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#35 -
UNFINISHED URBANISM
La Pensée
by Auguste Rodin, ca. 1895
"Unfinishedness"
is probably most strikingly represented in works of art. Just think of the Non
finito-sculptures of Michelangelo made in the Renaissance-period
that paid tribute to the theory of Plato that no work of art might
ever completely resemble its heavenly counterpart. Michelangelo's sculptures
inspired the Non finitos of Rodin and his vague figures that appear to
be struggling to emerge from masses of marble such as his La Pensée
sculpture from the late 19th Century. Or picture the projects that were intentionally
left unfinished such as the follies of the late 16th to 18th Centuries - such
as the temple of philosophy at Ermenonville, symbolising that knowledge would
never be complete - or imagine art movements such as Fluxus that during the
1960s engaged in experimental art performances which emphasised the artistic
process over the finished product. Other artists that considered the process
of creating more important than the finished work were creatives such as the
American composer and music theorist John Cage who emphasised
that one should embark on an artwork without any conception of its end. When
thinking about contemporary expressions of unfinished creative work one might
consider the designer Martin Margiela and his deliberately unfinished
trousers and tops from his game-changing fashion show of 1989.
As rich
and broad "unfinishedness" is applied and discussed in the world of
art, music, and fashion, with this new issue of MONU we aim to investigate
"unfinishedness" in architecture and urbanism. One of the most famous
unfinished architectural structures is possibly Antoni Gaudí's
Sagrada Família in Barcelona that has been under construction for around
140 years. Even with portions of the basilica incomplete to this day, it is
still the most popular tourist destination in Spain with millions of visitors
every year and one might wonder whether it is the "unfinishedness"
of the building or the building itself that attracts that many people. Nevertheless,
with this new issue we will not merely focus on buildings, but wish to address
all kinds of different aspects of "Unfinished Urbanism", from
cities to regions to interiors, looking further than just the physical structures
and the architecture into the economy, politics, ecology, and social aspects
of cities, trying to find out how "Unfinished Urbanism" might
be defined and figuring out its potential as well as its shortcomings.
Some of the potentials of "Unfinished Urbanism" might be found
when describing cities as dynamic, flowing, creative, and as processes of transformation
and ever-changing seemingly destined to remain "unfinished" forever.
Consequently, according to the cultural theorist Ulf Hannerz,
whom we interviewed
for MONU #22, in order to keep culture going - and thus the
production of architecture and cities as well - people as actors and networks
of actors have to constantly reformulate culture, reflect on it, experiment
with it, remember it, debate it, and pass it on. Following Matilde Igual
Capdevila in the same issue, cities therefore need to remain in motion
and in a certain state of "unfinishedness" continuously, reinvent
themselves perpetually, in order to sustain themselves, which might lead to
the fulfilment of our desires and cosmopolitan visions for a better future.
Released from the pressure of ever being "finished", "Unfinished
Urbanism" might become a vital, active, and experimental practice that
stimulates creativity and freedom of expression. The possibility to change and
to remain unfinished might even be something that needs to be preserved when
cities are becoming too static as Beatriz Ramo argued in MONU
#14 that dealt with the topic of "editing" cities. Therefore,
as stated by Matthew Johnson in MONU
#13, cities should be allowed to exist in a state of permanent upgrading
and renovation - always unfinished and under scaffolding, in the form of a transactional
urbanism - to continue being able to alter and to remain flexible.
However, what is appealing as a theoretical concept, especially when it comes
to flexibility and adaptability related to change, might not necessarily work
for unfinished buildings or other architectural structures such as bridges and
roads where construction work was abandoned or on-hold at some stage, as this
can have tremendous negative consequences on the economics, social life, safety,
the environment, and in many cases the functioning of cities. Uncompleted and
abandoned property might become hideouts for criminals, lead to the reduction
in property values within the vicinity or neighbourhood, reduce the aesthetics
of entire city quarters leading to blighted urban areas, increased environmental
problems, and is a waste and underutilization of urban resources in general.
Despite some success stories - such as the provision of affordable shelters
for artists or the urban poor in unfinished buildings - most unfinished structures
remain as symbols of decay in our cities, often leading to further challenges.
Unfinished structures can be found all around the world making "Unfinished
Urbanism" a truly global topic. The most common reasons for their presence
are based on economic factors. But buildings and entire city quarters have also
been stranded in limbo by wars, political factors, epidemics, inadequate planning,
natural disasters, unforeseen structural weaknesses, and other unpredictable
obstacles, leaving partial structures as haunting reminders of what might have
been. In developed countries one might consider the situation in Greece, where
unfinished buildings are a fairly common sight. But unfinished buildings occur
particularly often in cities in developing countries and heavily indebted countries,
where developers struggle to obtain loans, but nevertheless start building hoping
to tempt buyers to put down deposits. In some African cities such as Dakar in
Senegal people rather save their money in physical structures and concrete,
tying up capital for years in unfinished buildings, than putting it into a business
or bank, which they distrust. And investments in buildings often escape the
notice of African tax collectors, since enforcement is weak. Furthermore, weak
property rights, fluctuating prices of materials, flaky contractors, or money
laundering leads to thousands of unfinished buildings in cities in African countries
such as Nigeria.
Therefore, with MONU #35 we would like to find out what "Unfinished
Urbanism" may mean today. What does "Unfinished Urbanism"
look like, what are the reasons for it and what consequences might it entail
for cities, neighbourhoods, buildings, and interiors, both positively and negatively?
At which scale does it work best - on the urban scale, the scale of buildings,
or the scale of interiors? How can we design the "unfinished" in cities
and buildings to profit from its prospects and to limit its weaknesses? How
does "Unfinished Urbanism" differ between cities of different
countries and continents all around the world? Could there be an urban Non
finito that might be able to help improve our cities? How should "Unfinished
Urbanism" be used as a strategy for better cities in general, now and
in the future? To answer all of these questions, with this new open call for
submissions for MONU #35 on "Unfinished Urbanism" we
invite you to submit daring strategies, fascinating examples, illuminating thinking,
deep research, analytical writing, cultural reflections, spatial concepts, visionary
projects, documenting graphics, and revealing photography. Abstracts of around
400 words, and images and illustrations in low resolution, should be sent, together
with a short biography and a list of publications, as one single pdf-file
that is not bigger than 1mb to info@monu-magazine.com
before March 31, 2022. MONU's issue #35 will be published
in October 2022.
Bernd Upmeyer, December 2021