on mapping the city, not in the conventional way but in a way that deals with human, emotions, in short the body. We chose a location around Aldi/poptahof hostel in Delft and the idea was to read the emptiness of the city. Does the city go empty?, maybe yes, maybe no. Smell, sound/noise and movement were the parameters chosen to read the emptiness. Myself, kevin and slvia read the movement (humans walking, bicycling, and cars) of the city at 3 spots on location which are Aldi, Turkish Shop, and De hoven. We used photography as the tool for collecting the data by standing at different spots focusing on a particular location and taking pictures for 15minutes at every 30 seconds. The result is shown in the diagram as the city's heartbeat. Metarmorphorically, the city has a life just like a man; it breathes; slowly, fast, quietly, or randomly.

Heterotopia

Eventhough, i didn't agree with Lieven de cauter in this seminar with his attempt in classifying heterotopia into three spheres which are economy, culture and politics, i still appreciate his effort. From my understanding of the six principles of heterotopia by michel foucault and Gil M. Doron text of "the dead zone and architecture of transgression", i believe that heterotopia is so complex that it is difficult to classify them into the three spheres. Our present world is so complex that it is difficult to distinguish what is economy from what is culture and from what is politics. In fact, Foucault also mentioned in his paper that our present epoch is that of simultaneity, juxtaposition, and moment. Rather than simplifying or categorising heterotopia into these three spheres, i believe that the complexity of our world influenced the diversity of heterotopia and it could takes different forms.
Squatter sleeping on a bench used for advert (heterotopia)

Riot in the street (heterotopia)

Additional text read, "the dead zone and architecture of transgression" by Gil M. Doron

Mapping (chronotopology)

In this workshop by antonio scarponi, the question was how to map our present urban realities? Talking about our urban realities; we talk of complexity, speed, population, globalization, and so on. Myself, charlotte, kevin, and alejandra decided to map the temporalities and dynamism of our present society. we chose "clock" as an urban device which people are often associated with in terms of social practices. people often relate and look at their clock, for example, i have to be here by this time.........i have to go now.......i have a seminar now ..................... The clock dictates where and when to do something, it directs their path. Mapping the activities of people on the clock reflects the reality of our society, the social classes and what each group could be doing at a particular time. we mapped the activity of the people from fiji and the people from rotterdam on the clock so as to see what each group will most likely be doing at a particular time. Mapping is much more than geographical.

Photo-Graphy (4)

View Album

space study with still images
the workshop on photography is one that really interests me. it opened my eyes to a new dimension of photography. the final assignment of the workshop focuses on using still images to study how objects/humans act in space over time. i decided to study people in front of waiting areas like receptions and coffee machines with a timing of 8 seconds interval. the result is shown below.

At the end of the workshop, i learnt a new dimension of photography. Rather than the normal convention of videos, still images can be used to construct stories and study spaces.

Photography (3)

View Album

the idea was to take the picture of objects from the same distance at the same scale. the result shows a sequence of images of an object from different views.

Photo-Graphy (2)

Something i will never think of taking a picture of...................
For a whole night, i was thinking about something i will never take a picture of, but couldn't find one. After i woke up the following morning, as i was dressing up for class and was about wearing my shoes, i discovered that i never looked inside my shoes ever since i bought it and will never think of taking the picture. Inside my shoe is so dark and dingy.

"inside my shoes"

I think we will never think of taking pictures of things we see but don't look at. I see my shoes everyday but doesn't look at the inside.

Photo-Graphy (1)

Bad photographs.

As one can see that this is a nice image which we often see in movies but its a bad photograph. what i simply did was to work on the pricinple of refraction so as to hide the faces of the people. I took the picture with two panels of glass infront of me and i turned the flash light on.

the resulting impression is that of people doing a shady business.

Fantasy Saves Planning

The challenges of building slums in a formal setting?

How can we build a slum in TU Delft?

How do we get the building materials?

How are we not going to be caught by the neighbouring cops?

We (urban body students) sets out strategies in executing the mission. We mapped out the site and sourced for materials tactically from construction sites, wastes bins, and boukwunde basements. The construction was done within 6 hours.

Some could describe the workshop as challenging while, others could say this is interesting and fun. But i will describe it as the reality of some.

Space, body and Phenomenology

I must say that the lecture was really complex but i was able to pick some few things. I understood that thinking is an event which is a path, a way that opens up an area, a new event, a new experience of space which is time related. By bringing unity into our being, phenomenology gives us genuine experience. The kind of world we are is not about measure but a "path" which is our thinking.

Planet of Slums

From my experience,

Lagos slums is a replication of the confrontation between the formal and the informal.

Some could describe slums as parasites, but i reserve my opinion to that even though i agree that they are eyesores to the city.

From my experience, i could say that they are eyesores and at the same time benefits other parts of the city. by way of example, they provide cheap labour. These scenario is a dichotomy of the formal and informal

Body Scan : Place Scan

After the understaning of my body as a series of layers, body scan and place scan is a true test and reflection of the awareness of my body.

Body Scan?

lying quietly on the floor

with my eyes closed

i could feel the presence of people in the room

their noise put pressure on me

and my body temperature increased.

my breathing was faster

Place scan?

looking through the windows

with my eyes opened,

i saw the beautiful landscape

i saw the grasses moving

i heard the sound of the wind blowing

Experiencing Space

At every point in time,

Our body is surrounded by space,

Body in space or space in body,

Whatever?

The question is............................

Does our body experience this space?

Maybe, it's a dilemma of our time, maybe not,

People often walk in long corridors,

Travels from one place to the other,

Relax in their homes,

But, do we understand these spaces?
Do we understand our body?

Does our body experience the spaces?

...............................................................

In this workshop by Susanna Recchia, i realised that my body consist of not just the flesh but a series of layers which interacts with the space. An understanding and awareness of these series of layers helped me to understand our space, our architecture, and our world. In short, body awareness influences the perception of our spaces.

motivation letter

WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH……, WHAT DO YOU DO………?
When writers like Mike Davis talks about slum, they always mention a city like Lagos, Mexico, and Mumbai. Most people in the western world try to imagine what these cities may be like? But all they know are the data’s on the net and the stories or books they have read. However, getting information about a place and having a personal experience of a place are entirely two different dichotomies.
I am living in the western world and I had lived in Nigeria, precisely in Lagos for 23 years. Even though, one could claim that I lived in a formal setting in Lagos; I often confront the informal setting, the slums everyday and I understand fully the way the system works. Imagine when you live in a city with a population of about 10 million and density of 24182/km2 with no proper planning or whatsoever, then what happens. What kind of place am I talking about…………………?

A place where corruption thrives,
A place where diseases grow and germs spreads,
A place where overcrowding and congestion are the order of the day,
A place where there is no law and security,
A place where there is no insurance or privacy,
A place where there is no electricity and sanitation,
A place where there is no place………….

So, when the going gets tough what do you do?, Maybe Mumbai is similar, maybe not, but it will be interesting and also challenging to experience this system and see how it works.

A place of residence in Lagos for people.

Overcrowding and congestion are the order of the day