parole - a project of gruppo a12, udo noll & peter scupelli

wild city

  • author:
    STEALTH Group - Ana Dzokic, Milica Topalovic, Marc Neelen, Ivan Kucina

    • biography:
      Ana Dzokic, Milica Topalovic, Ivan Kucina (YU) and Marc Neelen (NL) have initiated and assembled several joint projects during the last five years, beginning with Projekt X workshop which explored the edge-condition of Belgrade in its most difficult times. The flux between Belgrade and Rotterdam has been one of the main powers of this collaboration. In the last three years mutual ventures were combined through research at the Berlage Institute, start up of professional practice - STEALTH group and teaching at the Faculty of Architecture in Belgrade. Their Wild City project was presented at the Mutations exhibition in Bordeaux (USE), Berlin Beta 2001, V_2 WireTap programme and as a proposal to the City Planning Department of Belgrade. The Wild City: Genetics of uncontrolled urban processes is the content of the DataCloud 2.0 browser, currently developed by V_2 Lab and ArchiNed.

  • quotation:
    ‘The Wild City: Genetics of Uncontrolled Urban Processes’ STEALTH Group. This research project inspects the city in crisis – a complex, trembling ground on which rules for the production of urban substance and logic of urban vitality are constantly reinvented. It spans over two conceptual territories: a metaphorical one, which describes an urban paradigm of wildness, and a strategic one, which proposes dynamic design procedures for an environment, shaped by dominant market forces and the decline of institutions. .

  • publication:
    The Stealth Group The Wild City Genetics of Uncontrolled Urban Processes in Hunch n. 4 2002.

  • definition:
    The observation starts from the reality of Belgrade, the 2 million inhabitants’ capital of Yugoslavia. Belgrade is a city that recently experienced an abrupt change from a centrally conducted to an atomised growth as the result of a decade of crisis. The trigger for the metamorphosis of the city was given by a United Nations embargo in 1992, amidst an atmosphere of war traumas, media obsession and politicisation. While the cities’ planning institutions during this period lost their power, private initiative started to take control over the new developments in the city.In this context, as a compensation for the collapsing state and institutions, the unleashed individual action started to produce innovation in literally every urban domain - from commerce, to housing production and public services. A new, non-regulated structure appeared, flooding the public spaces and superimposing as a layer of mutants on top of the existing city. The research of urban genetics focuses on the evolutive, time-based character of non-regulated transformations. It is a practice of discovering the inherent logic of emergent processes, under a hypothesis that their outcomes are often more sophisticated than the conventionally designed ones.Through this, a set of tools and a specific methodology has been experimentally developed to visualise, monitor and to a certain level predict spatial and organisational changes during time.In nearly all of the studied processes, pulsating and flexible models are achieved, resembling profound symbiotic forms. Their organisation is heterarchical, newness is produced through conflict and negotiation between institutions and individuals. Following the detection that there is a pattern of similar behaviour among ‘urban genes’ – the successive stages of the observed processes - these patterns have been collected and developed into an urban design tool. While its rules are fairly simple, the complexity that arises from it is able to maintain the character of a self-organising system and its heterogeneous and vivid spatial formation. On a strategic and professional level, the Wild City examines the role of the architect as one who confronts restrictions in urban design. The paradigm of the ‘wildness’ emerged through non-planned and barely regulated processes. In the urban domain, these processes feature a remarkable degree of innovation and therefore open possibilities for redefining institutional participation in the creation of urban space. On the conceptual level, it shows a city that acts as an incubator of new urban forms. This part of the project draws its metaphors and parallels from studies of genetics and computer viruses.

    related links:
    http://parole.aporee.org/files/fabri/10_metamorphosis.jpg
    (Wild City metamorphosis: Phases of change)
    http://parole.aporee.org/files/fabri/13_simulation.jpg
    (Wild City simulation: Simulation of change)
    http://parole.aporee.org/files/fabri/11_urban_genetics.jpg
    (Wild City urban genetics: Logic of unforeseen processes of urban transformation.)
    http://parole.aporee.org/files/fabri/12_evolution_game.jpg
    (Wild City evolution game: )
    http://parole.aporee.org/files/fabri/08_models.jpg
    (Wild City models: Models of urban transformation.)
    http://parole.aporee.org/files/fabri/02_wild_topography.jpg
    (Wild City Topography: Topography of uncontrolled urban transformation in Belgrad)
    http://parole.aporee.org/files/fabri/06_pixelation.jpg
    (Wild City pixelation: )

    • echo:
      WILD occurring, growing without supervision or restraint; not domesticated, cultivated or tamed; the wild city is the urban paradigm of contemporary Belgrade. ALTERNATIVE actions conducted by large numbers of individuals, simultaneously, as a compensation for malfunctions of establishments and mainstreams. EVOLUTION continuous progress from the homogenous to the heterogeneous in structure, and from the single and simple to the diverse and manifold in quality and function. URBAN SPRAWL uncontrolled growth of compact urban centres, with extensions into public, void space and onto existing buildings. PROTOTYPE an original urban form or instance, serving as a basis or standard for the design practice. INCUBATOR an idea of a city of permanent urban innovation; one which permits and encourages the formation and development of new urban species. PARADOX a proposition contrary to the prevailing practice; a sentiment seemingly contradictory; that which in appearance or terms seems absurd, yet may be true. BENEFICIAL VIRUS alien presence, instigated by a degrading institutional body, which becomes an inevitable, corrupting and vital force. URBAN GENETICS discovering the inherent scripts of unforeseen processes of urban transformations under a hypothesis that their outcomes are more sophisticated than the designed ones. LIFE synonym for evolutive design, rather than the magazine, the breakfast cereal, the 1950s-era game board or the human state of existence. CRISIS a crucial or decisive moment or situation, a sudden change in the course of events, often towards improvement rather than deterioration

    • dictionary definition:
      Main Entry: 1wild Pronunciation: 'wI(&)ldFunction: adjectiveEtymology: Middle English wilde, from Old English; akin to Old High German wildi wild, Welsh gwylltDate: before 12th century1 a : living in a state of nature and not ordinarily tame or domesticated <wild duck> b (1) : growing or produced without human aid or care <wild honey> (2) : related to or resembling a corresponding cultivated or domesticated organism c : of or relating to wild organisms <the wild state>2 a : not inhabited or cultivated <wild land> b : not amenable to human habitation or cultivation; also : DESOLATE3 a (1) : not subject to restraint or regulation : UNCONTROLLED; also : UNRULY (2) : emotionally overcome <wild with grief>; also : passionately eager or enthusiastic <was wild to own a toy train -- J. C. Furnas> b : marked by turbulent agitation : STORMY <a wild night> c : going beyond normal or conventional bounds : FANTASTIC <wild ideas>; also : SENSATIONAL d : indicative of strong passion, desire, or emotion <a wild gleam of delight in his eyes -- Irish Digest>4 : UNCIVILIZED, BARBARIC5 : characteristic of, appropriate to, or expressive of wilderness, wildlife, or a simple or uncivilized society6 a : deviating from the intended or expected course <wild spelling -- C. W. Cunnington> <the throw was wild>; also : tending to throw inaccurately b : having no basis in known or surmised fact <a wild guess>7 of a playing card : able to represent any card designated by the holder- wild·ish /'wIl-dish/ adjective- wild·ness /-n&s/ noun

  • soft cover:
    Hunch n. 4 2002.

    related links:
    http://parole.aporee.org/files/ga12/Hunch04.jpg
    (Hunch n. 4: )

  • site of publication:
    Rotterdam

  • year of publication:
    2002

  • place:
    Belgrad

    related links:
    http://parole.aporee.org/files/fabri/05_street_trade.jpg
    (Wild City street-trade: occupation of public spaces in belgrad)
    http://parole.aporee.org/files/fabri/03_housing.jpg
    (Wild City housing: New residential expansions in Belgrad)
    http://parole.aporee.org/files/fabri/07_urban_drive.jpg
    (Wild City urban drive: Night view of a trade road.)
    http://parole.aporee.org/files/fabri/09_green-market.jpg
    (Wild City green market: Methamorphosis of commerce and space.)
    http://parole.aporee.org/files/fabri/04_garage_villa.jpg
    (Wild City garage-villa: Hybridisation between garage, bus, villa)
    http://parole.aporee.org/files/fabri/01_wild_newbelgrade.jpg
    (Wild City New Belgrade: Street markets in Belgrad.)

    related words:
    post-ideological city (place)

  • date (project or term):
    2000