It's Not Pretty: Informality Beyond Design

Join us on 25th April 2018 at 6:30PM in the Long Lounge (7-429) for It's Not Pretty - Informality Beyond Design. This event is co-sponsored by the Norman B. Leventhal Center for Advanced Urbanism and the Joint Program in City Design and Development, DUSP, and presenters include: James Debowski, Nastya Pnomaryova, David Birge. Followed by a moderated discussion led by Brent Ryan and Rafi Segal.

Nastya Ponomaryova - Community led transformations in turbulent contexts. How can temporary transformations become sustainable and enduring features within turbulent settings? How could we evaluate their success? This questions might be addressed through collaboration between architects, planners, and communities.

James Debowski - Autonomies of scale? Anti-capitalist entrepreneurship and contested scales. Anti-capitalist activists are often asked to answer one key questions: “Does it scale?” What if the answer was yes, but not in the way you think - what would this mean for professional practice and policy?

David Birge - American Collectives? Self-organizing domestic space to fight economic and social instability. Housing costs are often cited as a key component of economic precarity in the United States. Might a solution be found outside policy debates and within housing design itself? What if housing was transformed to leverage collective practice and resources?