A combination of exhibition, projects and events, Reprogramming The City will explore ways in which existing urban infrastructure is being re-purposed, reused and reinvented in cities around the world to change or increase its functionality in cities, and enhance the functionality of cities themselves. The sub-theme of the exhibition, opportunities for urban infrastructure, will carry through into other areas of activity, including exhibited proposals inviting consideration of even more adventurous reuse and re-purposing initiatives of existing urban material stock in Boston and other cities, as well as workshops to generate more ideas.
Reprogramming The City and its related public projects and events will offer unique perspectives on how the existing hardware of the city can be reprogrammed to increase its functionality by employing a new “software” of imagination and resourcefulness. It is about designing, developing and creating with the city, rather than for it.
Whether it is Edge Design Institute’s project to increase public seating and greenery in ultra-dense Hong Kong by designing a new structure to be installed on top of a wide staircase (title image of this post), or the much-celebrated “Low Line” concept to transform a disused NYC Lower East Side trolly terminal into an underground park (image below), there is a shift in the way cities are viewing their existing physical terrain. Urban objects, structures and areas are no longer seen as the end result of a previous creative process, the beginning of new ones – platforms for possibility.
The reuse and re-purposing of existing infrastructure of urban materials and infrastructure is something I have worked with for a long time, from hands-on design projects such as Made of Jesolo to research vehicles The Urban Guide for Alternate Use, and plenty of writing, lectures and workshops along the way.
Reprogramming The City takes my personal interest and investigation and opens it to an international scale, using documentation from my time in various cities and network of practitioners, to new research and discoveries of what is happening everywhere else. The journey – and work – has only just begun, so come back often or subscribe for updates or previews of work, people and cities I discover and work with along the way.
And of course, if you are in or near Boston in June 2013, please come along – exact dates and event details will be communicated as soon as they are confirmed.
Nice Article, i come across a lot of articles dealing with building new sustainable cites but its rare that i come across one that deals with using current infrastructure. thanks.