Metabolic Studio Public Salon:Jeanine Centuori, Paulette Singley & Woodbury University StudentsFriday, April 30, 2010 @ NoonFree Admission

Guerilla Urbanism

Woodbury University architecture students present their “Guerilla Actions” from this spring’s studio “Guerilla Urbanism.”

The phrase “guerilla urbanism” carries with it certain inherent contradictions regarding the ability to produce a guerilla act—improvisational and unsanctioned by its very nature—as urban design—a protracted and planned process requiring the consent of myriad stakeholders. These two unnatural partners nonetheless offer a useful pairing, expanding upon and mitigating each others strengths and weaknesses--immediacy as opposed to long-term planning, action versus contemplation, individual agency in opposition to compromising with public agencies. Both forms of public intervention, though nearly adversarial in their processes, proffer an idealistic promise to positively transform public space. To what extent can we take lessons from guerilla activities in the formation of an urban design proposal? In our era of sustainable consciousness and the danger of green washing undermining this utopian agenda, examining the potential of activating our engagement with the environment emerges as a key factor in transforming the planet.

Jeanine Centuori is a Professor and Director of the Center for Community Research and Design in the School of Architecture at Woodbury University. A current outreach project examines alternative ADA solutions for educational facilities. This work is funded by the National Endowment for the Arts. Past projects have received national awards including a PA Award and a Best of Category for Environments from ID Magazine. Jeanine is also principal of UrbanRock Design (located at the Brewery Arts Complex), a practice involving public art, environments, and housing projects. The practice has completed public art projects in museums, public facilities, and parks around the country. They recently received a CA AIA Award for “Conditional Reflections,” a public art project in Denver, CO.

Paulette Singley is a Professor in the School of Architecture at Woodbury University in Los Angeles, California. She co-edited Eating Architecture and Architecture: In Fashion and has been published in Log, ANY, Assemblage and several critical architectural anthologies. She received a Ph.D in architectural history and theory from Princeton University, an M.A. in the history of architecture and urbanism from Cornell University, and a B.Arch from the University of Southern California.

Woodbury University Students: Vanessa Banos, Monica Bello, Stephanie Byrd, Brando Cohen, Oscar Corletto, Wilson Diaz, Hiep Do, Cody Glen, Edgar Gonzalez, Liliana Gonzalez, Alma Jauregui, Pablo Martinez, Kevin Montgomery, Fidelina Ramirez, Andriena Raventos, Danielle Reimer, Giovanni Salas, Mayra Sanchez, Sara Shakib, Jason Tosatto