Category Archives: English

Chernobyl tourism

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In 1986 the explosion of reactor 4 at the Chernobyl nuclear plant caused radioactive contamination of the city of Prypyat and its surroundings. A concrete sarcophagus was constructed around the blownup reactor, highly radioactive objects such as red-glowing trees were burried underneath the ground and Prypyat was completely evacuated.

During the following decades the contaminated zone remained mostly abandoned and therefore frozen in time. Despite the broken glass and other signs of neglect, the streets of former soviet model city Prypyat continue pretty much the way people left them the day after the disaster. An entertainment park in Prypyat was under construction at the time but was never inaugurated because of the accident. A yellow ferriswheel still stands as a rusty monument of this model society.

As radioactivity dropped over the years in most areas in the zone, tourism began to thrive. Daily visits are scheduled to Chernobyl from Ukrain´s capital Kiev, including visits to the nuclear plant, elderly settlers who live inside the zone, a contaminated vehicles cemitery and Prypyat, as well as a lunch in Chernobyl (prepared with food from outside the zone, they claim). As a disaster-tourism site it can probably be compared only to Auswitz and Ground Zero.

One of the pioneers of the area was Elena, who explored Chernobyl and surroundings on her motorcycle. The asphalt soon lost its radiation, while organic material (trees, grass and other plants) continue to concentrate radiation. This makes motorized trips possible, when one brings a Geiger counter and accelerates when it starts beeping too much.


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Read more:

Example of Chernobyl tour from Kiev
www.greentour.co.uk/chernobyl.html

Technical information on the disaster
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_disaster

“A grim tourist hot spot: Chernobyl”, by C.J. Chivers, Herald Tribune June 15, 2005
www.iht.com/articles/2005/06/14/news/journal.php

Kidd of Speed (Elena´s website)
www.kiddofspeed.com

Decolonizing Architecture

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“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.”

www.decolonizing.ps

Instead of demolishing the evacuated Israeli colonies, the project proposes the transformation of the abandoned structures for different future use. An ungrounding strategy is suggested, meaning the demolishing of only the surface infrastructural occupations, leaving the houses as isolated pavilions in a new continuous, natural and collective context. Reuse and connection of existing buildings are studied, as well as flooding of certain areas.

Neve Decalim before (June 2005) and after (2006) its destruction by the Israelis.


Courtesy: ARIJ

The settlement P’sagot ungrounded

Unhoming

Coney Island revitalized?

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The former Island (now peninsula) – located in Brooklyn New York and named “Coneyne Eylandt” (Rabbit Island) by the Dutch – has been an icon of upcoming mass spectacle and entertainment and also of fast urban decay and deterioration. Today, the area is undergoing processes of new investment and urban revitalization.

History
The island was developed as a beach resort from the 1860´s when it was connected by rail to Manhattan. Against the will of those who wanted to preserve the area as a nature reserve, the beach front was filled with amusement parks, restaurants, bars etc. By the beginning of the 20th century Coney Island was the largest entertainment zone in the world. At the time the wooden Boardwalk was the most expensive street in the Monopoly game. Attractions like the Cyclone and Thunderbolt rollercoasters, the Parachute Jump, Steeple Chase, Luna Park, Astroland and the hotdog gained world fame and attracted millions to Coney Island. Spotlights were installed so that the beach might be occupied 24 hours a day.
After World War II the entertainment cluster entered in decline, due to the rise of less crowdy leisure alternatives and cheaper automobiles that put more distant beaches in range. A period of abandonment and closing of amusement parks followed, in which several wooden structures were lost in fires. Several closed parks were purchased by Astroland, which eventually sold all land to the Thor corporation in 2006.
In 2003 the City of New York launched a revitalization project for the area as site for the 2012 Olympics, but did not succeed.

New development
Thor Equities now pretends to turn the area into a contemporary amusement zone with hotels and a new aquarium, investing about $2 billion. The controversial plan has been widely opposed to and still waits for approval in a modified form. During the legal preparations for the development of the site, the company is leasing it back temporarily to Astroland and other amusement businesses.

Read more:

Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coney_Island

Coney Island Under Siege – article by David Hershkovits
www.papermag.com/…

Coney Island
www.coneyisland.com

Delirious New York: A retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan –
book by Rem Koolhaas, London 1978


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Raumlabor – Küchenmonument

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Berlin-based studio Raumlabor designed an air blob that can be blown into a temporary space for eating and dancing at about every available spot in the city. The object has travelled between several points in Duisburg and Mülheim (Germany). In October the studio will realize an intervention on a vacant spot in New York.
The project was developed together with Plastique Fantastique, which is specialized in pneumatic spaces.

Teddy Cruz: bottom-up architecture

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Architect Teddy Cruz, born Guatemala, is one of the leading figures in community based design and bottom-up development strategies (as opposed to corporate or State development of real estate).
Today he has his practice in San Diego, California. Most of his projects deal with the complex San Diego – Tijuana border zone. At the same time his studio receives theoretical support by Mike Davis, author of Planet of Slums [Planeta Favela].

Although Cruz himself states that only the strategy is important – not the resulting physical aesthetical form – he has established a specific visual language over the years, based on the recycling of building materials, sometimes whole wooden houses or sheds, transported from the United States to Mexico, where they are integrated in Tijuana suburbs. The projects manage to incorporate all these aspects, the border dynamics of suburban poverty, informal urbanism and recycling.

Read more:

www.world-architects.com/…

www.politicalequator.org