Nation Building Aesthetics Part II : The Appropriation of Paradox
> TIRANA’S ARTIST-MAYOR EMBRACES DIFFERENCE AND DECAY TO REVITALIZE A LAGGING CITY: Tirana has entered the world stage due in large part to the values and actions of its mayor, Edi Rama. A former artist, Rama has transformed the city through a variety of policies directed toward improving the common welfare through urban renewal and…
Informal Urbanisms Event at La Esquina
> Thanks to everyone who braved the snow to attend our event at La Esquina Gallery this Wednesday. Special thanks to our friends at Urban Culture Project, C+G Construction, Boulevard Brewery, and Fresher Than Fresh for making the night such a success. Below is a transcript of our introduction to the evening and photos from…
Nation Building Aesthetics Part I : Fortuitous Disadvantage
> Despite relative geographic advantage and an increasing sense of personal and economic freedom, Albania has failed to capitalize on the potential of its newfound relationship with Europe. Decades of isolationist doctrine steeped in communist authoritarian rule have yielded to a new era capable of expressing the will of the people, spawning an emerging parliamentary…
Environmental Media Part II
> AGENCY projected its digital animations at the “Party of the Century” this New Year’s Eve, at the Third Eye Productions event space in Kansas City. The animations were modeled using the logic of crowd dynamics, inspired by the flocking of birds in this video of 300,000 starlings. At times, our simulation of the swarming…
PKN : Hackable Infrastructures
> AGENCY will present its research and design initiatives entitled “Hackable Infrastructures” at Young Architects Forum Pecha Kucha Night on Feb 6, 2010. Details on time and location to follow. PROJECT BACKGROUND: The Romani population in Rome is a community in constant crisis. Historically a nomadic, stateless people, the population has largely settled into a…
Film Screening and Panel Discussion
> INFORMAL URBANISMS:THE PRODUCTION OF SPACE IN THE DEVELOPING WORLDLa Esquina Gallery, 1000 West 25th Street, Kansas City, MO.January 6th 2010, 6:30pmDonations Welcome AGENCY will host and moderate a panel discussion concerning emerging conditions in disadvantaged and marginalized urban populations around the world. AGENCY will present its recent architectural and infrastructural proposals, and screen Garbage…
Environmental Media Part I
> AGENCY will provide environmental media for the “Party of the Century”, hosted by Jeff Larison this New Year’s Eve in Kansas City, MO. Stay tuned for updates and screenshots from our animations and films.NEXT ARTICLE IN SERIES >
Commuter City
>AGENCY will be contributing an ongoing feature on architecture and urbanism to the new online news source, KC Free Press. Look for our analysis in the weeks ahead. PROJECT DESCRIPTIONOver the last 75 years, Kansas City has transformed from a dense, walkable, urban fabric to one that focuses on the ease of commute and commerce…
Elements of a Tactical Urbanism
AGENCY has completed research and project proposals for their upcoming book, entitled Elements of a Tactical Urbanism. Throughout the modernizing world there are marginalized populations, displaced by the rapidly expanding, productive circles of industrialized, and globalized society. Refugee camps, nomadic populations, social housing blocks, shanty towns, and entire cities in developing nations, invent ways to…
Informal Urbanisms
>AGENCY has been awarded a residency fellowship at The MacDowell Colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire. They will be working on compiling an analytical research text entitled Informal Urbanisms. Stay tuned to AGENCY’s blog for updates and case studies. Project Description:Throughout the modernizing world there are marginalized populations, displaced by the rapidly expanding, productive circles of…