Why are medinas worth exploring? They are some of the most densely populated areas on earth and represent some of the oldest continuously inhabited settlements. Their organization and structure are informed by climate, religion, social structure and transportation modeled after pedestrians and goods-laden animals. Public and private realm are extremely well defined and delineated. In some places these... Continue Reading →
06/02: Places of Protest
editor's note: this post is third of four written in December 2011 about In Sidi Bouzid the location of protests was determined by two factors. One, where Bouazizi decided to set himself on fire (the local seat of government) and two, where the local seat of government decided to situate itself within the urban fabric.... Continue Reading →
06/01: Islamic City Planning
The five cities in four countries mentioned in yesterday's post find themselves with the Dar-al-Islam, within the historic boundaries of the Islamic Empire of the middle ages and later the Ottoman Empire. As a result of this shared history, certain urban structures and organization patterns can be seen as shared amongst the five cities. Stephano Bianca outlines... Continue Reading →
05/31: Beginnings of the Arab Spring
The Tunisian Revolution started in the town of Sidi Bouzid, the seat of governance for a rural province of the same name in central Tunisia. By January 21, Time magazine summarized the catalyst of the unrest with the following record of one Mohamed Bouazizi: ...on Dec. 17 his livelihood was threatened when a policewoman confiscated his... Continue Reading →
05/23: After Amnesia (cont.)
Petruccioli outlines a number of definitions in an effort to further frame his argument. He differentiates between the linguistic terms langue and parole (the former being all the collective rules of language codified, while the latter is one individual's use of language) to explain the evolution of building types. “A [building] type may be a... Continue Reading →
Adam Achrati 