There’s a global belief that technology has become a controlling force over privacy - that it monitors our activities and stores all our data. But there are communities of techno-activists that are using technology to spark new forms of creativity, experimentation and mobility. This year Cape Town offered a fertile context for such activism. Within the fragile ecosystem of post-apartheid South Africa, we designed lightweight temporary structures to integrate factions of society and bridge historically segregated infrastructural boundaries to create a stronger, more united urban reality.
We began by designing jewellery with digital sensory effects, creating a relationship to the body by redefining its limits and connecting with the traditional craft of the country. Moving up in scale, we then designed nomadic techno-architecture that cultivated a relationship to these new wearable pieces in order to define new channels for social exchange.
Emily’s survival collar for both festival-goers and displaced populations extended into a series of pneumatic dwellings, storage and supply units for both the Afrika Burn Festival (a satellite of Burning Man) and Cape Town’s migrant communities. Micko’s psychedelic laser totems re-invented the simultaneity of a global event, creating a party through non-verbal communication at every scale. Shereen blurred the boundaries between physical, virtual and augmented realities to connect the socially and geographically disparate. Ali’s modified piercing gave us superpowers to share tastes, and his various plug-in architectures resolved the issue of taste scarcity in South Africa. Edmund chose to reinvent the monument, no longer creating structures to remind us of the past but to dissolve boundaries between social groups of the present. And Jakob created an arsenal of endangered plant-related strategies for the shack-dweller to ensure the permanence of township communities.
Ali Mirzaei
AnatoliosStathiou
Edmund Lam
Emily Hayden
Gian Andrea Diana
JakobSkote
MilivojeSestovic
Petro El Hage
SadiaRahman
ShereenDoummar
VidhiGoel
Yang-Yang Chen
BQ 3D-printer session
Lotocoho
Fernando Gomez
Tessa Katz
Catarina Sampaio Cruz
Andreas Stylianou
ReemNasir
Agata Pilarska
Nobrow Press
Devin Herd
Samantha Bendzulla
Robert Weinek
Monique Schiess
Andrew Fleming
All of our critics and collaborators
Manuel Collado Arpia and Nacho Martin Asunción are founders of the Madrid-based office Mi5 architects. They have won and built several competitions, and their work has been published in a range of media such as Dezeen, ArchDaily, Icon, Mark and El País. Since 2003 they have taught at various institutions including the Architectural Polytechnic Universities, UAH Madrid, UA Alicante and UCJC Madrid, the AA Summer School and Fashion Design at IED Madrid. They have also participated in several juries, lectures and exhibitions such as the Venice Biennale, RIBA London, IVAM Valencia and GD-NYU. They both obtained their PhD at ETSAM Madrid in 2013.
Manijeh Verghese is the curator of the AA Public Programme and the editor of AA Conversations. With a previous degree in architecture and mathematics from Wellesley College, she graduated from the AA with honours in 2012. She has worked for numerous architecture practices and design publications, including John Pawson and Foster + Partners as well as Disegno and Icon magazine.
