Ecological Urbanism comes to life…
Posted: 8 April, 2013 Filed under: City, Community, External, Human, Population, Sense, Sight, Travel, Urban, Walk | Tags: books, city, eBook, Ecological Urbanism, exploration, explore, Film, Gareth Doherty, Geography, Harvard, Images, Mohsen Mostafavi, photography, Urban Earth Leave a comment »
The latest edition of Ecological Urbanism is terrible doorstop. The first edition is 655 pages, smells good, weighs 2kg and keeps most of my other books in their place. Despite its strengths, it can’t do video… something the latest version on the book can do. The original hardback book by Mohsen Mostafavi and Gareth Doherty features hundreds of photos that I took while walking across Mexico City, Mumbai and London for Urban Earth, a project in urban exploration that I started in 2008. Out today, the new version splits the book into digestible chapters and includes over 15,000 photographs within the 3 Urban Earth films that I made by taking pictures every 8 steps while crossing these massive cities. You’ll find the films in volume 2, Anticipate, and are accompanied by a short piece of text that Kye Askins and I wrote. I’m delighted to see the films come to life in the book. I hope you enjoy it.
The Ecological Urbanism project has a Facebook page that you can follow here.
Join the #Urban100 Open Expedition during 2013
Posted: 9 January, 2013 Filed under: City, Community, External, Human, Urban, Walk | Tags: #Urban100, cities, collaboration, Film, Open Expedition, photography, urban Leave a comment »A couple of days ago I asked a few people on Urban Earth and Twitter if they would be interested in taking part in #Urban100, a project that I’m calling an open expedition because it’s going to last a year and anyone can join in. The idea is simple, to collaboratively explore urban places by taking 100 photographs over a 500 metre walk. Using the same stop-motion approach that I used in the Urban Earth films we’ll be able to create films that zoom through the urban landscapes, creating a unique representation of our urban habitats.
We’ve asked that all photos submitted #Urban100 are under a creative commons license so that anyone can edit their own versons of the films.
So far collaborators have said that they’ll be doing #Urban100 explorations in Bristol, Bangkok, London, Glasgow, Falmouth, Toulouse, Porto and Edinburgh with more being added and suggested all the time.
To join the #Urban100 open expedition you can visit either the Urban Earth website or the Flickr group. I hope to see you there!
Step Up Revolution – A Guerrilla Geography for Schools?
Posted: 22 November, 2012 Filed under: City, Community, Film, Geography, Home, Human, music, Urban | Tags: Dance, Film, Geography, guerrilla geography, Guerrillas, Miami, Schools, Step Up Revolution Leave a comment »
Spoiler Alert
I recently watched Step Up Revolution and was struck by what an awesome case study this film would make in geography classrooms. Some people may be fooled into thinking this is just a film about dance, but Step Up Revolution is a classic geographical (if fictional) study of people, place, power, planning and protest in cities. When a strip in Miami is threatened with topocide and gentrification “The Mob” fight back to protect their home. Guerrilla Geography is rife in this blockbuster, as the dancers move from ‘performance art’ to ‘ protest art’, intentionally occupying spaces to make their point and exert their power. It’s full of beautifully geography-based quotes too, as the characters debate identify, culture and more.
The love interest plot in the film revolves around Sean and Emily, two dancers who have fallen for each other but who are separated by their differences in wealth. To top that it’s Emily’s dad who is trying to redevelop the area and Sean is one of the leaders of the “Mob” that is uprising. Near the end of the film they dance together to the song “To Build a Home” by The Cinematic Orchestra, a beautiful song that with its use in this film draw parallels between finding a sense of home in both place and people… in this case, with each other through dance.
The film ends with Emily’s dad (the property developer) saying “Maybe there is a way to build-up this neighbourhood without tearing it down”. What a classic problem for any classroom of students try and tackle.
A “Guerrilla Geography” Google Hangout for Geography Awareness Week #GAweek
Posted: 20 November, 2012 Filed under: City, Geography | Tags: exploration, Geography, Geography Awareness Week, guerrilla geography, National Geographic Education, Seattle Leave a comment »Last week I had great fun helping to make this live Guerrilla Geography video with National Geographic Education for Geography Awareness Week. What do you think of it?
In passing
Posted: 1 November, 2012 Filed under: City, External, Film, Geography, Human, Sense, Sight, Smell, Sound, Touch, Urban, Walk | Tags: everyday, exploration, Film, Geography, Light Surgeons, psychogeography Leave a comment »
I love this short film by the Light Surgeons.
Geography matters….
Posted: 3 September, 2012 Filed under: City, External, Geography, Public, space, Touch | Tags: road, Skateboard, skating Leave a comment »
…when your exploring on a skateboard.
Walking a thin line
Posted: 27 June, 2012 Filed under: City, Family, Geography, Line, Park, Public, Sight, Touch | Tags: Balance, Blondin, Historical Geography, Niagra, Park, Tightrope, Walk Leave a comment »I’m very excited.
For a while now I’ve really wanted there to be a playful way for local children to engage with a particular historical geography of our local park. It’s called Blondin after the famous tightrope walker who crossed Niagra Falls on a 1,100 foot rope with a man on his back. The rope itself was just 7.5cm wide. This amazing effort happened back in 1859 and has recently been brought up again after Nik Wallenda made a similar crossing on a wire. Blondin lived by the park and as well as the park taking his name, two local streets are called Blondin and Niagra.
Last night I attended the Northfields ward forum in west London where I live. I had contacted my local councillor with with an idea last week and he had suggested that I brought it along to the meeting. I proposed to the crowd that we should have a line drawn 1,100 feet through the park on the path so that people can attempt to replicate his success. A sign would also be needed to explain the line, it’s heritage and to suggest some challenges to complete on it. To my amazement the idea went down very well, a vote took place and now we’re looking at designing the line into the park.
I’m excited to see how this line will act as a path for psychogeographical journeys as adventurers fear falling off the line and are drawn into other times and places. Children, families and other explorers will imagine and experience a blend of the river, waterfall, distance, sound, balance, drop, context, history, fear, playfulness, courage, geographies and pasts as they venture down the line and feel fragments of this inspirational story.
I can’t wait to try and walk the line myself.
Circumnavigation of Ealing
Posted: 25 April, 2012 Filed under: City, Community, Edge, Geography, Urban, UrbanStory, Walk | Tags: border, Borough, boundary, Ealing, London, politics Leave a comment »
On the 28th and 29th of May I’m going to go an expedition to circumnavigate the London Borough of Ealing. I’m curious to discover what’s at the edge of the borough. Feel free to join me.
Departure
Posted: 18 March, 2012 Filed under: City, Community, Human, Sense, Sight, Urban, UrbanStory, Walk | Tags: Departure, Images, London, Urban Story Leave a comment »
I took these pictures during a walk from Arrivals at London Heathrow to Fleet Street in central London. The walk was part of the Urban Story mass exploration of London that I organised last weekend. While the group I was walking with were inspired to keep their eyes open for ‘arrivals’ I decided to look for evidence of ‘departures’. Anything arriving is simultaneously departing, but each of these events and places caught my imagination as having or being departed.
Urban Earth, reborn
Posted: 13 February, 2012 Filed under: City, External, Geography, Human, Population, Urban, UrbanStory, Walk | Tags: exploration, Urban Earth, Urban Story Leave a comment »
For over a year the Urban Earth website has been offline as I’ve focused all of my attention on Mission:Explore.Net. The time has come to bring the network of urban explorers back to life. Over the course of this month I’ve been facilitating a number of explorations across London. So far these have included (un)violent and remote walks. This image was taken in north London during the remote walk. Tomorrow we’re going to be following (un)healthy routes through areas of London that suffer most from depression and suicide.
The last of this series of walks is on March 10th. This is going to be an exciting event involving around 100 people. Split into around 20 groups, we’re going to start in different places outside of London and work our way in to the city’s centre. The Urban Earth website is the perfect way for people to meet, plan and share their explorations.. and so in the next few days reborn it will be. Beyond this big exploration of London my hope is that the community will use the site to organise more inspirational and innovative ways of exploring cities.
Watch this space.
