NYC IN THEORY

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...The BC-NYC-studio investigates contemporary urban conditions as central point of attention. This book provides an overview of the research from Border Conditions studio 2007/2008 on New York City done by 21 students. The individual essays and projects position themselves within the general theoretical discourse on architecture. The Border Conditions program defines three fields of interest: architecture in border zones of conflict, marginal urban areas and avant-garde architectural experimentation. Within those three fields of the BC studio investigations, the specific research questions of the individual projects can be ordered into six categories: ‘Politics’, ‘Urban Phenomena’, ‘Social Practices’, ‘Public Realm’, ‘Public Object’ and ‘Individual’. ‘Politics’ addresses the changes that have occurred in NYC since 9/11 when especially the level of control has increased exponentially for the sake of security. This system of control influences both city and inhabitants. ‘Urban phenomena’ contains research about the changing composition of the city and its effects on cultural and spatial formations. ‘Social Practices’ discusses two complementing views on NYC: its people appropriating space with out-of-the-ordinary acts and uses and the everyday experience and perception. ‘Public Realm’ investigates different aspects of public space itself, such as structures within the city and their differentiation, the notion of mobility and borders within spaces themselves. The ‘Public Object’ deals with the sculpture in public space. And finally, ‘Individual’ is concerned with the notion of memory and the mental creation of space.

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MSc studio BC, semester 11, 2007-11
Participants: Laura Blauw, Bram van Borselen, Marjolein Dekker, Arie Gruijters, Ryoko Ikeda, Emma Kaul, Hoda Khanbani, Myungshig Kim, TaeYun Kim, Bart Lans, Sun Ming Lee, Dion Lembekker, Ji Hyeon Nam, Bart Nicolaas, Chryso Onisiforou, Peter Rieff, Pieter Schreurs, Michel van Soolingen, Timothy Vanagt, Guoqing Wang, Ying Ying Zhang.

Mentors: Henriette Bier, Sang Lee, Oscar Rommens, Marc Schoonderbeek, Jan Engels, Freerk Hoekstra.