Transmissions

Origins of Halloween

"The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth."

Curiouser and curiouser!

“"The time has come," the walrus said, "to talk of many things: Of shoes and ships - and sealing wax - of cabbages and kings”

"'But I don't want to go among mad people,' Alice remarked.
'Oh, you can't help that,' said the Cat. 'We're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad.'
How do you know I'm mad?' said Alice.
'You must be,' said the Cat. 'or you wouldn't have come here'"

“It [the Cheshire Cat] vanished quite slowly, beginning with the end of the tail, and ending with the grin, which remained some time after the rest of it had gone.”

Decisions

It is from a place of deepest intention that I have decided not to do thesis. I want to focus on creating my proposal for going to India in 2010. In a way I see that year as being my thesis year because I will be able to give it all my attention instead of juggling so many things at once. This was a hard decision for me because the program seems like it's going to be pretty amazing this year. When trying to decide, I desperately wanted a voice to come to me and say "Yes" or "No", but no voice came and I had to keep going back and forth. In the end I think the decision I made was the right one. I don't like who I become when I'm so stressed out, it hurts me and my relationships and I want to honor my limits and live in a more balanced way. Take things one step at a time.

WIKIPEDIA

I am starting with site. I have chosen the Tenderloin because it is a place where crisis is visible. A crisis that may dwell hidden in other parts of the city, but here it is apparent and tangible. It overcomes the senses, is concentrated, and is almost suffocating. It has been a place that has experienced crisis for much longer than this current economic crisis.

What is the role of architecture in a time of crisis? In a time of slowdown and limitation?

My goal at this point is to research the history and origins of the Tenderloin and how it has changed over time. I want to understand this neighborhood as a living, breathing entity with an evolutionary story to tell.

It is decided.

Even though I had already decided a while ago it is now certain, there's no pretending it might or might not happen - I am doing thesis. I met with Antje yesterday to make sure the Lab and Seminar classes fit into my schedule and still allow me to graduate on time- and they do. I'm thinking about taking 18 units this semester and 12 next semester, we'll see how that plays out. I'm in for an intense semester. CBD, work, application for fulbright, thesis lab and seminar, pro practice, and a literature class. Hopefully I can take it.

Now I actually need to start doing some research and time is running out...
It's hard not to want to try and incorporate my whole life's belief and philosophy into this project, but I think being focused is important. But first of all is the research. I'm trying not to jump to far ahead at this point, trying to let the learning and process guide me.

And where to really start? I have so many vague ideas about what I want it to be about...
Some things I'm interested in:

The crumbling of old, outdated systems and the emergence of new building systems, network typologies, social interactions.

Process of growth and decay.

Looking beyond the built environment at intangible systems of information flows and connections.

Community involvement. How architecture and design can engage the public in a way that's not as sterile and boring as a panel discussions and meetings. something more upbeat and interactive.

The importance of the architectural process as a tool for creating exchange, experimentation and interaction, not just used to create an end product such as a building.

Places in crisis, places of change, places on the edge, volatile places, dynamic spaces.

small scale - big change

mapping.

Life is precious

Fuck it

fuck expectations
fuck caring what other people think
fuck thinking I am the solution

It's so fucking disgusting
all this sugar coating
makes me want to vomit

fuck caring if other people think I'm scary
fuck suppressing my emotions
over and over
and trying to bend to others wishes and wills

my heart is on fire
and I'm going to let it burn
and I don't fucking care

fuck being afraid that I am responsible for people's problems
and for all the fucked up things in the world

fuck the urge to sensor this because it says fuck so many times

fuck
fuck
fuck

Some thoughts

I believe we are living in a critical time, soon to reach a climax point. Something big is going to happen- is already happening all around the world. Breakthroughs, realizations, resistance, friction. It is uncomfortable, it is a great pressure – as if we have reached the bottleneck and are being squeezed.

One of the questions I want to explore in doing a thesis is how architecture can help seed changes that so desperately need to happen. Change in how people are treated, how people treat the environment, how we build and maintain our cities, and how each individual goes about their daily lives. Because whether we like it or not, everything we do sends ripples of effects and reactions into the world. There is no such thing as neutral. Simply living means you have an impact.

I see the Tenderloin as a microcosm of the world. It is rich in cultural influences, because its inhabitants and store-owners include people from all walks of life and all parts of the world. All these influences and lifestyles are brought together in one of the densest neighborhoods in San Francisco.

The Tenderloin is also one of the poorest and most notorious areas in the city and is perhaps “the last frontier in SF’s ever expanding gentrification trend”(1).

In Santos I learned from Rodrigo and Edgard that if you want to make real change happen, you have to tackle the darkest places. Only when you understand the history and complexity of those places, can you move toward building in a way that truly helps people and the planet. Covering up scars doesn’t work- it just creates more scars.

But in an area such as the Tenderloin, which is so dense, what does it mean to build? What do people need the most there, in terms of physical spaces? How can I do a project that is perhaps small, but creates a large impact, or perhaps starts a chain of events?

My most recent influences have been Lebbeus Woods and Samuel Mockby’s Rural Studio. I want to find some way of combining the philosophy and work of both within my thesis. I like the total immersion into community that Rural Studio demonstrates, and at the same time, I find Wood’s writing and speculations about more grand ideas and trends just as critical to our time.

Explosion

Another Manhole exploded today,
this time at 4th and Market.
I wonder what's happening underground-
seems suspicious to me...

Fire

Last night I decided to erase all the old pictures from my camera and take it to work today. As I walked down O'Farrell to go get lunch in the Tenderloin I noticed the sky was filled with smoke. The site was kind of spectacular with the cathedral all hazy and monolithic in the background. As I approached, the smoke seemed to get even more black and I could actually see the billowing red flames. At first I thought it was a car fire. I wanted to get closer, but this man started running down the street yelling to get away because it was going to blow up. I decided to get lunch where I was and watch from a distance.

Apparently it was an underground fire caused by an electrical explosion. The flames were shooting out a manhole and it took firefighters at least 30 minutes to control it.

Talk about volatility - literally. It reminds me of a dream I had last year where downtown San Francisco caught fire. The cause, however, was entirely different. It was so vivid that it inspired me to write this poem:

I dreamed... (August 1st, 2008)

I dreamed of fire-
San Francisco
up in flames
from rage
in the hearts of youth.

a molotov cocktail
thrown to the sky
in feverish passion
twice up,
then twice
crashing down
into flames.

a moment of worry
a moment of confusion
of feeling lost

what is fire?
why does it burn?

fire is chaos
that brings about balance

Lebbeus Woods Drawings for BCJ

Drawings done for BCJ by Lebbeus Woods back in the day.
Awesome!

Tenderlointreon Article - May 1st, 2009

Perception 1 - May 6th, 2009 2:00 p.m.

Walked up O'Farell street from Market. Felt things change at Mason st from shopping district to Tenderloin.

Sat and ate lunch at Larkin and O'Farell in children's park on a busy corner. There were no benches or places to sit. Probably for fear of the homeless sleeping there. The whole park is fenced off. People of all sorts walk by and look in.

Across the street is the New Century Theater, the sign reads:

$5 AMATEUR SHOW
EVERY SUN 9 PM
75 NAUGHTY HOTTIES
OPEN TIL 3 AND 4 AM

I feel uncomfortable and out of place. The traffic is noisy and I'm not looking forward to the walk back.

A child's laughter, however, seems to break the tension. Makes me wonder what life is like behind the facades and sidewalks that smell of piss.

Thesis Proposal w/ comments

Through the pursuit of an architecture thesis I hope to explore the dynamic and complex relationships present in San Francisco's Tenderloin Neighborhood. I am looking to engage in an architecture that critically examines, investigates, and redefines the nature of boundaries; seeing physical, cultural, and social scars and fissures as rich opportunities for creative spatial, formal, and psychological exploration. It is these sharp places, which are laden with tension and seem to be spaces of darkness, that I see as extremely potent and pregnant with possibility.

How can the architectural process be used as a catalyst for change by and for the people? How can a design proposal truly engage a demographic of people who have otherwise been forgotten, displaced, and swept between the cracks such as inhabitants of San Francisco's Tenderloin neighborhood. How can architecture get at the core of the human condition and critically respond by representing the spirit of a place* and the struggle of its people *? How can the Tenderloin's sharp and volatile history be honored and recognized in a way that uncovers and exposes transformative forces waiting to emerge from beneath the layers of oppression, abuse, and violence**?

* Many of these ideas have been explored in the context of nationhood; post-colonialism. It will be challenging to bring this discussion into a neighborhood. In "community" design some of these issues emerge, but from an anti architecture perspective.

** Is that recognition itself transformative? How would you test that? What is the potential for more direct efficacy w/r/t agency and ownership? Requires a nuanced definition of "public".

My goal is to challenge outdated structures and systems (such as?) through the exploration of new social and spatial typologies within the urban landscape. Not only do I want to design with these ideas in mind, I want to use the actual design process as a means to interact and engage in the community.

Branches of sociology have informed community-oriented design workshops: worth looking at if nothing else to critique, develop a position

I will start my preliminary research by drawing inspiration from Lebbeus Wood's work surrounding the Loma Prieta Earthquake, Rebecca Solnit's text "The Ruins of Memory", and Donna Haraways "A Manifesto for Cyborgs".

These are all interesting texts but they are all exploring very different topics

Studio I: Limantour Beach Dwelling

Order is the sun walking arced trails across the sky,
Downward is the rain’s motion as it is tumbles from the heavens,
It follows gravity’s pull, carving rivers in the earth.
Rapid is the wind racing up the slope from the sea,
It shifts; sporadic and indecisive,
Sometimes it brings slow fog, which lingers,
Sometimes it feeds a sparking fire.

Pathways of earth,
Pathways of sky.

What does it mean to be human and to dwell in this changing and dramatic landscape?
A landscape with expansive views? A landscape of rain, slope, ocean, fog, wind, fire and sun? What is the human pathway within this space?

Humans are caught in between-
are pulled by earth and by sky.
They are reminded by gravity that they are beings of the physical realm
And yet when they look to the sky their thoughts often transcend the physical.

The human is the horizon, a connection between earth and sky

This dwelling is about human experience in nature
It is about observing the balance of natural pathways and cycles

Studio I: Limantour Beach Site Study

This drawing was created by fusing two different studies; the first involved the site's physical topography and the second was about the path I took from the road down to the boundary of the site during our studio site visit.

For the first study I made a topographic model of the landscape and covered it with a layer of trace paper. Then I took blue ink and let it drip and run down the trace in three different locations starting at the top edge of the model. I repeated this step on 5 different layers of trace and then overlaid them in one drawing. This was to show how water would generally flow on the site. I think overall it was more of a poetic and artistic gesture than a rigorous analysis. I was interested in pathways on the site made by different elements. I was especially inspired by the maps of the Mississippi River.

The second study was a drawing of the path I took down to the tree which was at the border of the site. It shows vegetation was and the scope of my experience of the grass on either side of me as I walked down the hill.

By overlaying these drawings, I began to mold my understanding of the site as a layering of pathways which were both natural and man-made.

Summer Thesis Research Manual

1. Begin by looking to your own creative output.
Look at your portfolio of past creative work, writings from your history and theory courses, analyze the way you think and make, begin to articulate what specifically draws you to the discipline of Architecture. This is what will make your research unique and keep you interested in it. How has the work you have done begun to establish a specific and distinctive methodology for architectural experimentation? What problems have you consistently encountered?

Thesis Proposal: First Draft

Through the pursuit of an architecture thesis I hope to explore the dynamic and complex relationships present in San Francisco's Tenderloin Neighborhood. I am looking to engage in an architecture that critically examines, investigates, and redefines the nature of boundaries; seeing physical, cultural, and social scars and fissures as rich opportunities for creative spatial, formal, and psychological exploration. It is these sharp places, which are laden with tension and seem to be spaces of darkness, that I see as extremely potent and pregnant with possibility.

How can the architectural process be used as a catalyst for change by and for the people? How can a design proposal truly engage a demographic of people who have otherwise been forgotten, displaced, and swept between the cracks such as inhabitants of San Francisco's Tenderloin neighborhood. How can architecture get at the core of the human condition and critically respond by representing the spirit of a place and the struggle of its people? How can the Tenderloin's sharp and volatile history be honored and recognized in a way that uncovers and exposes transformative forces waiting to emerge from beneath the layers of oppression, abuse, and violence?

My goal is to challenge outdated structures and systems through the exploration of new social and spatial typologies within the urban landscape. Not only do I want to design with these ideas in mind, I want to use the actual design process as a means to interact and engage in the community.

Lebbeus Woods: War and Architecture

Architecture and war are not incompatible
Architecture is war. War is architecture
I am at war with my time, with history, with all authority
that resides in fixed and frightened forms.
I am one of millions who do not fit in, who have no home, no family,
no doctrine, no firm place to call my own, no known beginning or end,
no "sacred and primordial site."
I declare war on all icons and finalities, on all histories
that would chain me with my own falseness, my own pitiful fears.
I know only moments, and lifetimes that are as moments,
and forms that appear with infinite strength, then "melt into air."
I am an architect, a constructor of worlds,
a sensualist who worships the flesh, the melody,
a silhouette against the darkening sky.
I cannot know your name. Nor can you know mine.
Tomorrow, we begin together the construction of a city.
(Woods, 1)

When society can no longer define itself in classically deterministic, objective terms, but only in terms of continuously shifting, fluid-dynamical fields of activity, then architecture must forsake the monumental, because there is no hierarchy to valorize, no fixed authority or body of knowledge external to human experience to codify. In such a society, the classical distinction between art and life disappears. Art and life flow together, inseparable. Architecture then concerns itself with fluid-dynamic structures: tissues, networks, matrices, heterarchies.
(Woods, 6)

Today, knowledge has caught up with the human potential to choose, to shape, day to day, its own presence within the presence of others. The human right to self-determination can today be enabled not only at an ideological and totalizing, a national or ethnic scale, but for each and every human being. Chaos is a complex, nonlinear form of order, and the intellectual tools of discerning and articulating it are today firmly in place. The development of new information and communication technologies resulting from existential knowledge has made it possible to comprehend a new form of order in chaos, one appropriate to present human conditions. Now it is possible to create complex, fluid, and multilayerd societies, rich with diversity and choice. For the moment these technologies are controlled by public and private hierarchies who use them as a means of domination from above, frustrating the emergence of a new and more fully human society. But that will change, in fact change has already begun. The building of new urban tissues where the old ones have been torn to pieces by war is one crisis point-- beyond the immediate provenance of hierarchies-- where the struggle to form the new, heterarchical societies will be engaged.
(Woods, 8)

The new cities demand an architecture that rises from and sinks back into fluidity, into the turbulence of a continually changing matrix of conditions, into an eternal, ceaseless flux -- architecture drawing its sinews from webbings of shifting force, from patterns of unpredictable movement, from changes of mind, alterations of position, spontaneous disintegrations and synthesis-- architecture resisting change, even as it flows from it, struggling to crystallize and be eternal, even as it is broken and scattered -- architecture seeking nobility of presence, yet possessed of the knowledge that only the incomplete can claim nobility in a world of the gratuitous, the packaged, the promoted, and the already sold -- architecture seeking nobility of persistence in a world of the eternally perishing, itself giving way to the necessity of its moment -- architecture writhing, twisting, rising, and pinioned to the unpredictable moment, but not martyred, or sentimental, or pathetic, the coldness of its surfaces resisting all comfort and warmth-- architecture that moves, slowly or quickly, delicately or violently, resisting the false assurance of stability and its death -- architecture that comforts, but only those who ask for no comfort -- architecture of gypsies, who are hounded from place to place, because they have no home -- architecture of circuses, transient and unknown, but for the day and the night of their departure -- architecture of migrants, fleeing the advent of night's bitter hunger -- architecture of a philosophy of interference, the forms of which are infinitely varied, a vocabulary of words spoken only once, then forgotten -- architecture bending and twisting in continual struggle against gravity, against time, against against against -- barbaric architecture, rough and insolent in its vitality and pride -- sinuous architecture, winding endlessly on and through a scaffolding of reasons -- architecture caught in sudden light, then broken in the continuum of darknesses -- architecture embracing the sudden shifts of its too delicate forms, therefore indifferent to its own destruction -- architecture that destroys, but only with the coldness of profound respect -- neglected architecture, insisting that its own beauty is deeper yet -- abandoned architecture, not waiting to be filled, but serene in its transcendence -- architecture that transmits the feel of movements and shifts, resonating with every force applied to it, because it both resists and gives way -- architecture that moves, the better to gain its poise -- architecture that insults politicians, because the cannot claim it as their own -- architecture whose forms and spaces are the causes of rebellion, against them, against the world that brought them into being -- architecture drawn as though it were already built-- architecture built as though it had never been drawn--
(Woods, 36)


Lebbeus., Woods,. War and architecture = Rat i arhitektura. New York, NY: Princeton Architectural P, 1993.

A Manifesto for the Manifestation of Multidimensionality: Reclaiming the Power of Architecture

Trends and forms in architecture change, but one aspect remains constant; the involvement of the human in its ongoing conception and redefinition. Architecture is created because it is imagined and realized by people. As the emerging present becomes saturated with data and numbers and as our electronic identities proliferate across new virtual landscapes, we must not forget who we are as physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual beings. We must reclaim the power of architecture and the design process as potent tools for creating our own realities and redefining ourselves as powerful, multidimensional, and creative beings.

Architecture is power. It is the power of creation as well as of destruction. Until now, the power of architecture has too often been concentrated in the hands of a select few. This select few, consisting of predominately white males, has abused the powers of creation and destruction in order to maintain control. I am not simply talking about architecture as individual buildings, but more as systems of organization and networks that inform physical construction and manifestation. Destructive patterns carried throughout history have yielded expansive landscapes of psychological, social, and physical scars.

The film Koyaaniqatsi, directed by Godfrey Reggio, portrays the shear magnitude of man’s destructive forces enacted upon the natural world. Created in 1982, it shows a quickening of pace of industrial production and its effects on physical landscapes and cities through a sequence of both slow motion and time-lapse cinematography.

The film starts with an image of a Native American pictograph found on a red rock cliff followed by a space shuttle being launched. Then come scenes of natural environments, which are untouched by man. This initial imagery is filled with grand motions of clouds and water transforming and interacting with mountain ranges and dramatic horizons. Slowly, signs of man-made intervention begin to emerge in forms such as a planted field of different colored flowers and power lines traveling across a desert. What is unique about this film is that it contains no dialogue: it is simply a composition of music by Phillip Glass overlaid on video footage of varying tempos and speeds.

After seeing the grandeur of natural cycles; of water, clouds, wind, and sand, the viewer begins to witness an equal vastness caused by man. This vastness is one of destruction and excess. The forces caused by man are represented as rows and rows of repetition in the form of army tanks, abandoned buildings, oilrigs, and freeway lanes. The shear magnitude and numbers implied by these images is astounding.

Koyaaniqatsi is brought full circle with a closing image of the space shuttle. This time, however, it explodes mid air. The actual footage was taken from the Atlas rocket, which was an unpiloted spacecraft that exploded shortly after it was launched in the 1960’s. After the several minutes of the shuttle’s plummet, the film ends with the Hopi definition of Koyaanisqatsi which is 1. Crazy life 2. Life in Turmoil 3. Life out of balance 4. Life disintegrating 5. A state of life that calls for another way of living. Thus implying that we are currently living in a state of Koyaanisqatsi.

The part of Koyaanisqatsi that affected me most was seeing the image of an assembly line of hot dogs followed by a shot of people moving on and off an escalator. It was this sequence of images that made me realize that humans are living as if they themselves are products of assembly lines; their lives controlled by something greater than themselves.

In today’s day and age it’s sometimes hard to determine to what extent we as humans are influenced by our technology and machines. In Donna Haraway’s “A Manifesto for Cyborgs” she suggests that as children of the modern age we make up a society of cyborgs. A cyborg is a cybernetic organism, exemplifying an image of imagination as well as material reality, and being a hybrid of both machine and organism. In a society based on Western science and politics and having been developed by “racist, male-dominated capitalism” there exists a polarity between public and private, male and female, and nature and culture (Haraway, 29). This polarity restricts our relationships by locking us down into thinking these forces conflict with one another. In this situation and way of looking at the world, organism and machines are constantly engaged in a border war. Haraway suggests, however, that a cyborg’s freedom from previously paralyzing worldviews and oppressive social structures can be obtained by taking on a different perspective of boundaries. Instead of seeing them as straight lines of separation, Haraway argues for the “pleasure in the confusion of boundaries and for the responsibility in their construction.” Furthermore she states that high-tech culture challenges these dualisms in interesting ways so that “It is not clear who makes and who is made in the relation between human and machine” .

Although Koyaanisqatsi portrays the rise of manufacturing and the assembly line as a force that leaves the individual powerless to larger systems, Haraway chooses to express how the recognition of the cyborg state can lead to empowerment of individuals. In the excerpt below, she examines how writing can be used as a tool for liberation and expression and how the reclamation of writing by Women of color have helped them in the process of self empowerment.
“Writing has been crucial to the Western myth of the distinction of oral and written cultures, primitive and civilized mentalities, and more recently to the erosion of that distinction in “postmodernist” theories attacking the phallogocentrism of the West with its worship of the monotheistic, phallic, authoritative and singular word, the unique and perfect name. Contests for the meaning of writing are a major form of contemporary political struggle. Releasing the play of writing is deadly serious. The poetry and stories of US women of color are repeatedly about writing, about the access to the power to signify; but this time that power must neither be phallic nor innocent. Cyborg writing must not be about the Fall, the imagination of a once upon a time wholeness before language before writing, before man. Cyborg writing is about the power to survive, not on the basis of original innocence, but on the basis of seizing the tools to mark the world that marked them as other.”
(Haraway, 34)

I propose that architecture, like writing, be reclaimed as a tool to fight abusive power structures and reclaim ownership of what should belong to the people; the ability to redefine and rebuild our boundaries.

I am calling for an Architecture of Justice. One which empowers and includes rather than oppresses and pushes away. Remaining neutral is not enough; we must go above and beyond in challenging oppressive forms of power that leave us paralyzed and locked down. I believe every architectural proposal or statement has political charge and social implications. I want to explore a form of architecture that embraces sharp places seeing these spaces, which are oftentimes laden with tension and darkness, as potent and pregnant with possibility.

Through my practice I will strive to ask questions such as how can the architectural process be used as a catalyst for change by and for the people? How can a design proposal truly engage a demographic of people who have otherwise been forgotten, displaced, and swept between the cracks? How can architecture get at the core of the human condition and critically respond by representing the spirit of a place and the struggle of its people? How can sharp and volatile histories be recognized and honored in a way that uncovers and exposes transformative forces waiting to emerge from beneath layers of oppression, abuse and violence?

The School of Warriors Without Weapons program was created by Brazilian architects Edgard Gouveia, Rodrigo Alonso, and Mariana Gauche in response to the hopelessness and problems they encountered all around them. Instead of waiting for someone else to solve these problems, they took action by gathering students and young professionals from over fifteen countries around the world to help in collectively uplifting a neglected and troubled community. I was fortunate to attend this program in January 2007 and witness the transformative powers of collective work in action. Edgard, would frequently use storytelling and narration to introduce us to possible scenarios before we would go out and do work in the community each day.

One of the frequent stories he told went something like this:
Imagine that all of you are on a rescue team and have been called to arrive on a scene of a disaster. As you all parachute from a plane and land on the ground, all you see are ruins and destruction. There are people dying all around you. You must take immediate action. What are you going to do? How are you going to organize yourselves to take best advantage of each of your strengths? You have to save the world, people are dying, and you only have 20 minutes! Take action, the time is now!

Throughout the month we were taught how to trust each other and truly recognize that each of us had diverse talents and strengths to offer. This process took a lot of work because we found out early on that coming from different backgrounds, fields and cultures, we had undetected misconceptions of each other. It took some time to stop trying to compete with one another and realize that we would benefit most by recognizing that our strengths as a group lay in our diversity. It was quite inspiring to witness people letting their “weapons” fall away and allowing their true strengths and tools to guide them.

The goal of the School of Warriors without Weapons was to teach both us as a group and the community how to reclaim our abilities to dream, and to take collective action in realizing these dreams. We dove right into working with the darkest place in the neighborhood of Paqueta in Santos, Brazil. It was a building called APENE that had formerly been an Apple refrigeration facility but had been abandoned and become rundown through the years prior. It had decayed into a place filled with trash, where people would go to abuse drugs, and the police would take people to beat. There were actually people living among the rubble when we arrived on the scene. There had also been cases of people who had overdosed on drugs and died there.
I remember entering the space on that first day. The smell of rot was overbearing and the realization of how low living conditions could sink made me feel an overwhelming sense of hopelessness and sadness. Through the next month, however, I would witness how powerful the dedication of a group can truly be when there is a vision of a different way of being.
We spent the next month cleaning out the layers and layers of garbage in this abandoned building. After the days’ workshops, activities, and involvement in the community we would take 15 minutes a day to go and remove trash from APENE. As the people of the neighborhood realized what we were doing, they too began to come and help. They contributed brooms and mops as well as fresh water and snacks to keep us energized. One of the biggest challenges was keeping the neighborhood children occupied. They were excited to see new people in their neighborhood and wanted to help in any way they could.

Through our involvement in the Paqueta community each day, we began to recognize the complex relationships and networks already present there. What had at first seemed like a hopeless place of utter confusion, began to transform into a place of abundance where people were dedicated to transforming their realities and bringing about a new and more balanced way of living; one that supported life rather than destroyed it. We saw several local leaders emerge and find their voices. We witnessed the power of taking collective action and realized that if we want to see change happen around us, it needs to start with us. The people of Paqueta began to see that it was not worth waiting for the government to make things better, they had to take action and responsibility for the future of their neighborhood or be pushed away.

Edgard and Rodrigo often painted pictures of apocalyptic landscapes and asked how we could learn to see points of light and help those grow when surrounded by darkness. How could we realize that there is actually an abundance of resources around us when we live in an illusion of scarcity?

If we are to survive the apocalypse; this crashing and crumbling of outdated structures and paradigms, we must learn to live in balance with the earth, with our physical environment, with all our relations. We must learn how to work together in transforming and shifting systems and patterns around us. We must regain control of our own lives, environments, and relationships. Like in A Manifesto for Cyborgs, we must “seize the tools to mark the world that marked us as other.” 

I demand we reclaim the power of architecture as a tool for reshaping and redefining boundaries. Those of us dedicated to seeing this planet survive must be actively involved in the transformation of our day to day environments as well as the complex and dynamic networks we are a part of. At this time we must not restrict the definition of architecture but realize its full potential and strengths as a fluid and dynamic entity that is inevitably intertwined with all aspects of humanity.

*A proper Bibliography is in the works

Site Sound Sample16: Urban Harvest Market health food store on 8th and Natoma

Site Sound Sample15: 8th Street Laundromat

Site Sound Sample14: in front of entrance to Trinity Plaza Apartments

Site Sound Sample13: in library behind electric sign at top of the stairs

Site Sound Sample12: 6th floor of library

Site Sound Sample11: Taking the elevator up

Site Sound Sample10: ground level of library

Site Sound Sample9: Going down escalators from street level to BART station, then back up

Site Sound Sample8: Civic Center BART station

Site Sound Sample7: Corner of Market Street and 8th

Site Sound Sample6: Stevenson St. off of 8th (near parking garage)

Site Sound Sample5: Parking Lot Mission and 8th (SW corner)

For this sound sample I tried to get as far into the parking lot as possible to test if the buildings muffled the street noise. It seemed to work alright... The man at the parking lot booth was suspicious that I was surveying the site for a possible graffiti intervention. He said they make sure to paint over any fresh tags right away.
Cleanup cost: $600 dollars (or so he said)

Site Sound Sample4: On Minna St. (small side street)

Site Sound Sample3: Inside Electric Works Gallery

Electric Works Gallery

Site Sound Sample2: 8th Street in front of Station I

Site Sound Sample1: Bus stop on Mission Street at 8th (SE corner)

Moves

This guy is my hero
http://vimeo.com/3237836

and here's the playlist to go along :

100 Dances / 100 Songs
001. Heart of Glass / Blondie
002. Jimmy / M.I.A.
003. Deceptacon / Le Tigre
004. Im on Fire / 5000 Volts
005. Je Veux Te Voir / YELLE
006. The Way I Are / Timbaland
007. Too Young / Phoenix
008. Over And Over / Hot Chip
009. Stick It To The Pimp / Peaches
010. Say My Name / Destiny’s Child
011. Pin / Yeah Yeah Yeahs
012. Geremia / Bonde Do Role
013. Let Me Clear My Throat / DJ Kool
014. Point Of No Return / Expose
015. Bubble Sex / The Seebach Band
016. Pump Up the Jam / Technotronic
017. Let’s Make Love And Listen To Death From Above / CSS
018. Hella Nervous / Gravy Train
019. Me Plus One / Annie
020. Don’t Go / Yaz
021. Bootylicious / Destiny’s Child
022. Electric Feel / MGMT
023. Boys Don’t Cry / The Cure
024. Lose Control / Missy Elliott
025. Ride The Lightning / Evans And Eagles
026. Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough / Michael Jackson
027. Hearts On Fire / Cut Copy
028. Tainted Love / Soft Cell
029. Between Us & Them / Moving Units
030. It Feels Good / Tony Toni Tone
031. Polaris (Club Mix) / Cyber People
032. You Never Can Tell / Chuck Berry
033. Huddle Formation / The Go! Team
034. Pump That / FannyPack
035. My Love / Justin Timberlake
036. Hung Up / Madonna
037. Justice - D.A.N.C.E (MSTRKRFT Remix) / Justice
038. Cybernetic Love / Casco
039. Creep / TLC
040. When I Hear Music / Debbie Deb
041. B.O.B. / Outkast
042. Bubble Pop Electric / Gwen Stefani
043. Miss You Much / Janet Jackson
044. You Spin Me Round / Dead Or Alive
045. Slide In / Goldfrapp
046. Kelly / Van She
047. Mine Fore Life / The Sounds
048. Disco Heat / Calvin Harris
049. Nighttiming / Coconut Records
050. Club Action / Yo Majesty
051. Pogo / Digitalism
052. Lip Gloss / Lil Mama
053. Heartbeats / The Knife
054. Enola Gay / OMD
055. Goodbye Girls / Broadcast
056. Kids In America / Kim Wilde
057. Kiss / Prince
058. Tenderness / General Public
059. Push It / Salt N Pepa
060. Circle, Square, Triangle / Test Icicles
061. Day ‘N’ Nite (Crookers Remix) / Kid Cudi
062. Shadows / Midnight Juggernauts
063. Paris (Aeroplane Remix) / Friendly Fires
064. Out At The Pictures / Hot Chip
065. Me Myself and I / De La Soul
066. AudioTrack 10 / Diplo
067. Girls & Boys / Blur
068. Heater / Samim
069. I Wanna Dance With Somebody / Whitney Houston
070. Hands In The Air / Girl Talk
071. Limited Edition OJ Slammer / Cadence Weapon
072. Meeting In The Ladys Room / Mary Jane Girls
073. NY Lipps / Soulwax
074. Lex / Ratatat
075. Gravity’s Rainbow (Soulwax Remix) / Steve Aoki
076. Once In A Lifetime / Talking Heads
077. Leave It Alone / Operator Please
078. Half Mast / Empire Of The Sun
079. Hardcore Girls / Count and Sinden feat. Rye Rye
080. Dance, Dance, Dance / Lykke Li
081. Never Gonna Get It / En Vogue
082. Blue Monday / New Order
083. Crazy In Love (Featuring Jay-Z) / Beyoncé
084. 10 Dollar / M.I.A.
085. Love To Love You Baby / Donna Summer
086. Steppin’ Out / Lo-Fi-Fnk
087. Karle Pyar Karle / Asha Bhosle
088. Love Will Tear Us Apart / Joy Division
089. Straight Up / Paula Abdul
090. My Drive Thru / Santogold, Casablancas, NERD
091. Like A Prayer / Madonna
092. Freedom 90 / George Michael
093. Black & Gold / Sam Sparro
094. B-O-O-T-A-Y / Spank Rock and Benny Blanco
095. Great Dj / The Ting Tings
096. In A Dream / Rockell
097. Don’t Stop the Music / Rihanna
098. Hong Kong Garden / Siouxsie & The Banshees
099. It’s Tricky / D.M.C.
100. Bizarre Love Triangle / New Order

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