On redefinition and adaptation

...”The thing that keeps returning to my mind is how everything is constantly adapted to its surroundings, no matter how poor or how little material is available. Indian public space is filled with these clip-on, accessory, transient fixtures. People are designing for the moment. The problem is, the quality is low and it is very, very temporary. I love the building-code ignorant economy. Things are designed for necessity and immediate need only. There are no side mirrors on the cars in Mumbai. Wax adheres a miniature plastic shrine to the dash of my rickshaw. The bus isle is just wide enough for a single person and the money collector to shimmy by. Dimensions and forms of stairs to the hostel, corridors, passageways, doors, windows….are all redefined here….constantly”

From: The untested city blog

http://untestedcity.com/category/india/ read: 2009-10-26

...ற்றோல்லிங் த்ரௌக் தி சைபர் ச்பசே...


MIT reVamped FEMA trailer




“The ‘Armadillo’ trailer is the result of a year-long collaborative art project, the MIT FEMA Trailer Project, in which faculty and students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Visual Arts Program transformed a surplus FEMA trailer into a ‘green’ mobile composting center with vertical gardens, rainwater catchment system, permaculture library, and indoor multipurpose space. The trailer has been dubbed the ‘Armadillo’ for its ribbed retractable shell.

“Jae Rhim Lee is Director of the MIT FEMA Trailer Project and a Visiting Lecturer in the MIT Visual Arts Program. Lee describes the Armadillo as ‘both a practical tool and a metaphor for how disaster can be transformed into a tool for environmental and community change.’

“The Armadillo was originally one of thousands of trailers purchased by FEMA to serve as temporary housing in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. They have been tied to a host of issues surrounding indoor air quality health concerns, mental health problems in trailer parks, lack of affordable housing, and disaster management. (((On the other hand, if you’re Pico Iyer eating oranges and playing pingpong in Kyoto, a trailer would probably do just fine.)))

“MIT students studied these issues and researched the environmental, political, and social history of the trailers under the direction of Jae Rhim Lee, an artist, permaculture designer and former consultant to the City of New Orleans Mayor’s Office of Recovery and Development. Students were then challenged to apply permaculture (a whole systems sustainable design approach) and environmental justice principles to the redesign and transformation of a single FEMA trailer into a model of urban sustainability and community change…”

Ideas on public space from art practice

Harmen De Hoop

CUP - AMSTERDAM - 1996

A drinking cup placed by a canal side. A public service.




SANDBOX - AMSTERDAM - 1996

Paving stones removed with sand and toys added to create a child's play area.


Harmen De Hoop

LADDER - ROTTERDAM - 2000

Green light bulb removed from traffic lights.