A volley of protests have taken place throughout the world since 2008, the symbolic catalyst being the financial crisis triggered by the collapse of the multinational banking systems. We are now in an era of particularly well thought-out and networked mass movements that through the convenience of a digital news cycle can be followed more closely than ever before. Planning for Protest takes an closer look at how public spaces shape both the physical and psychological backdrop of these public events.
Planning for Protest is a publication, exhibition and associated project of the 2013 Lisbon Architecture Triennale. Organized by Ben Allen, James Bae, Ricardo Gomes, Shannon Harvey and Adam Michaels, the project explores both the social and architectural definitions of protest in light of the current global financial crisis. Architectural offices witnessing these events first-hand will provide case studies and project proposals for contested spaces within their own cities. 12 architectural offices in 12 cities across the globe have examined the role of architecture in shaping, defining, or limiting the flow of protest within their respective cities. Each contributor has rendered eight drawings exploring a proposal for their city, focused on a specific intervention or urban planning scale. Varying from historical studies to proposals for a radical reshaping of space for public discourse, Planning for Protest is an ongoing documentation of how the physical world around us both limits and can be transcended by the people at any given time.
Contributors: Antonas Office (Athens); Studio Miessen (Berlin); studioBasar (Bucharest); Cluster (Cairo); culturstruction (Dublin); Superpool (Istanbul); ateliermob (Lisbon); public works with Isaac Marrero-Guillamon (London); Ecosistema Urbano (Madrid); Srdjan Jovanovic Weiss / NAO (New York); PioveneFabi with 2A+P/A (Rome); and Vapor 324 (Sao Paulo). The exhibition opened with a publication launch on September 15th, 2013 in the Praca da Figueira in Lisbon.
