# Interview of Stephen Graham by Subtopia

Here is a very interesting interview of Stephen Graham by Brian Finoki (talented webmaster of subtopia) tackling the relationship of architecture and transcendental control in a warfare society as defined by Antonio Negri and Michael Hardt's Empire.

# Iran's revolt / Time's article about Twitter

Read this article on Time.com about how Twitter is used to keep alive Iran's current revolt beyond censorship and repression. It reminds me of Antonio Negri and Michael Hardt's polycentric networks (or swarms) of resistance.picture: Tehran University's dormitory after militia's repression (Time.com)

# Decolonizing Architecture

From Gaza (last post) to the West Bank, from Foucault's disciplinary society to Virilio's control society, here is an occasion for your gray matter to work against Israeli State's way of using architecture as a weapon. (French and Dutch readers you can read this interview)Decolonizing Architecture is a collective directed by architects Sandi Hilalm Alessandro Petti and Eyal Weizman (see former posts 1,2 and 3). This collective is organizing research groups to come up with ideas using architecture as a resistance.This issue actually question the political aspect and the violence each architecture carries not only in the middle east but everywhere else in the world.Here is a short text, proposing to artists, architects and designers to participate to this think tank:

The project Decolonizing Architecture, directed by architects Sandi Hilal, Alessandro Petti and Eyal Weizman and located in Bethlehem/Palestine, is dealing with a complicated architectural problem: How to deal with the future remnants of Israeli colonial Architecture – colonies and military camps – at a time these would be unplugged from the architectural political power of Israel’s regime of occupation. Architecture is used as an “arena of speculation” about possible futures for Palestine, but the project assumes as well that a viable approach to this issue is beyond the professional language of architecture and planning and incorporates varied cultural and political perspectives.

We are seeking architects, designers and artists to join us for a period of intense work of between two and eight weeks. Those joining us would be received in a live-work residency and would benefit from various cultural and political engagements in Palestine.

If you are interested to join us please send your one page CV and work samples to Alessandro Petti (info [at] decolonizing [dot] ps) noting when and for how long you wish to come to Palestine.

*The project provides a residency – studio and living space – in a comfortable house in Beit Sahur/Bethlehem, the travel expenses as well as some daily living expenses would have to be covered by the volunteering architects/designers/artists.

# Closed Zone

This little animation movie was commissioned by Israeli NGO Gisha and designed by Yoni Goodman who was Waltz with Bachir's animation director (see former post). It shows how Gaza strip is the Closed Zone whatever the boundary is Israel, Egypt or the see, and the direct consequences of this terrible blocus which serve more the people who actually earn power from the war than those who are ready to negociate...

# FIGHT WITH TOOLS /// 1871 Paris' Commune

This article has a strong connexion with last one about the canyon street. As a matter of fact, Paris' Commune was one of the most important urban conflicts in European history. It stayed nowadays as a good example of people's revolution as it last for a too short time to create a disenchantment. People who theorised about this event are many (Marx, Lenin, Debord...)During seventy two days of 1871’s spring, Paris city lived in secession from the National Assembly which just capitulated in war against the Prussians. Simultaneously the Commune defends itself against the national “versaillaise” army lead by Thiers and “play the game” of considering to exist for a long period. Thus is created a Central Comity whose representatives are originally from the working population.

As far as urbanism is concerned, Situationnists Guy Debord, Raoul Vaneigem and Attila Kotanyi, one century after the Commune was declared, considered that "it has been in Human History, the only production of a revolutionary urbanism" which assumes as a principle that no building is innocent. That is how the Vendome column was solemnly destroyed on may 16th. In fact this column was the symbol of the first Empire’s (Napoleon Bonaparte) authority and the Bourgeois’ power.

This urbanism can be thus said to substract the alienation zones within the city, which was called by Situationnist, positive holes. The Commune’s story illustrate quite clearly the dilemma which can appear with this operation. In fact, on may 24^th, huge debates took place within the Central Comity to decide whether or not symbolic building should be destroyed before the national army win the conflict. That is how the City Hall, the Courthouse and the Tuilleries palace (which was never rebuilt since then) were burnt down but Notre Dame and the Louvre on the other hand stayed intact, because defended by artists collectives. Situationnist retrospectively judged that Paris’ cathedral has been saved because of “permanent aesthetic values belonging to museums’ spirit when other men legitimately wanted to access to expression this day by this destruction as a defiance to a society which was rejecting all their lives to silent.”

For more information about this chapter of France's history click here.

# FIGHT WITH TOOLS /// Canyon street/Armin Linke

In a little more than one month, next G20 summit will happen in London. These pictures has been shot during G8 summit in Genoa in 2001 by Armin Linke. They show how much streets can be used as controled canyons. A lot of western cities has been replanned during XIXth century for this kind of purposes. Napoleon the 3rd/Haussmann Paris is obviouly an example of that. No more narrow network maze within urban fabric, only wide axis police can easily control. History war used to happen outside of the cities or at its periphery at least, new conflicts are now almost exclusively happenning within cities.

# Eyal Weizman's books

Currently, more than ever, architects should take time to read Eyal Weizman, as a complement of what we are observing everyday in mass media about Gaza's conflict. News has a rythm, research has an other one. What is currently happening in Israel/Palestine is crucial and depending on the country we are living in, we are not informed in the same way.Let's recall that Eyal Weizman is a isreali architect based in Tel Aviv and London, and for several years now, he has been studying how architecture was used as a weapon by Isreali governement and army against Palestinians.A civilian occupation: The politics of Israeli architecture, I already wrote about in a past post, tackles the problem of Israeli settlements in the West bank as a sneaky civil then military expansion of the Israeli territory.Hollow Land updates this same issue, and you can find in it this incredible article called Walking through walls (it was pubished in French as A travers les murs. L'architecture de la nouvelle guerre urbaine) I also already posted in the past.I did not read Chicago and Weizman is not exactly its author (it's actually a photographic book by Adam Broomberg & Olivier Chanarin) but he participated to its redaction. This book observe this fake Arab village, Israeli and American soldiers built to train themselves for Middle East conflicts.I hope that anybody would understand this is not some crapy propaganda, I'm trying to make, but an emphasis on real precise issues which needs to be solved for an aggreement of peace between two legimitate states.

# Eyal Weizman / A civilian occupation: The politics of israeli architecture

Remember this post ? I was telling that I was about to write another about this book, A civilian occupation: The politics of Isreali architecture (Une occupation civile: La politique de l'architecture israelienne), and I actually never did.

This book has been designed and edited by Eyal Weizman, an isreali architect (who graduated in the AA) who center his work on the denunciation of israeli politics about settlements. In fact, Palestine West Bank is more and more colonized by jewish fundamentalists who therefore use architecture and urbanism as a strategical weapon. I am not really skilled to write about this issue althought I've seen by myself these outrageous secured settlements, but the best thing is definetely to read this book which gather analysis from architects, film director, photographers and journalists (all from Israël).Here is also a website about an architecture research called Decolonizing Architecture supervised by Weizman (a palestinian friend of mine is actually preparing her architecture thesis through this research, I hope to get some pictures and texts sometimes)And, as the former post was written in French, I found this translation of Weizman's article about Aviv Kochavi (Isreali General) who created military strategy of Walking through walls. Read it ! It's really really interesting

# Just a line on a map...

In september and october 2006 was voted the Secure Fence Act by the US Congrete and Senate which "allows for over 700 miles of double-reinforced fence to be built across cities and deserts alike between California and Texas in areas that have been prone to illegal drug trafficking and illegal immigration. It authorizes the installation of more lighting, vehicle barriers, and border checkpoints, while putting in place more advanced equipment like sensors, cameras, satellites and unmanned aerial vehicles in an attempt to watch and control illegal immigration into the United States. Officials say that it will help cut down on the number of illegal vehicles that go back and forth across the border bringing illegal drugs." (White House communication)

How crazy it is to observe that a wall is just a line on a map but what is resulting from this line are the most consequential political decisions acting on life of thousand of people. I could have put some more pictures of Berlin Wall, Cisjordan Wall or the Indian-Kashmir Wall, but I think that this "line effect" can be also observed on smaller scales, and architects have to be deeply aware of it.

# Bunker suisses par Leo Fabrizio

Qui a cru que la Suisse était un pays pacifique ? Bon vous me direz Si vis pacem para bellum et effectivement...En tout cas c'est une approche littérale et pour le moins intéressante du camouflage et mimétisme en architecture