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Age

I have a website

http://www.dysturb.net

Artistic Field or Interest

urbanistic research

Profession

architect, urbanist, teacher, editor

Artistic and professional experiences

I’ve been trained as an architect and philosopher in Barcelona and Berlin, obtained the Erasmus and Leonardo scholarships during this period and worked with Enrique Miralles. I received my Diploma as an architect in 2003 for an urban scale research work on the Montjuic mountain in Barcelona with Kees Christiaanse. My research at TU Berlin stimulated my interest in the in-between, self-organisation and interaction with public space. Subsequently I founded Kinzo, an design studio cum night club, where I conceived several exhibitions, guerilla events, and underground fiestas with my partners - each project combining disparate elements of the commercial, the informal & the architectonic. Since 2006 I work as a project leader for maxwan architects and urbanists in Rotterdam, which added the XXL scale to my repertoire, with a special interest in interstitial spaces, areas of confrontation and overlap. Recent projects in this category include a vision for the Rotterdam Harbour (client: Port of Rotterdam); a study of how to energise a messy area in East London (Cross River Park, client: Design for London); and a new town south of moscow for 300.000 people (client: masshtab). I was recently invited as a guest professor of town planning and interior design for one term by the Private University for Science and Arts in Aleppo.

Statement

My potential contribution to RELOADING IMAGES is rooted in the polarities which define contemporary Syria.The ambiguities and tensions within this contrast raise a multitude of questions such as: - highly authoritarian regime VS informal self-organisation on an individual level Where do the low-level and high-level systems interrelate? How are these connections manifest? - traditional codes of behaviour VS new technologies Can the technology integrate into tradition? Does it have corrosive / transforming / disruptive effects? - the private VS the public Do the images of Pop culture breach the walls of the arabic courtyard house? How?
- cultural overlap VS cultural segregation Damascus is a mix of ethnic groups and religious factions. What are the borders? Where are the transitions, in a very literal sense, in everyday life? Can we conceive of catalysts which might create the ‘unexpected’ from these contrasts? I do not propose a preconceived project, but rather want the process to define the result. Nonetheless, I think the result should take on a concrete, spatial form - such as an intervention in the urban structure - which takes it beyond the level of analysis.