Activist City. Essays on Political, Urban and Architectural Activism - Gideon Boie

Tracing recent developments in the field of architecture's application to civic protest and urban activism

The term "architectural activism" sounds like a paradox as architecture is on the side of money and power, with activism opposing these forces. But in recent years we have seen architects applying the skills of their discipline to urban activism and even see forms arising of what could be called "activist architecture." The first part of this book evokes in several essays the broad context of activism today, with a focus on ecology and the commons. The second part contains an introduction to the idea of activism as democracy in the city, focusing on the three different shapes it takes. The final part reconstructs the struggle for road safety in Brussels as a situated commitment as well as a concrete form of urban activism. Authors from across the field meditate on activism as an important element in bottom-up urban democracy and the struggle for a more social, just and sustainable society.