I had a good time and found it very interesting. Though it did feel like a conversation that was cut off. However, I like that aspect because you continue them in your mind and come up with more questions
and answers which keeps the subject alive.
I really enjoyed the setting, the people and the conversation. I feel that all to often talks do not offer a platform for debate.

On Feb 25 2008, TINAG and Office M/A asked:

•AT THIS TIME OF RAPID GROWTH AND TRANSFORMATION OF CITIES, HOW ARE BLACK ARTISTS, ARCHITECTS, CULTURAL WORKERS AND URBAN PRACTITIONERS RE-THINKING AND RE-VISIONING THE PROCESS OF CHANGE AND THE CREATION OF NEW URBAN SPACES, REAL OR IMAGINED?
• BLACK CULTURES HAVE BEEN ACTIVE AGENTS SHAPING THE FORM AND FUNCTION OF CITIES ACROSS EUROPE. HOW ARE PAST CONTRIBUTIONS UNDERSTOOD AND MISUNDERSTOOD?
•HOW CAN BLACK URBANISM BE READ IN THE FABRIC OF THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT AND IN THE SHAPE OF PUBLIC AND CIVIC SPACES?
•HOW IS BLACK URBANISM BEING IMPLEMENTED TODAY; FORMALLY WITHIN URBAN & REGENERATION POLICY AND INDEPENDENTLY BY COMMUNITIES AND INDIVIDUAL PRACTIONERS?
•HOW CAN ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM ENGAGE CONSTRUCTIVELY WITH ‘OTHERNESS’ AND ‘DIFFERENCE’ WITHIN THE FABRIC AND WIDER MORPHOLOGY OF CITIES?
•CAN OR SHOULD ‘BLACK URBANISM’ BE BUILT?’

The ICA is not Public Works studio but I think the new level for TINAG worked. But it was a little stiff. But hey it was on The Mall, so I guess that would be expected? Lot of people this time tooo!

I agree Rehan Jamil's work was really something. I would like to be kept informed about his forthcoming book / exhibition. Is he doing any other talks? Somehow I am always more interested in work from the ground - rather than political speak on such topics.

It seems to me, that OFFICE MA are trying to take the ideas that previous generations have fought for in terms of equalities etc into the realm of the built environment. It seems like the next stage in equalities. How does equalities effect space & place? How does space & place effect equalities? Brilliant. Perhaps another way of asking their question is 'What would a city like London be without Black Urbanism'.

I was disappointed that the speakers didn’t address the question in the flyer - what has black urbanism contributed to cities and how has this been understood or misunderstood? This is think would have been very interesting.

Another interesting discussion. It was the first time I have seen the ICA Nash room turned into a 'workshop' - congrats for staying away from 'theatre style' seating!

Still digesting the many threads that came up. I wish more time had been spent on Rehan Jamil's work - what an impressive project and a real insight into a bottom-up approach to Black Urbanism - very much in the spirit of self-organising & initiating. What can black urbanism learn from the 'island logic' of the whitechapel mosque - benefits and failures? This could have been a salon in itself!

Very exciting to see a collaboration addressing these complex questions. I will stay tuned for Office M/A's interventions into the city.

WHILE VERMIN HAVE NOT BEEN ON THE HOT LIST OF POLICY MAKERS IN RECENT DECADES, THEY HAVE BEEN IMPORTANT AGENTS ACROSS THE MILLIENA IN FORMING AND SHAPING CITIES.

ON MONDAY 26 NOVEMBER WE ASKED:

WHICH SPECIES HAVE HAD CLOSE TO A THOUSAND YEARS INFLUENCE OVER OUR CITIES?
HOW DO VERMIN AFFECT THE USE AND INHABITATION OF URBAN SPACE?
HOW DO VERMIN AFFECT LONDON'S DEVELOPMENT PROCESS?
WHAT ROLE WILL VERMIN PLAY IN 'THE URBAN AGE'?

BELOW ARE COMMENTS WE RECEIVED FROM SALON PARTICIPANTS:

FOUND THE CORRESPONDANCE BELOW ON THE PRINTER AT WORK TODAY -


Sent: 29 November 2007 09:28

Dear …..

We seem to have a developing problem with rats at the locations below. We need to do something urgently about the current problem and we need a definitive advice on how to manage the issue into the future. Please can we arrange for you to visit site and liaise with the …….’s hospitality manager to review the matter

Also, we have an ongoing problem with squirrels. Again we would welcome advice – or your thoughts on an appropriate contact – on how best to manage them. I appreciate that – as with rats – there is nothing very much we can do about it perhaps other than a biannual cull perhaps much as they do in other London Boroughs.

……

Sent: 26 November 2007 17:09

We have a lot now, five in one go whilst showing a client the ……. and it does not help sales when the rats just sit on the lawn and look at you.

Also west courtyard going into broken grill below gents toilet window and along the gravel outside the ….

Any suggestions ?

…

...indeed strategy for rat treatment in London sewers includes ferrets (I have read that Thames Water sometimes adopt the technique).

I think the Paris example of harvesting vermin/pests is quite interesting, and not so distant. The dozens of bee catchers working in London generally use their catches to produce honey.

I am doing a project which maps the artificial immigration and territory of pests and pets (which often become pests if they escape) in London and more specifically Wandsworth borough...what I have learnt from both Effie and Ben in the talk, is that both the public and professionals in the pest industry rely on myth to understand population of vermin. We are ultimately outsmarted by pests.

If anyone has idea/links to sources which document migration, territory and population of pests, please let me know.

Firstly great evening, enjoyed it a lot and looking forward to the next..

Secondly some thoughts that were slowly formulating in my wee head during the evening, just not quite fast enough to come out in an orderly fashion.

It seems to me that we must consider our urban situation as an eco-system, and as any eco-system there is a certain balance or relationship between all of the plants and creatures that share that eco-system. If we were to attempt to eradicate rats for instance, something else, probably mice, would enjoy the lack of competition and move in to take up the space. If we were to then eradicate mice, something else, cockroaches perhaps, would move in, and then flies and then smaller flies, and then tiny bugs and so on until some completely invisible and really quite nasty disease spreads to fill the void. Consider medicine - treat everything with antibiotics and you end up with super-bugs and fungal diseases etc that are potentially worse than the original problem.

So I got to thinking what we actually need is to rely on something larger to control the problem, but not seek to eradicate it - and then I realised that that thing already exists in our eco-system - cats!

In fact the whole reason cats live with us at all is because our behaviour has always attracted vermin, and as cats are essentially lazy animals who like to be warm and made a fuss of we suit them perfectly (excuse the pun..). Of course in return we get (got) free pest control and lower blood pressure.

But now our society is so wealthy and extravagant and vulgar and mad that we've created a global industry worth billions to feed our cats (I'll leave out the ethics and environmental affects) and another to get rid of our vermin (likewise). Of course the cats don't mind, they get to do even less and if they feel like flexing the incredible skills that have evolved over millenia to see them become the most deadly land-based predator then they can always chase a ball of wool about for a bit.

In conclusion: control pests, save the planet, stop feeding cats!!!

Apologies to the ornithologists, the birds will take a hit. Ferrets?

On the discussion if rats can be useful to city lovers - Don't forget the Siege of Paris and the Paris Commune 1871. There the Rat become highly prized. By the week of December 10th, one rat was valued at half a franc on the open food market. One American gentleman estimated that 300 hundred rats had been consumed, this was after the animals in the zoo had gone down well, followed by the dogs, then the cats. A recipe that includes rats, oil and shallots was popular amongst barrel makers.

I have a great cartoon of an orderly queue awaiting the appearance of a rat at a Parisian drain hole, if you want a Tiff of it, anyone.

x

Terrific evening! I wanted to ask loads more questions, but the event had to come to an end sometime, I suppose.. however, I wish I had pushed on my last one.. for instance, beyond Warsaw, which likely has little to no immigrant population, what about a city like Berlin with a moderate influx of immigrants, look at how clean their sewers are - as evidenced by the final speaker's slide, are their rates for vermin quite low? or is the post modern definition of a "civilised society" one that has learned to live in harmony with "vermin" so that rats and mice are no longer even called by a perjorative term but something else?

Effie was terrific. And well done for getting people who work in the field (not only academics and theorists) to be there and to speak and participate to such a degree. Very refreshing.

Requests keep coming in about the film we screened...

FYI:

Housing Problems (1935)
Production Arthur Elton, E.H. Anstey

"Housing Problems is both a propaganda piece and a document of optimism. With its iconic image of new flats rising behind an old row of slum terraces in Stepney, it shows what has been done to improve living conditions by the most 'enlightened' local authorities and planners, and provides an exhortation to others to follow suit."

More info can be found on:
http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/513807/index.html

Worth checking out!

Great salon on Monday! It made me think about an article I recently came across:

WAITING FOR THE PLAGUE:

Vanity Fair by Alex Shoumatoff , December 2007

"Every 48 years, the inhabitants of the remote Indian state of Mizoram suffer a horrendous ordeal known locally as mautam. An indigenous species of bamboo blooms every half-century -- spurring an explosion in the rat population. The rats run amok, devouring the bamboo and precipitating a crippling famine throughout Mizoram. Shoumatoff travels to this isolated corner of the world to witness the phenomenon firsthand and describes a plague so devastating it seems ripped from the pages of Exodus. A gripping tale of nature's capacity to engender human suffering, Shoumatoff's article offers a solemn reminder of the precariousness of man's relationship with the environment."

I was sorry in a way that Indy Johar spoke last the other week as I feel too much time was spent on his one or two points, which were interesting, but probably this time not as interesting as the what the others speakers had to say. I have heard him talk previously and he has come across as the rebel with something significant to say. I am not sure if he didn’t prepare adequately or the others on the panel were more in fact able to follow there arguments through better but he did look the odd one out this time. I have always been interested in his ideas of multiple publics – shame he didn’t speak more about this in the context of tall buildings being new production of space in the city.

As far as I know, this was the first public discussion that has moved the debate on tall buildings somewhere past the topic of ‘aesthetics’ and ‘permission’. The key point I learnt the other Monday, is that essentially no one is asking for public space in tall buildings and if we want it, it is as much up for negotiation as any other part when in the planning process and that we just need to ask for it to make it happen. I wonder if the corporation will grab this opportunity or if it will take 101 Londoners to take over one of the many empty floors in the one of the tall buildings before this public realm is really understood.

The salon brought up many interesting angles on the topic. I agree with Chris, public GROUND space shouldn't be replaced by public AIR space.

Whether in the air or on the ground, there are many issues that need to be considered - from who maintains playground equipment, to who locks gates around parks. This is the nature of public space.

With the city expanding upwards, why can't the public enter and use these buildings? Why can't we find solutions to the complex issues around them?

It's not only to consume a view, but to have a space, in one's local area, where one can eat a packed lunch, hang out with friends etc. A non-programmed or consumer space.

My local park is packed in the summer. Families, kids, teenagers - hanging out, reading news papers, having picnics. During the rest of the year it is bleek. Would be great if this desire to be in a communual space, was met in tall buildings.

Public Air Space was a fascinating discussion.

My feeling is that public spaces in the air will never have the same quality as public spaces on the ground.

That's not to say that public spaces in the air are bad - they can be great - but what I'm saying is they should never replace public space on the ground - they should only be additional to it.

Nearly all attempts to replace ground public space with elevated public space have failed - the City of London gave up on its skyway network years ago. The views from roof gardens are fantastic, but as your speakers pointed out there is more to public space than the consumption of views.

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