The recent arrest and subsequent imprisonment of the Wikipedia founder Julian Assange has sent out a clear message to whistle-blowers and those who dare publish them that the freedom of the press is not so much under attack as under lock and key. But the truths to be considered out of bounds for publication from now … Continue reading Sponsorship and Censorship: Why ASH is withdrawing from the Chicago Architecture Biennial 2019
Extinction Rebellion: Socialist Revolution
On Easter Sunday, after a week of protests and over a thousand arrests, Extinction Rebellion’s political circle coordinator, the climate change lawyer Farhana Yamin, announced that the week of protests in London would now be ‘paused’ as commuters went back to work and shop. This would show, she said - although she didn’t say whom … Continue reading Extinction Rebellion: Socialist Revolution
Inequality Capital: A Power Walk by Architects for Social Housing
The text for this walk is available to download as a booklet titled Inequality Capital. Preface London is the European capital of inequality. 165,000 people, 1 in every 52 Londoners, are officially homeless; yet last year 93 billionaires were registered as resident in the capital, the highest of any city in the world, and more … Continue reading Inequality Capital: A Power Walk by Architects for Social Housing
Le rebâtiment de Notre Dame
‘We will rebuild Notre Dame, because that’s what the French people expect; because it is what our history deserves; and because it is our deep destiny.’ – Emmanuel Macron, Président of the French Republic The burning of Notre-Dame de Paris is a God-send to Emmanuel Macron, a divine Easter-egg for the Catholic Church that for … Continue reading Le rebâtiment de Notre Dame
The Christ of Journalism
And in breaking news today, rumours in the Colosseum are that Jesus of Nazareth had been smearing faeces on the walls of his cell in the Temple of Herod. Having been dragged from the Garden of Gethsemane last Thursday shouting ‘Judea must resist!’, Jesus appeared the following day before Pontius Pilate for trial. The Prefect … Continue reading The Christ of Journalism
Power Walk at the Serpentine Gallery: ASH Press Release
‘I think it is important to distinguish between the traditional notion of patronage and the public relations manoeuvres parading as patronage today. What we have here is a real exchange of capital: financial capital on the part of the sponsors and symbolic capital on the part of the sponsored. Most business people are quite open about … Continue reading Power Walk at the Serpentine Gallery: ASH Press Release
Greece (an Odyssey)
In September 2015 we travelled to Greece, partly on holiday, but also to see what membership of the European Union was doing to the country. We spent a few days in Athens, then travelled south for a week through the Peloponnese, finally arriving on the island of Kythira days before the snap election. This was … Continue reading Greece (an Odyssey)
Brexit Countdown
In the week leading up to what was to be the UK’s exit from the European Union and for a few days after, the ASH Facebook page was the site of an informal debate about the pros and cons of Brexit. Although there was no agreement on any one position, compared to the previous three … Continue reading Brexit Countdown
The Space of Community in Post-war Council Estates
This text was read on 30 March 2019 at the Design Museum, London, as part of a series of workshops and talks titled Growing Common Land organised by Hester Buck, one of four Designers in Residence at the museum during 2018. What London’s Estate Regeneration programme has revealed to all but the most inattentive observer or … Continue reading The Space of Community in Post-war Council Estates
Housing is Not a Human Right: Housing Campaigns Before the Law
My title refers to the famous fragment taken from Franz Kafka’s novel The Trial and published separately in 1915 as Before the Law. For those not familiar with the parable, a man from the country seeks admittance to the law. At the entrance to the law stands a guard, who refuses his request but offers … Continue reading Housing is Not a Human Right: Housing Campaigns Before the Law