Choose Labour?

Choose Labour. Choose voting to bomb Syria. Choose going toe to toe with the Tories over who can inflict the biggest cuts to benefits. Choose criminalising the homeless with Public Space Protection Orders. Choose fining people £100 for sleeping rough in Labour-run boroughs. Choose planning permission for anti-homeless spikes in the doorways of banks. Choose employing … Continue reading Choose Labour?

A Vote for Labour is a Vote for . . . Florence Eshalomi

Florence Eshalomi, the new Labour Party candidate for Vauxhall. The constituency had a registered electorate of 82,055 in the General Election of 2017, which was won by the then Labour candidate, Kate Hoey, with 31,576 votes and 57.3 per cent of the vote. Except in the General Election of 1931, Vauxhall, including the former seat of Lambeth … Continue reading A Vote for Labour is a Vote for . . . Florence Eshalomi

For a Socialist Architecture 1. Part 1: Social Principles

Q. ‘Social and environmental issues really matter to me. I want to have real influence but, as an architect, I don’t. A. ‘Many architects contact me expressing a similar sentiment. Our profession tends to attract and develop idealists, and that can make some of our work little more rewarding than working on a factory production … Continue reading For a Socialist Architecture 1. Part 1: Social Principles

For a Socialist Architecture 3. Part 2: Economic Practices

I want to begin with the diagram with which we ended Part 1 of this presentation, which illustrates the connections between the social, the environmental and the economic dimensions of architecture. The terms ‘ecology’, meaning the study of the relationship between organisms and the environment, and ‘economy’, meaning household management, both derive from the same … Continue reading For a Socialist Architecture 3. Part 2: Economic Practices

For a Socialist Architecture 3. Part 1: Economic Principles

‘Where did this entire financial phantasmagoria come from? Quite simply, from the way people who could just not afford them were forced into buying nice new houses because they were seduced into taking out miraculous loans. Their promises to repay the loans were then sold on, after having been mixed up with securitisations whose composition … Continue reading For a Socialist Architecture 3. Part 1: Economic Principles

Rioting, Legislation and Estate Demolition: A Chronology of Social Cleansing in London, 1999-2019

‘We show respect to everyone — to each other, the general public and to the government and police. We engage in no violence, physical or verbal.’ — Extinction Rebellion 1990  Did the UK Poll Tax demonstrations in 1990 mark a watershed in the relations between governments and crowds? Certainly not in the violence used by the former. … Continue reading Rioting, Legislation and Estate Demolition: A Chronology of Social Cleansing in London, 1999-2019

Capitalising on Crisis: Extinction Rebellion and the Green New Deal for Capitalism

‘“Hey Pal! How do I get to town from here?” And he said: “Well, just take a right where they’re gonna build that new shopping mall, go straight past where they’re gonna put in the freeway, take a left at what’s gonna be the new sports centre, and keep going until you hit the place where … Continue reading Capitalising on Crisis: Extinction Rebellion and the Green New Deal for Capitalism

For a Socialist Architecture 2. Part 2. Environmental Practices

This presentation follows on from Part 1, that looked at the environmental principles of a socialist architecture. In our first presentation in this series we talked about the agents of a socialist architecture: those who pay for it, those who inhabit it, those who use it, those who design it, those who build it, those … Continue reading For a Socialist Architecture 2. Part 2. Environmental Practices

For a Socialist Architecture 2. Part 1. Environmental Principles

‘We want a say in how the resources are managed in our territory, to remind those who seek to benefit from them that they aren’t a commodity to be sold. Every resource is a part of the system. Each part that is taken out, or over-harvested, affects everything that depends on it. If we don’t … Continue reading For a Socialist Architecture 2. Part 1. Environmental Principles

For a Socialist Architecture 4. Part 2. Political Practices

In Part 1 of this presentation we looked at the political principles of a socialist architecture. In Part 2 I’m going to discuss the political practices through which ASH has implemented these principles in engaging with the political dimension of architecture. 1. The Political Economy of Housing Provision In this first diagram we have two … Continue reading For a Socialist Architecture 4. Part 2. Political Practices