Artisan crafts are making a revolutionary global comeback that goes beyond the coolness of bearded hipsters in Brooklyn. In the new economy more and more people demand authentic, locally produced, sustainable items that represent real value. Ireland has a unique history of craftsmanship, which could form a great basis for Dublin’s contemporary identity.
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As cities are incredibly complex, so must be any sort of urban sustainability, which can come in many more forms than a ‘Green City’. With so much going on in an urban environment, there’s bound to be some excess energy flows. So why waste that energy, if you can turn it into something that’s better, fun, and productive? That’s what we call Parasite Urbanism — strategies and urban interventions that creatively make use of spaces or energies that otherwise would be neglected or would go to waste, contributing to a wider concept of urban sustainability. Let’s take a look at three of the best examples of urban parasites that we’ve highlighted on the Pop Up City. They all make use of a variety of otherwise neglected spaces or energy, launching them into places that are more useful, more productive and more fun!
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Whether it be the emergence of GPS-enabled smart phone applications that promote a sense of tactile-ownership over the city, or the necessity caused by global economic crisis, a major trend toward do-it-yourself, bottom-up urbanism has emerged. All over the world, citizens are taking responsibility for the form and functionality of urban space. Together, we are building our own infrastructure, creating our own services and truly taking the city into our own hands. To get us inspired for the upcoming Stadsklas, let’s take a closer look at some of the ‘best of’ these bottom-up strategies for new-style urban development.
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Makers & Brothers is an online store dedicated to locally crafted Irish products, founded by Jonathan and Mark Legge. A week ago the brothers opened a temporary pop-up shop on the top floor of the Brown Thomas department store in Dublin. Between the usual products that are available at a huge inner-urban department store, a small shed built of wood and corrugated iron has popped up in order to bring beautiful locally produced design items to a new group of customers. We spoke with Jonathan Legge about design culture in Ireland, his passion for local crafts and the way he thinks the artisan economy contributes to Dublin’s and Ireland’s identity.
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Much has been written about how the economic crisis and recession affect the practice of city-making. It seems that economic crisis, especially in the countries of the Mediterranean, is also translated into a severe urban crisis. Greek cities have been suffering from poor public-led urban planning strategies, even before the economic downfall. However, there seems to be a vivid call for bottom-up initiatives that are able to directly improve urban conditions. NGOs, citizens, private agencies and also institutions start to engage themselves in new-style urbanism initiatives — step by step, place by place. Conquering the negative mood and stimulating public dialogue, all kinds of interesting projects pop up, both in Greek cities and the periphery. In this article we present a selection three inspiring examples of bottom-up urbanism that fight the negative atmosphere imposed by the Greek economic (let alone) crisis.
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The Dutch product designer Roel de Boer (also known for his tree huts) and Michiel Martens came up with a new type of stove. The so-called Spruce Stove was presented during the Salone del Mobile in Milan, earlier this month.
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Mabos is the name of a warehouse in Dublin’s docklands area, that has been turned into a very special location for all kinds of urban niche activities. We spoke with initiator Dave Smith about his idea behind this multi-functional maker space, which hosts a wide variety of events ranging from women-only skateboarding events to robotic workshops, do-it-yourself furniture making classes and late-night BYOB parties.
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Over the past years, infinite numbers of artists have tweaked billboards to discuss the appropriateness of advertising in public space. At the same time brands have done much to spice up billboards in order to make their message extra attractive. Mexican paper company Scribe created a combination of both — it recently launched Scribe Billboard, a temporary residency for artists inside a billboard.
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Hey urban composters, this one is for you! During our stay here in Dublin we had the chance to chat with the guys of ABGC, a design and architecture firm that has its office in the city’s South Studios. They showed us some of recent projects, including a little wormery called WormWorks. This urban balcony composter drew our immediate attention as it perfectly combines the recycling philosophy with a-do-it-yourself mentality plus great design on top of that.
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On Tuesday afternoon we visited South Studios, one of Dublin’s creativity hubs. During lunch around the corner at the wonderful Fumbally we ran into Samuel Bishop, designer and co-founder of Street Feast, a day of local lunches in public spaces all around Ireland on June 23rd, hosted by the people.
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