ECO ECO ECO – Viva San Xibeco

You have to love the pure madness and wildness of it all. La Prosperitat, the edge city barrio (neighbourhood) in Barcelona is where, starting from midnight on friday, you will hear lots of roaring in the streets: ECO ECO ECO – VIVA SAN XIBECO. This is the opening night of the local festival this weekend, but for this night you will find the presence of a saint, San Xibeco, but he is no ordinary saint.

Take the yellow line metro up to Via Julia this friday and find out why…

San Xibeco es un santo creado por los vecinos de La Prosperitat, en Barcelona. Cada noviembre, un grupo de jóvenes organiza de forma voluntaria esta fiesta que pretende unir al barrio y crear red social.

San Xibeco is a saint created by the community of La Prosperitiat, in Barcelona. Every november, a goup of young people organise voluntarily this festival which tries to unite the neighbourhood and create a social network.

Patcha Mama smiles again in Gracia

The Gracia Community Garden Radio Documentary (28 mins)

Els espais buits no fan Gràcia : The empty spaces are not funny

So read the new banner that now hangs on the end wall of the new Hort Comunitari, or community garden in Catalan, that was opened in Gracia on Saturday morning. From just being another quite and dry street, theres now a hive of activity in Caller Banyoles; people, laughter, color, sounds, music, dancing, kids playing. Being there one knows that Patcha Mama smiles again in Gracia.

Well over a hundred people entered a site that had been left derelict for the last 5 years. The concrete ground was smashed apart and the soil underneath was broken open with pics, forks, spades and hoes. People arrived in with recycled large construction bags with soil inside, once inside these bags had young plants put into them and were watered.  that was lovely and brown and full of nutrientsdue to having horse manure mixed into it. Other soil was added to the freshly broken red earth and new plants were inserted here too. a large heap of soil at the end wall gave endless hours of healthy mucky enjoyment to kids who dug tunnells and rolled around, laughing and shrieking with delight as they did so.

Global Eco Forum (S22-O17) – Times of profound ecological change

Blessed Unrest: The immune system of humanity starting to kick in

(originally posted on September 23 on Indymedia Ireland)

While many view these days with dread; the outset of climate crisis, political corruption and corporate manipulation blocking healthy change, lack of hope that things can change.

Others are starting to see something profound emerging; a re-awakening, an eruption of activity, new and intelligent ways of human interaction. Ecologist Paul Hawken sees this phenoman as “the immune system of humanity finally kicking in” and calls it Blessed Unrest.

As another bubble in all this, yesterday saw the first of 25 days of the first “Global Eco Forum”…

architecture and dissent

(Originally posted on EASA Saturday, 19. May 2007)

Architecture and Dissent
(And from talking to action…)

The Berlage Institute (an architectural laboratory) have organised a series of Springtime public lectures on the theme of Architecture and Dissent.

This program of dialogues addresses the relations between architecture, power, and political dissent. By debating the cultural currents transforming contemporary daily life and, subsequently, shared spatial practices, this series of events promotes an open dialogue reflecting on today’s architectural condition.

Can architecture politically engage a global market-driven power structure? Is it possible to find alternative means of operating architecturally within this dominant system? How should architecture and urbanism address economic development, popular culture, and a design-driven consumerism? Does architecture—as both an intellectual discipline and a professional practice—contribute to stabilizing the inherent social inequalities of the contemporary city?

The talks can be viewed by live braodcast, heres the program

Tuesday 13 March – Instant City: The Rise of Dubai

Tuesday 27 March – Gated Communities in the Age of Extreme Individualism

Tuesday 17 April – The Cult of Celebrity: Superstars Architect in the Academy

Tuesday 8 May – Signs, Symbols, Spectacles: The Architecture of Global Corporations

Tuesday 15 May – Living Outside: Uneven Metropolitan Development

Tuesday 12 June – Beyond Degenerate Utopias?

Tuesday 19 June – The Power of Sprawl