{"id":573,"date":"2013-04-15T23:12:19","date_gmt":"2013-04-15T23:12:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/omnibus-lab.com\/blog\/?page_id=573"},"modified":"2013-08-28T05:59:25","modified_gmt":"2013-08-28T05:59:25","slug":"too-fast-too-furious-an-urban-research-project-in-asia","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/omnibus-lab.com\/blog\/research\/too-fast-too-furious-an-urban-research-project-in-asia\/","title":{"rendered":"2 FAST, 2 FURIOUS : URBAN RESEARCH IN ASIA"},"content":{"rendered":"

Do I even wanna know where the skyline is?\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0Or where you\u2019ve been for the past couple\u2019a days?<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

O\u2019Connor<\/strong>,\u00a0Brian<\/strong>.\u00a02 fast 2 furious<\/em>.\u00a0Screenplay<\/strong>. Directed by Singleton, John.\u00a02003<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Everyone talks about Asia.<\/p>\n

Master planning, construction, architecture in Asia is done faster than ever, on predatory mode, particularly in South-East Asia. Of the 10th<\/sup>\u00a0most populated world cities, 7 are located in the Asian region: Tokyo, Seoul, Mumbai, Jakarta, Delhi, Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto and Shanghai. With metropolitan regions\u2019 population anywhere between 17 to 25 Million inhabitants, most of these urban organisms are growing at a frantic pace. The rural world is also in turmoil, and will have to readjust, e.g. China alone is undergoing the biggest rural-urban migration ever witnessed. While the unswerving path of built production in that part of the globe is a striking counter example of the crisis in which the capitalized northern hemisphere finds itself, there is a dark downside little attended to, especially by the governments in charge. Corruption, greed,\u00a0pseudo<\/em>-development goals are driving the reckless growth of urbanization. Those who stand and critically question the ongoing processes of erasure of cities and countryside alike are mocked as conservatives or silenced by oppressive regimes. Self-censorship is rampant in the neo-liberal and communist dictatorships of the East alike.<\/p>\n

The questions we ask are:<\/p>\n

Are those massive cities\u00a0black holes for democracy<\/strong>, urban quality, and spatial justice? How does humankind cope with those new circumstances and\u00a0extreme situations<\/strong>? What about architecture and urban form? Illegal, inventive, corporate, predatory, which form does growth actually take? What does it mean in term of identity, urban life and housing quality? How big can a city get? Is there a limit to growth? What are the defense mechanisms of unbuilt space? Can one stop the city<\/strong>? And what could kill it? At the other side of the spectrum,\u00a0what about the hinterlands<\/strong>? Are those \u2018the ones left behind\u2019? Is countryside left on the side of the road to\u00a0a slow and painful death<\/strong>\u00a0until the whole planet is urbanized?<\/p>\n

\u201cTOO FAST, TOO FURIOUS: An urban research project in Asia\u201d is a research with a hyper-ambition: to explore and grasp the complexity within and without the cities of Asia.<\/p>\n

It is an attempt to understand and track down the parallel between growth and erasure, identify the resistance tactics that have emerged against it and the resilience of the informal as tool of opposition.<\/p>\n

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Current ongoing projects:<\/p>\n