[español] [menu]
[?]
Urban Workshop : A very Special Sunday

The urban workshops are free of charge and occur every couple of months. The main purpose of these is to experience the city 'live' and to evaluate it through various urban studies. On a Sunday morning, we meet at the Revolution Park (Federalismo/ Juárez intersection). The first activity of the day is the presentation of some novel technology, followed by a related exercise. Following this, between noon and 2 pm, we walk around downtown Guadalajara, using the following urban studies to catalog the city (all catalogued data will subsequently form part of the ZMG-axis on-line):
study 01: flow in space-- This is typical of contemporary spatial diagramming, focusing on the ways in which people move through a space. The result of the study is a series of flows that vary in density as representing greater or lesser numbers of people in circulation. In recent years, it has become popular to represent these flows directly as physical architecture that is both representative of its 'function' and shaped like a fashionable 'fluid form'. in the ZMG-axis, circulation flows are employed as a secondary layer of meaning in the re-presentation of the city.
study 02: comment your city-- This exercise works in conjunction with study #3 (draw your city). Here, participants are provided elevation images of city blocks that exist on the Hidalgo/ Vallarta axis of the city. The buildings are to be described based on the images (architecturally, based on form-geometry-style), together with possible memories/ personal experiences of those places, or associations to other known buildings, or a focus on the social use of the spaces.
study 03: draw your city-- Like 'comment your city', this exercise is similarly 'personal'. Here, however, the personal creation is an image. A comment is extracted from the previous exercise (presented without its photograph), and from this textual description the participant draws a possible architectural elevation of the city block that is being described. The drawing can be realistc or fictitious, but must take into account the text description.
study 04: perceive your city-- For those who enjoy photography, this is an opportunity to capture the city in aesthetic imagery worthy of postcards. From all the photographs that are taken, the most beutiful-significant are selected for exhibition on the virtual ZMG-axis (in the 'gallery'), as postcards for distribution in the real world, and for possible inclusion in gallery exhibits in Guadalajara.
study 05: evolve the urban image-- This is an additive-drawing exercise. Based on a particular urban topic, a participant begins to draw a scene. The drawing is then passed to a second participant, who adds his/her own imagery to it. In this manner, the drawing is shared among various participants, as imagery is added directly or in hidden folds. The resultant drawings are cataloged according to their artistic value (with the most 'valuable' being exhibited to the public).
study 06: re-tell your city-- Here participants tell personal tales about particular parts of the city. On their own, these provide for interesting 'historical reading' (found in the 'personal tales' section of the ZMG-axis). Also, the narratives are connected via a hyperlinked Web that acts as a secondary layer of meaning in the re-presentation of the city.

The downtown walk is usually enjoyed in unison, but sometimes we split up into separate groups. Between 2 and 4 pm we all meet at a local cafeteria in order to share the day's experiences and offer recommendations for future workshops. This is also an opportunity for distributing CDs and literature, ZMG-axis t-shirts, etc. to all attendees.

if you would like to participate in the next urban workshop, go to the Revolution Park sometime between 10 am and 4 pm on the following date, and contact Sandro Alberti via cell phone (044331-2295586) to find out where the group is located:

More information regarding the urban workshops may be found in the official publicity.