Open City Jakarta: Reciprocity as an Urban Strategy

OPEN CITY JAKARTA Reciprocity as an Urban Strategy Exhibition, Opening Conference, Film Festival Curated by Stephen Cairns and Daliana Suryawinata Open City Concept by Kees Christiaanse Jakarta’s rapid urbanization from the last decades of the twentieth century has seen it emerge today as one of the world’s largest mega-cities. Through the scale and complexity that come with that rapid growth, Jakarta poses a profound challenge to long-established foundations of urban theory and understandings of what a city might be. One such challenge that Jakarta poses is to take the informal seriously as an urban process and practice. ‘Reciprocity’ is a rich and significant principle for the informal city. Reciprocal forms of exchange, such as bartering, bargaining, giving, or gleaning, are amongst the many transactions that structure the city but are not usually acknowledged in the way it has been theorised, designed or planned. We propose an experiment in urban thinking and design practice by placing reciprocity as an urban strategy. We ask: ‘what would a Recipro-City be like’? Open City Jakarta is a continuation of selected exhibition materials from 4th International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam in 2009. The exhibition consists of 12 innovative research and design projects which offer distinct scenarios for Jakarta as a Recipro-City. Each project exemplifies a distinct reciprocal relationship: between built environment and nature (Sponge City analyses the flooding patterns in Jakarta and proposes architectural interventions that ameliorate their effects); between formal and informal sectors (Jakarta Bersih focuses on the relationship between formal and informal waste disposal systems in Jakarta); between corporate and local spheres (Social Mall proposes to insert diverse public programs and facilities into malls, so that malls could become better embedded in the community in which they are located). The 12 scenarios are accompanied by a cast of 12 contemporary wayang characters by Eko Nugroho, and anthropological urban photographs by Erik Prasetya. • Fifth Layer, a mapping and analysis of Jakarta in five historical urban layers by Jo Santoso (Urban Planning and Real Estate UNTAR), Jakarta • Cultures of Legibility, a Post-GPS, Post-Lynch mapping technique for rural-urban Jakarta, by Stephen Cairns and William Mackaness (University of Edinburgh) and Gunawan Tjahjono and Herlily (Universitas Indonesia), Jakarta • Soft Gate, an analysis of boundary spaces between gated communities and their surroundings, by Budi Pradono (Budi Pradono Architects), Jakarta • Sponge City, a proposal for collective water management against flooding and drought by Adi Purnomo (mamostudio) and David Hutama (Universitas Pelita Harapan), Jakarta • Social Mall, a proposal to provide free public facilities inside shopping malls, while at the same time increasing sales, by Daliana Suryawinata, Florian Heinzelmann (SHAU), Andra Matin (andramatin), Herlambang and Wita Simatupang (Urban Planning and Real Estate UNTAR) and Alex Wall (stba Karlsruhe), Rotterdam, Jakarta and Karlsruhe • Servants’ Space, a proposal to improve living conditions of household servants, by Ahmad and Wendy Djuhara (djuhara+djuhara), Jakarta • Canop’City, a proposal to insert environmentally-friendly infrastructural canopies into areas which lack public facilities, by Gesa Buettner, Alejo Paillard (GABPA) and Alvar Mensana, Los Angeles • Jakarta Bersih!, a proposal to merge the informal and formal waste industries in a new form, in combination with the kampung, by Steven Brunsmann, Johan Krol (NUNC), Tanja van der Laan (Plataan), Koog-aan-de-Zaan, Utrecht • Solusi Rumah, a documentation of sustainable, low-cost housing projects by HOLCIM, Jakarta • Spatial Anthropology, research, documentation on informal work in Jakarta by Mercy Corps, Jakarta • Triple A, a three-in-one planning method of Atlas, Agenda and Aturan-Main by Rik Frenkel (Triple A), Yogyakarta • At Home Far Away, an interview project of Indonesians in Rotterdam, by Christina Liesegang and Sonja Poehlmann, Rotterdam, Barcelona Open City Jakarta Speakers and moderators for the Opening Day on 1 October (to be confirmed): Suharso Monoarfa (Ministry of Housing), Paul Peters (Erasmus Huis), George Brugmans (IABR), Kees Christiaanse (KCAP, ETH), Stephen Cairns (ESALA, Edinburgh University), Daliana Suryawinata (SHAU, The Why Factory), Andrea Peresthu (Biomass Energy Center, TU Delft), Jo Santoso (Tarumanagara University), Ridwan Kamil (URBANE), Adi Purnomo (mamostudio), David Hutama (Pelita Harapan University) , Alex Buechi (Holcim), Abdoumaliq Simone (Goldsmiths College), Ayu Utami (Komunitas Utan Kayu), Budi Pradono (Budi Pradono Architects), Ahmad Djuhara (djuhara+djuhara), Gunawan Tjahjono (Universitas Indonesia), Tanja van der Laan (Plataan), Suryono Herlambang (Tarumanagara University), Andra Matin (andramatin). Sponsored by Erasmus Huis, International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam, the Netherlands Architecture Funds (Stimuleringsfonds voor Architectuur), Department of Urban Planning & Real Estate UNTAR, Holcim Jakarta, Edinburgh University, AHRC, KCAP, ETH Zürich, DEP, Gusto Sign, and SHAU. Open City Jakarta Exhibition runs from 1 October- 1 December 2010. Open City Jakarta Opening Conference, featuring celebrated international speakers, is open to the public on 1 October 2010. Open City Jakarta Film Festival runs from 1 October- 1 December 2010. Erasmus Huis Jl. H.R. Rasuna Said Kav. S-3, Kuningan | Jakarta 12950 | Tel. 021 524 1069 | [email protected] | www.mfa.nl/erasmushuis