Tactical Workshop

Cohabitation Strategies invited a diverse group of people involved in art, architecture, urban planning, housing and community organizing in New York City to discuss a proposal for the exhibition Uneven Growth: Tactical Urbanisms for Expanding Megacities last Friday, April 25th. This was the second local workshop. The first one took place at MoMa PS1 last October 2013.

The discussion was led by Gabriela Rendon, Miguel Robles-Duran and Emiliano Gandolfi (co-founders of Cohabitation Strategies). Rachel LaForest (Executive Director of the Right to the City Alliance), Tom Angotti (Professor of Urban Affairs and Planning at Hunter College and the Graduate Center at City University of New York) and David Harvey (Distinguished Professor of Anthropology and Geography at the Graduate Center of the CUNY) contributed as main advisors. The participants included leaders from diverse governmental, educational, non-profit, grassroots, and cultural organizations, as well as representatives from SITU Studio (the project partners) and architects engaged in affordable and supportive housing design and development in the city. The main topics of the discussion centered around the need to redistribute public benefits and subsidies evenly in the city; the urgency of a cultural shift regarding public involvement in the provision of housing and urban development; the potential of current tenant and community-led housing schemes taking place in the city; the constrains of progressive housing models to expand and alleviate the shortage of affordable housing; and a proposed hybrid housing model providing affordable housing for current and future generations of New Yorkers. The analysis, critique, and suggestions that came out from the workshop will be incorporated in this ongoing project. The input of the participants was highly valuable. A third workshop is planned for next month to continue the conversation.

We would like to thank all the participants and the Right to the City Alliance for hosting this event.