Teddy Cruz: How architectural innovations migrate across borders

Translator: Tilen Pigac - EFZG Reviewer: Andreja Benčina

The urban explosion

Nagla širitev mest v zadnjih letih gospodarske rasti

of the last years of economic boom

also produced dramatic marginalization,

je obenem povzročila dramatično marginalizacijo,

resulting in the explosion of slums

ki je vodila v ogromen porast revnih četrti v mnogih delih sveta.

in many parts of the world.

This polarization of enclaves of mega-wealth

Polarizacija izjemno bogatih enklav, ki so obkrožene z revščino,

surrounded by sectors of poverty

and the socioeconomic inequalities they have engendered

in s tem povzročene družbeno-ekonomske neenakosti

is really at the center of today's urban crisis.

so v središču krize današnjih mest.

But I want to begin tonight

Ampak danes bi želel začeti

by suggesting that this urban crisis

s predlogom, da ta kriza mest ni le gospodarska ali okoljska.

is not only economic or environmental.

It's particularly a cultural crisis,

Je predvsem kulturna kriza, kriza institucij,

a crisis of the institutions

unable to reimagine the stupid ways

ki so nesposobne reinterpretirati neumne načine, na katere smo rasli,

which we have been growing,

unable to challenge the oil-hungry,

nesposobne izzvati nafte lačno

selfish urbanization that have perpetuated

sebično urbanizacijo, ki ohranja mesta, ki temeljijo na potrošnji,

cities based on consumption,

from southern California to New York to Dubai.

od južne Kalifornije do New Yorka in Dubaja.

So I just really want to share with you a reflection

Z vami hočem le deliti razmislek,

that the future of cities today

da prihodnost današnjih mest temelji manj na stavbah

depends less on buildings

and, in fact, depends more

in, pravzaprav, temelji bolj

on the fundamental reorganization of socioeconomic relations,

na osnovni reorganizaciji družbeno-ekonomskih odnosov,

that the best ideas in the shaping

da najboljše ideje o oblikovanju mesta prihodnosti

of the city in the future

will not come from enclaves of economic power

ne bodo prišle iz enklav gospodarske moči in obilja,

and abundance,

but in fact from sectors of conflict and scarcity

ampak iz sektorjev v konfliktih in pomanjkanju,

from which an urgent imagination

od koder nas lahko nujna domišljija

can really inspire us to rethink urban growth today.

resnično navdihne, da razmislimo o današnji rasti mest.

And let me illustrate what I mean

In naj vam pojasnim, kaj mislim,

by understanding or engaging sites of conflict

z razumevanjem in predstavitvijo konfliktnih zon

as harboring creativity, as I briefly introduce you

kot zatočišč kreativnosti, ko vam na kratko predstavim

to the Tijuana-San Diego border region,

obmejno območje Tijuana-San Diego,

which has been the laboratory to rethink my practice as an architect.

ki je laboratorij za ponovni premislek o mojem delu kot arhitekt.

This is the wall, the border wall,

To je zid, mejni zid, ki ločuje San Diego in Tijuano,

that separates San Diego and Tijuana,

Latin America and the United States,

Latinsko Ameriko in Združene Države Amerike,

a physical emblem

fizični simbol izključevalnih planskih uredb,

of exclusionary planning policies

that have perpetuated the division

ki ohranjajo delitev skupnosti, pristojnosti in virov po svetu.

of communities, jurisdictions

and resources across the world.

In this border region, we find

V tej obmejni regiji najdemo nekatere izmed najbogatejših nepremičnin,

some of the wealthiest real estate,

as I once found in the edges of San Diego,

kar sem enkrat odkril na robu San Diega,

barely 20 minutes away

komaj 20 minut stran od enih izmed najrevnejših naselij v Latinski Ameriki.

from some of the poorest settlements in Latin America.

And while these two cities have the same population,

In čeprav imata ti dve mesti enako prebivalstvo,

San Diego has grown six times larger than Tijuana

je San Diego v zadnjih desetletjih postal šestkrat večji od Tijuane

in the last decades,

immediately thrusting us to confront

in nas nemudoma prisilil v soočenje

the tensions and conflicts

napetosti in konfliktov med širjenjem in gostoto,

between sprawl and density,

which are at the center of today's discussion

ki so središče današnje diskusije o ohranjanju okolja.

about environmental sustainability.

So I've been arguing in the last years

Zadnja leta zagovarjam,

that, in fact, the slums of Tijuana can teach a lot

da lahko barakarska naselja Tijuane pravzaprav veliko naučijo

to the sprawls of San Diego

razraščena področja San Diega o trajnostnem družbeno-gospodarskem razvoju,

when it comes to socioeconomic sustainability,

that we should pay attention and learn

da moramo biti pozorni in se učiti

from the many migrant communities

od mnogih priseljenskih skupnosti na obeh straneh mejnega zidu,

on both sides of this border wall

so that we can translate their informal processes

tako da lahko prevedemo njihove neformalne procese urbanizacije.

of urbanization.

What do I mean by the informal in this case?

Zakaj rečem neformalni za ta primer?

I'm really just talking about

Pravzaprav samo govorim o skupku družbenih praks za prilagoditev,

the compendium of social practices of adaptation

that enable many of these migrant communities

ki omogočajo mnogim od teh priseljenskih skupnosti,

to transgress imposed political and economic recipes

da prestopijo uvedene politične in gospodarske recepte urbanizacije.

of urbanization.

I'm talking simply about the creative intelligence

Govorim enostavno o kreativni inteligenci od spodaj navzgor,

of the bottom-up,

whether manifested in the slums of Tijuana

ki se izraža v barakarskih naseljih Tijuane,

that build themselves, in fact, with the waste of San Diego,

ki so se dejansko zgradila iz odpadov San Diega

or the many migrant neighborhoods in Southern California

ali v mnogih priseljenskih soseskah v južni Kaliforniji,

that have begun to be retrofitted with difference

ki so bila obnovljena z raznolikostjo v zadnjih desetletjih.

in the last decades.

So I've been interested as an artist

Kot umetnik sem se zanimal za meritve, opazovanja neformalnih tokov čez mejo:

in the measuring, the observation,

of many of the trans-border informal flows

across this border:

in one direction, from south to north,

v eno smer, iz juga na sever, tok migrantov v Združene Države,

the flow of immigrants into the United States,

and from north to south the flow of waste

in iz severa na jug, tok odpadkov iz južne Kalifornije v Tijuano.

from southern California into Tijuana.

I'm referring to the recycling

Govorim o recikliranju teh starih povojnih bungalovov,

of these old post-war bungalows

that Mexican contractors bring to the border

ki jih mehiški pogodbeniki pripeljejo na mejo,

as American developers are disposing of them

ko se jih ameriški razvijalci znebijo

in the process of building a more inflated version

v procesu gradnje bolj napihnjene verzije predmestij v zadnjih desetletjih.

of suburbia in the last decades.

So these are houses waiting to cross the border.

Torej, to so hiše, ki čakajo na prečkanje meje.

Not only people cross the border here,

Čez mejo tu ne hodijo samo ljudje,

but entire chunks of one city move to the next,

ampak se celotni deli enega mesta selijo v drugega,

and when these houses are placed on top of these steel frames,

in ko so te hiše postavljene na vrh teh jeklenih okvirov,

they leave the first floor to become the second

zapustijo prvo in postanejo drugo nadstropje

to be in-filled with more house,

in so zapolnjene z več hišami, z malimi podjetji.

with a small business.

This layering of spaces and economies

Takšno nalaganje prostorov in gospodarstev v sloje je zelo zanimivo opazovati.

is very interesting to notice.

But not only houses, also small debris

Ampak ne samo hiše, tudi manjši odpadki iz enega mesta, iz San Diega, v Tijuano.

from one city, from San Diego, to Tijuana.

Probably a lot of you have seen the rubber tires

Verjetno ste mnogi že videli pnevmatike,

that are used in the slums to build retaining walls.

ki jih uporabljajo v slumih za gradnjo podpornih zidov.

But look at what people have done here in conditions

Ampak poglejte, kaj so ljudje naredili v razmerah družbeno-ekonomske nuje.

of socioeconomic emergency.

They have figured out how to peel off the tire,

Naučili so se, kako olupiti gumo, kako jo naviti in preplesti,

how to thread it and interlock it

to construct a more efficient retaining wall.

da so napravili bolj učinkovit podporni zid.

Or the garage doors that are brought

Ali pa garažna vrata, ki jih pripeljejo iz San Diega v tovornjakih,

from San Diego in trucks

to become the new skin of emergency housing

in postanejo nova plast v kriznih gradnjah v mnogih slumih na obrobjih Tijuane.

in many of these slums

surrounding the edges of Tijuana.

So while, as an architect,

Medtem ko je za arhitekta zelo zanimivo opazovati to kreativno inteligenco,

this is a very compelling thing to witness,

this creative intelligence,

I also want to keep myself in check.

se hočem vseeno zadržati. Ne želim romantizirati revščine.

I don't want to romanticize poverty.

I just want to suggest

Želim samo predlagati, da takšna neformalna urbanizacija

that this informal urbanization

is not just the image of precariousness,

ni samo slika negotovosti, ampak, da je neformalnost tu, neformalno

that informality here, the informal,

is really a set of socioeconomic and political procedures

je pravzaprav niz družbeno-ekonomskih in političnih procesov,

that we could translate as artists,

ki jih lahko prevedemo kot umetniki,

that this is about a bottom-up urbanization

da je to urbanizacija od spodaj navzgor, ki daje rezultate.

that performs.

See here, buildings are not important

Poglejte, tu stavbe niso pomembne samo zaradi izgleda,

just for their looks,

but, in fact, they are important for what they can do.

ampak so dejansko pomembne zaradi tega, kar lahko naredijo.

They truly perform as they transform through time

Resnično pokažejo rezultate, ko se spreminjajo čez čas

and as communities negotiate

in ko skupnosti izpogajajo prostore in meje in sredstva.

the spaces and boundaries and resources.

So while waste flows southbound,

Medtem ko gredo odpadki na jug, gredo ljudje na sever za dolarji

people go north in search of dollars,

and most of my research has had to do

in večina mojega raziskovanja je o učinkih priseljevanja

with the impact of immigration

in the alteration of the homogeneity

na spremembe v homogenosti mnogih sosesk v Združenih Državah, zlasti v San Diegu.

of many neighborhoods in the United States,

particularly in San Diego.

And I'm talking about how this begins to suggest

In pravim, da to nakazuje, da je prihodnost južne Kalifornije

that the future of Southern California

depends on the retrofitting

odvisna od rekonstrukcije velike urbanizacije - mislim, na steroidih -

of the large urbanization -- I mean, on steroids --

with the small programs,

z majhnimi programi, družbenimi in gospodarskimi.

social and economic.

I'm referring to how immigrants,

V mislih imam, kako priseljenci, ko pridejo v te soseske,

when they come to these neighborhoods,

they begin to alter the one-dimensionality

začnejo spreminjati eno-dimenzionalnost parcel in nepremičnin

of parcels and properties

into more socially and economically complex systems,

v družbeno in gospodarsko bolj kompleksne sisteme,

as they begin to plug an informal economy into a garage,

ko začnejo z delom na črno v garaži

or as they build an illegal granny flat

ali pa ko zgradijo nelegalno stanovanje za babico, da pomagajo širši družini.

to support an extended family.

This socioeconomic entrepreneurship

Takšno družbeno-ekonomsko podjetništvo znotraj teh sosesk

on the ground within these neighborhoods

really begins to suggest ways of translating that

resnično namiguje na spreminjanje v nove, vključujoče in bolj pravične

into new, inclusive and more equitable

land use policies.

politike rabe zemljišč.

So many stories emerge from these dynamics

Mnoge zgodbe izvirajo iz teh dinamik sprememb prostora,

of alteration of space,

such as "the informal Buddha,"

kot je "Neuradni Buda", ki pove zgodbo o majhni hiši,

which tells the story of a small house

that saved itself, it did not travel to Mexico,

ki se je rešila sama. Ni potovala v Mehiko,

but it was retrofitted in the end

ampak je bila na koncu prenovljena v budistični tempelj

into a Buddhist temple,

and in so doing,

in s tem se je ta mala hiša preoblikovala ali mutirala

this small house transforms or mutates

from a singular dwelling

iz enostanovanjske v majhno ali mikro družbeno-ekonomsko

into a small, or a micro, socioeconomic

and cultural infrastructure inside a neighborhood.

in kulturno infrastrukturo znotraj soseske.

So these action neighborhoods, as I call them,

Tako te akcijske soseske, kot jim jaz pravim, dejansko postanejo navdih,

really become the inspiration

to imagine other interpretations of citizenship

da si zamislimo drugačne interpretacije državljanstva,

that have less to do, in fact,

ki ne pomenijo pripadnosti nacionalni državi,

with belonging to the nation-state,

and more with upholding the notion of citizenship

ampak podprejo pojem državljanstva kot kreativno dejavnost,

as a creative act

that reorganizes institutional protocols

ki reorganizira institucionalne protokole v mestnih prostorih.

in the spaces of the city.

As an artist, I've been interested, in fact,

Kot umetnik sem se pravzaprav zanimal za vizualizacijo državljanstva,

in the visualization of citizenship,

the gathering of many anecdotes, urban stories,

zbiranje številnih anekdot, urbanih zgodb,

in order to narrativize the relationship

da bi zmogel pripovedovati o odnosu med družbenimi procesi in prostorom.

between social processes and spaces.

This is a story of a group of teenagers

To je zgodba o skupini najstnikov, ki so se neke noči pred nekaj meseci

that one night, a few months ago,

decided to invade this space under the freeway

odločili zasesti to mesto pod avtocesto, da bi začeli graditi svoj skejterski park.

to begin constructing their own skateboard park.

With shovels in hand, they started to dig.

Z lopatami v rokah so začeli kopati. Čez dva tedna jih je ustavila policija.

Two weeks later, the police stopped them.

They barricaded the place,

Blokirali so prostor, najstniki pa so bili pregnani,

and the teenagers were evicted,

and the teenagers decided to fight back,

ampak so se odločili, da se bodo borili,

not with bank cards or slogans

ne z bančnimi karticami ali slogani, ampak z izgradnjo kritičnega procesa.

but with constructing a critical process.

The first thing they did was to recognize

Najprej so priznali posebnosti politične pristojnosti,

the specificity of political jurisdiction

inscribed in that empty space.

začrtane za ta prazen prostor.

They found out that they had been lucky

Spoznali so, da so imeli srečo, da niso začeli kopati pod Caltransovim območjem.

because they had not begun to dig

under Caltrans territoy.

Caltrans is a state agency that governs the freeway,

Caltrans je državna agencija, ki upravlja z avtocesto,

so it would have been very difficult to negotiate with them.

tako da bi se bilo zelo težko pogajati z njimi.

They were lucky, they said, because they began

Imeli so srečo, so rekli, ker so začeli kopati pod delom avtoceste,

to dig under an arm of the freeway

that belongs to the local municipality.

ki pripada lokalni skupnosti. Prav tako so imeli srečo, so rekli,

They were also lucky, they said,

because they began to dig in a sort of

ker so začeli kopati v neke vrste bermudskem trikotniku pristojnosti,

Bermuda Triangle of jurisdiction,

between port authority, airport authority,

med pristaniškimi in letališkimi oblastmi,

two city districts, and a review board.

dvema mestnima četrtima in revizijskim odborom.

All these red lines are the invisible

Vse te rdeče črte so nevidne politične institucije, ki so zapisane

political institutions that were inscribed

in that leftover empty space.

v ta ostanek praznega prostora.

With this knowledge, these teenagers

S tem znanjem so se ti najstniki rolkarji spopadli z mestom.

as skaters confronted the city.

They came to the city attorney's office.

Prišli so v pisarno mestnega odvetnika.

The city attorney told them

Odvetnik jim je povedal, da če hočejo nadaljevati s pogajanji,

that in order to continue the negotiation

they had to become an NGO,

morajo postati nevladna organizacija

and of course they didn't know what an NGO was.

in seveda niso vedeli, kaj je nevladna organizacija.

They had to talk to their friends in Seattle

Morali so govoriti s svojimi prijatelji iz Seattla,

who had gone through the same experience.

ki so šli skozi enako izkušnjo.

And they began to realize the necessity

In tako so spoznali potrebo, da se morajo globlje organizirati,

to organize themselves even deeper

and began to fundraise, to organize budgets,

začeti zbirati denar, organizirati proračun,

to really be aware of all the knowledge

da bi bili resnično seznanjeni z vsem znanjem

embedded in the urban code in San Diego

vgrajenem v mestnih pravilih San Diega, da bi lahko začeli spreminjati

so that they could begin to redefine

the very meaning of public space in the city,

sam pomen javnega prostora v mestu in ga razširili na druge kategorije.

expanding it to other categories.

At the end, the teenagers won the case

Na koncu so najstniki dobili primer s temi dokazi

with that evidence, and they were able

in lahko so zgradili svoj skejterski park pod avtocesto.

to construct their skateboard park

under that freeway.

Now for many of you, this story

Za mnoge izmed vas se lahko ta zgodba zdi nepomembna ali naivna.

might seem trivial or naive.

For me as an architect, it has become

Za mene, kot arhitekta, je postala osnovna pripoved, ker me nauči,

a fundamental narrative,

because it begins to teach me

that this micro-community

da ta mikro skupnost ni samo ustvarila drugih kategorij javnega prostora,

not only designed another category of public space

but they also designed the socioeconomic protocols

ampak je tudi ustvarila družbeno-ekonomske protokole,

that were necessary to be inscribed in that space

ki so morali biti vpisani v ta prostor za dolgoročno vzdržljivost.

for its long-term sustainability.

They also taught me

Naučili so me tudi,

that similar to the migrant communities

da podobno kot priseljenske skupnosti na obeh straneh meje,

on both sides of the border,

they engaged conflict itself as a creative tool,

so tudi oni uporabili konflikt kot kreativno sredstvo,

because they had to produce a process

ker so morali ustvariti proces,

that enabled them to reorganize resources

ki jim je omogočil, da so reorganizirali sredstva in politiko mesta.

and the politics of the city.

In that act, that informal,

Na ta način je neformalni prestopek iz dna dejansko začel curljati k vrhu

bottom-up act of transgression,

really began to trickle up

to transform top-down policy.

in spreminjati politike usmerjene zgoraj-navzdol.

Now this journey from the bottom-up

Ta pot od spodaj navzgor k spremembi vrha mi danes daje upanje.

to the transformation of the top-down

is where I find hope today.

And I'm thinking of how these modest alterations

Razmišljam, kako takšne skromne spremembe prostora in politike

with space and with policy

in many cities in the world,

v mnogih mestih po svetu, prvenstveno v nujnosti skupne domišljije,

in primarily the urgency

of a collective imagination

as these communities

ko skupnosti razmislijo o svojih oblikah upravljanja,

reimagine their own forms of governance,

social organization, and infrastructure,

družbeni organizaciji in infrastrukturi,

really is at the center

so dejansko v središču novega oblikovanja demokratične politike mest.

of the new formation

of democratic politics of the urban.

It is, in fact, this that could become the framework

Dejansko je to lahko tisto, kar bi lahko postalo okvir

for producing new social

za proizvodnjo nove družbene in gospodarske pravičnosti v mestu.

and economic justice in the city.

I want to say this and emphasize it,

To želim reči in poudariti, ker je to edini način, ki ga vidim,

because this is the only way I see

that can enable us to move

ki nam zdaj lahko omogoči, da se premaknemo

from urbanizations of consumption

od urbanizacije potrošništva k soseskam proizvodnje.

to neighborhoods of production today.

Thank you.

Hvala.

(Applause)

(Aplavz)