OurCity Blog

Our City presents new monthly art event

admin — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 13:44:31 +0000

For more information about this event, please click here

‘Abandoned Buildings, Cities, and Towns’.

admin — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 10:07:31 +0000

Kowloon Walled City, Hong Kong

A project by ‘WebUrbanist’, this open archive of photographs titled ‘Abandoned Buildings, Cities and Towns’, documents sites from across the world that time and people have seemingly forgotten. The eerieness and sense of alienation conveyed by many of these photographs however, is largely determined by the absence of people, rather than a shabby aesthetic or fatigued facade of the particular place.

In the specific context of a rapidly developing and increasingly urban capital, where abandoned buildings and spaces are the antithesis of the vast building projects occuring across the city, the question of what exactly abandonment means and how this is played out in theory and in practice needs consideration. Are we referring to the physicality or functionality of a building? Does abandonment mean a lack of due care and attention to the structural condition of a building, or to those who use it?

An interesting case is that of Kowloon Walled City, Hong Kong. It is described by the website as ‘a loophole, a glitch never meant to exist. It grew organically devoid of building codes and largely absent of legal oversight, a kind of organic tent city times one thousand. As it grew without rules some areas were cut off entirely from natural light and air, crime ebbed and flowed and everything grew densely packed until the government finally intervened – evacuating the city and demolishing what remained.’ Should the outcome of Kowloon be seen as a model for Phnom Penh to use when dealing with legally and politically ‘challenging’ buildings, or one to be avoided?

For more information see WebUrbanist.

So you think you can draw? Global 24 hour comic draw, tomorrow at JavaCafe

admin — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 08:30:32 +0000

As part of the international phenomenon 24 Hour Comics Day, Javacafe in collaboration with Our Books, will be providing coffee, paper in, moral support, and perhaps even inspiration, for those who attend the marathon cartoon draw. With the aim of producing 24 pages in 24 hours, the downstairs cafe and gallery is likely to be a hive of excitement, frustration, and explosive speech bubbles, as artists and amateurs alike, attempt to build on the efforts of last year’s participants. For those who think the full day may be a little bit of push, organisers are offering ‘one artist-one page-one hour’ of the day.

For full details, see website.

Inflamed situation at Boeung Kak

admin — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 07:44:00 +0000

Yesterday saw the tension escalate between residents of Boeung Kak, local authorities and Shukaku Inc, resulting in parts of the community setting fire to tyres close to where the lake filling operation is occurring.

The incident came after the residents’ plea to stem the filling of the lake was rejected, leaving their homes flooded with mud.

For full article see Phnom Penh Post