imagining the unimaginable

We just joined Copenhagen Food Corporation (Københavns...

Thu, 04 Aug 2011 09:18:00 +0200

We just joined Copenhagen Food Corporation (Københavns Fødevarefællesskab) and this is the content of this weeks bag with fresh, locally produced, organic vegetables. It’s DKK 100 (€14) a week for the bag with 6-8 kg and pure logic: Supermarkets are making money on offering out-of-season-tasteless fruits and vegetables transported from polluting and destructive farming industries all over the world. Why not set up a corporation of people who want to do it differently, buy our groceries directly from local organic farmers and distribute it ourselves? Copenhagen Food Corporation is inspired by Park Slope Food Coop (which I visited myself a couple of years ago) and in three years has grown from 15 people to more than 2000.

To take care of the practical matters, apart from paying for your groceries, you have to work 3 hours a month in your local department of the corporation, which adds to the logic that it is actually creating new communities around food, work and sustainable living in the city. The economical logic in this makes sense too, as you actually pay for the products with money and contribute to the practical matters with your own work which gives you absolute transparency in the transactions and illustrates how local, personal actions can have an effect when they take place within systems and economies of scale.

Jeremy Rifkin on the empathetic civilisation. How does...

Thu, 04 Aug 2011 08:39:00 +0200

Jeremy Rifkin on the empathetic civilisation. How does consciouses change in history? Is it possible that we can actually extend our empathy to the entire human race as an extended family? And to our fellow creatures as part of our evolutionary family? And to the biosphere as our common community?

Just around the corner from where we live lies Prags Have...

Wed, 03 Aug 2011 23:23:40 +0200

Just around the corner from where we live lies Prags Have (Prag’s Garden) – a temporary urban garden started by a couple of young social entrepreneurs. The garden is one of many projects on Prags Boulevard 43 hosted by Givrum.nu, and every Wednesday the neighborhood is invited for communal eating. For DKK 10 (EUR 1,5) you can have a taste of their great vegetarian dishes and enjoy the garden in it’s chaotic blooming beauty. We went there tonight before having an early night swim in Øresund.

From Powerpoint to Permaculture

Wed, 03 Aug 2011 22:27:00 +0200

From Powerpoint to Permaculture: John Thackara writes about Future Perfect on Doors of Perception

At the Future Perfect festival in Sweden last weekend I spoke at...

Wed, 03 Aug 2011 12:27:00 +0200

At the Future Perfect festival in Sweden last weekend I spoke at a seminar on architecture and sustainability together with John Manoochehri, Alex Haw and Oliver Marlow. Among other things we discussed the shifting role of the architect throughout the latter half of the 20th century and the beginning of this one, and I stressed the point that one of the main problems I see for architects to contribute to the future development of sustainable communities is that their focus in general terms have shifted from serving the community to offering services to the market.

Kjeld Vindum raises the same point in this lecture at the Danish Architecture Center from 2010 (in Danish). While Kjeld uses building examples to illustrate his point, I would like to bring forward a contemporary example from the world of planning that I use as an example when I lecture at Plan, City and Process: Loop City (2010) vs. The Finger Plan (1947).

Both plans address the challenges of further development of the capital of Denmark and its suburbs, but while The Finger Plan was the brainchild of Steen Eiler Rasmussen at the Danish Town Planning Institute and further developed by the technical office for the committee for planning in the Copenhagen area, Loop City is developed by private consultants (BIG, Red Associates, Arup and Tom Nielsen) commissioned by a private foundation (Realdania) and the ten municipalities it involves ( Lyngby-Taarbæk, Gladsaxe, Herlev, Rødovre, Albertslund, Glostrup, Vallensbæk, Ishøj, Brøndby and Hvidovre).

The project consists of much more than the video here (which was screened in the Danish pavilion at the 2010 Venice Architecture Biennale) but what I find interesting when comparing with the Finger Plan (and what we discuss in class) is who the project and the visualizations of it are intended for: what visions are brought forward and to what extent do they serve the public good, the commissioners, local politicians or others? What possibilities and limitations lies within this form of public-private planning?

Will we be able to provide a framework for sustainable lifestyles through this kind of planning initiated by local stakeholders and projecting existing patterns of dwelling, working and transportation into the future?

At the Future Perfect Festival last weekend at Ängsbacka...

Tue, 02 Aug 2011 09:19:00 +0200

At the Future Perfect Festival last weekend at Ängsbacka Kursgård in Molkom north of Karlstad in Sweden we all had the pleasure of enjoying the most fantastic vegetarian dishes. One of the reasons for this is the permaculture that Olle Karlsson and David Göransson and their Flow Food Corporation keeps at Ängsbacka. Sunday morning I joined a tour of the garden to hear their story and learn a little about the principles of permaculture – and not at least have a close look at their beautiful garden. In this short video they present how they ‘surf their project and the opportunities”.

The Hill is “a dreamy documentary capturing the spirit of...

Tue, 02 Aug 2011 08:53:00 +0200

The Hill is “a dreamy documentary capturing the spirit of Nørrebro through the stories of its inhabitants”. With the manmade hill in the courtyard formed by Korsgade, Gartnergade, Blågardsgade and Rantzausgade as a focal point for the story and actual place for the event, Italian collective ZimmerFrei is screening the documentary on Thursday and Friday at 10 pm as one of 19 productions that make the Metropolis Biennale 2011 in Copenhagen this week.

Let's make the future perfect

Fri, 29 Jul 2011 14:02:00 +0200

The Futureperfect Festival in Molkom, Sweden kicked off yesterday with a double rainbow over...

Talk to Me

Thu, 26 May 2011 18:06:00 +0200

Talk to Me: Another good reason for visiting NYC soon again: Talk to Me is an exhibition on the...

Designprocesser i byplanlægning - nonsens eller nybrud?

Wed, 25 May 2011 13:02:00 +0200

(in Danish) A couple of weeks ago I was interviewed by two students at Roskilde Unicersity doing...

I am looking forward to this one! I just pledged $150 to support...

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 20:57:00 +0200

I am looking forward to this one! I just pledged $150 to support Gary Hustwits latest movie project Urbanized. Now looking forward to a cool T-shirt and the box-set containing also Helvetica and Objectified. Great! By the way it’s the second (or maybe third) time I used Kickstarter to support a creative project. What a great concept!

CIID Summer School

Sat, 26 Mar 2011 20:24:00 +0100

Once again it is possible to join the CIID Summer School this year running from July 11-29. The...

Loui is looking for a job

Thu, 24 Mar 2011 03:27:00 +0100

Loui is looking for a job. She is young, talented and wants to make the world a better place...

Solo - Project management for the modern freelancer

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 22:33:00 +0100

Solo - Project management for the modern freelancer: I love project managament software that...

I just returned from an interview with Anders Byriel, CEO of the...

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 13:09:04 +0100

I just returned from an interview with Anders Byriel, CEO of the Danish textile company Kvadrat. In the next issue of Arkitekten you can read an excerpt of our talk on design, art and architecture and it’s impact on people and society. Besides being CEO in Kvadrat, Anders holds a plethora of positions as chairman for Designrådet, member of the visionary committe providing input for Denmark’s future design policy and when he left our interview he was going to the School of Architecture and the Danish Design School to discuss the merge between the two institutions. Anders is a true visionary business man deeply rooted in a personal and professional relation to design, art and architecture and in this interview with Alice Rawsthorn from Konstfack Design Talks he discusses these matters and their impact on leadership and strategy among other things.

Learning visual discipline from cartography

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 21:55:00 +0100

Learning visual discipline from cartography: At Roskilde University’s Plan, Town and Process...

I am no man. I am dynamite.

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 21:40:00 +0100

I am no man. I am dynamite.: Just as our old network initiative and web portal was put to rest...

Linking out

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 21:25:00 +0100

Linking out: It’s been seven great years linking up with all our talented and fun peers...

A Sustainable Future on Amager

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 10:41:34 +0100

A Sustainable Future on Amager: For the last two weeks I have been conducting a workshop on Amager...

"I see planning as an always unfinished social project whose task is managing our coexistence in the..."

Mon, 14 Feb 2011 23:36:03 +0100

“I see planning as an always unfinished social project whose task is managing our coexistence...