Rip It Up #3, #4 and #5

The last three lectures of the Rip It Up series have been interesting and informative.

#3 - Thames Gateway and Thames Valley
#4 - Liverpool
#5 - Belfast

A few moments have stuck in my head from each:

#3 - Thames Gateway
There was a slightly melancholy feel about Mark's lecture. He took us through a history of his career and what DfL have done. It was as though he was preparing for the imminent death of a sickly relative, which was understandable given the fact that the government have decided to axe Regional Development Agencies.

#4 - Liverpool
Paul from the Liverpool Bienniel started his presentation with this clip, the first part of an amazing short film made in 1971 called 'Who Cares'. Its an incredible insight into areas of Liverpool from the ground and through the eyes of people who live there. He went on later to describe some of the Bienniel projects. There was some very interesting work shown including a project to regenerate the canals, their use and access. Another urban intervention was initiated by an artist who had created large scale neon displays in collaboration with local school children. These were copies of the children's drawings of animals, and when scaled up and produced in neon were attached to the sides of local buildings. Peter Carl described this project as 'tripley tragic' and Robert Mull implied that the neon artworks did not take regard of the city's radical political history and that to a certain extent, undermined the legacy. I agreed and thought this was an insightful comment but was impressed by the Biennel's audacity in other ways. This year, the Bienniel have taken advantage of the economic climate and its spatial affect on the city. They have acquired a large, empty city-centre block to host the event HQ and on its third floor, in a large, red room, they have filled the space with five hundred books by, and about Marx.

#5 - Belfast
Yesterday, Peter Brett, a writer, presented an insightful and thorough reflection of the city. It was refreshing to hear a lecturer give such attention and enthusiasm to the geological history of the place. He made many connections between the geology, geography and the urban fabric. He also paid regard to the Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE) that dramatically altered the terraced street pattern and replaced it with a series of literally, defensible streets. He also examined the ways that space was measured, defined, experienced, named and associated, and the land law that governed it. Later, Mark Hackett, an architect, complimented Peter's approach with an account of the live projects that his office is doing to help 'micro-repair' the connectivity of Central Belfast. These were interesting notions and identified how Architects, as designers, could identify the spatial consequences and problems that result from 'fragmented governance'. It was really refreshing to see a collection of spatial-thinkers discuss the numerous problems of Northern Ireland and Belfast and discuss spatial solutions. Re-connecting the city is a good place to start but it cannot provide the whole solution - real economic equality is still desperately needed. Given the broad discussion, it was evident that as architects, there is only so much we can do.