Review, Reading, Question, Field Notes, Analysis, Practice, Material Experiment

After discussion on last week, there were a set of research questions that came from my observation which was about how homeless people adapt themselves to survive in Bangkok. A set of questions that I never ask myself before are: Why they want to live in the city? What is the urban life means to them? What is urban means in terms of philosophy and urban design?

According to Ulrich Beck “Urban” definition is based on “Zombie Categories”. Ulrich said “Zombie categories are ‘living dead’ categories which govern our thinking but are not really able to capture the contemporary milieu.”

According to editor of Journal of Consumer Culture mentioned after interview with Beck “Beck elaborates on some of central concepts associated with thinking – ‘Zombie Categories’, risk society, global risk society, reflexivity, manufactured uncertainties, cosmopolitanism and individualization.”

According to Bo Gronlund “Within space syntax the understanding of the city is developed from the notion of the ‘city as object’, especially as a spatial object, and not from the notion of ‘urbanity’. The paper found on ‘urbanity’ in the five symposia are mainly related to spatial integration, intelligibility and co-presence. Co-presence in freely accessible space can also be seen in perspective of Hiller’s (1989) fourfold transformation of community, especially ‘the virtual community’ of stranger. From this starting points further aspects have been add like higher permeability in central parts, effects of the placement and the number of doors, effect the number of the building plots along lines in the grid, etc. It has also been possible to demonstrate city dynamics at work, which starting from co-presence and integration lead to an increasing differentiation of the city (Hiller, 2002). Through space syntax it is also possible to show some of the ‘lack of urbanity’ in modern urban development in 20^th century, like island of deeply segregated spaces.”

I agree with Ulrich Beck that “Urban” definition is based on “Zombie Categories”. The word ‘zombie’ is very frightened and negative; however it is portrayed what happen in urban life. The character of zombie that I saw in many movies and TV program; it almost the same character when I was looking urban life. People just walk and communicate with other through their smartphone when they are in public space, no interaction with each other, less boundary of individual consumption. Is it the individualization? This characteristic is look like zombie. Isn’t it?

Last week I mentioned about street vendor, they are part of urban life. Many of low paid worker and the worker who preferred the ready meal in rush hour; they trust the food that street vendors are provide.

However, when I had a chance to visit street vendor home, there are “full of life”. Some of them survive with basic needs (no smartphone, no internet network, unstable home), but I can touch the friendship of neighborhood that I never see in my urban life (ten people are living at the same floor and is separated by the thin concrete wall; we never know each even name). When asked them “Do you know the women who is a selling a meat ball in front of Thai CC Tower?” and they replied me “Yes, of course” and she told me the direction to go to her home.

While walking through the street vendor’s community I noticed that they reuse and recycle the rubbish for example the vinyl sign; they use with multi-purpose (to cover, be a shade or shelter). And this is inspired me to develop my work to reuse and recycle the rubbish that I keep in my room. After I back home, I brought out all the rubbish and tried to find the potential of the material to reuse (connect, cut, spread out, flip, inside out). And I found one method is to turn inside out and it became a new packaging and I am going to drawing the story of street vendor on and inside it.