New Cities/New Soviets

July 02, 2004

Marjetica Potrc

My mom sent me interesting article from the NY Times, featuring Czech artist/architect named Marjetica Potrc (mahr-ee-ay-TEETS-uh po-TERCH). She does work studying the architechture of marginal communities. There's some nice stuff on her web site. I wish there were more pictures, though -- this kind of documentary work is great.

More stuff...


Kagiso

"I normally just transplant a situation that I find interesting in the city to the gallery as a case study. That project was based on Kagiso, a suburb of Johannesburg. The city builds core units, which are equipped with the basics in terms of energy electricity, water and a sewage system. In this case the core unit looked like a skeleton house floor, pillars and a roof. The new owners build inside this framework, using whatever materials they have at hand, and as they envision their space. Next to the skeleton house I built a shack with a large satellite dish attached to it, which stands for communication. The basics in life are shelter, water and communication. This is the same for everyone, for shantytown dwellers, as well as for the most affluent population. You know this yourself because you travel a lot."
-- from http://www.potrc.org/obrist/

"'In Caracas the barrios grow and change shape constantly,' Ms. Potrc said. 'A majority of the dwellings sprout steel wires,' reinforcing rods that could support additional construction, 'thus proclaiming future growth.'" (from the times article) How fuckin' cool is that?

There is also some stuff at this exhibit of Potrc's work dealing with changes in the way a local Jordanian gov't deals with squatter settlements, moving from a policy of neglect and periodic levelling to actually trying to introduce infrastructural improvements.

Posted by Sam at July 2, 2004 01:50 AM

Post a comment

Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)

(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)


Remember me?