Urban acupuncture is a theory of urban environmentalism that combines urban design with the traditional Chinese medical theory of acupuncture.[1] This strategy views cities as living, breathing organisms and pinpoints specific areas in need of repair. Sustainable projects, therefore, serve as needles that revitalize the whole by healing the parts.[2] By perceiving the city as a living being, urban acupuncture promotes a common machinery and establishes the location of certain nuclei - similar to the key points on the human body that traditional acupuncture locates. Satellite technology, different networks and theories of collective intelligence are used to intervene surgically and selectively in the nodes that have the greatest potential for regeneration.[3].
Urban organism
Created by Finnish architect and social theorist Marco Casagrande, this school of thought eschews large urban renewal projects in favor of a more local and collective approach that, in an era of limited budgets and resources, could offer respite to the urban population in a democratic and economical way.[4] Casagrande maintains a vision of cities as complex energy organisms. Each of these organisms is decomposed into different layers in which energy flows are superimposed that determine the actions of citizens, as well as the development of the city. By mixing environmentalism and urban design, Casagrande manages to develop methods of specific manipulation of said urban energy flows in order to create sustainable urban development towards what he calls “3rd Generation City” (post-industrial city). The theory is developed at Tamkang University of Taiwan")[5] and Ruin Academy").[6] All of these theories are applied in numerous projects such as, for example, community gardens and urban farms in Taipei.
Marco Casagrande describes urban acupuncture as:
Participatory planning
The theory of urban acupuncture opens the door to creativity without control and with total freedom. Each citizen is enabled to participate in the creative process of participatory planning and feel free to use urban space for any purpose and develop their environment according to their will. This new post-industrialized city is called by Casagrande. Such is characterized by having sensitive citizens who feel the call to sustainable cooperation with the rest of nature, a citizenry that is aware of the destruction that modern and callous machinery is causing to nature, including human nature.[9] In a broader context, urban acupuncture can be seen as communicating to the city outside as a natural sign of life in a city programmed to subsume.[10].
Urban acupuncture theory
Introduction
Urban acupuncture is a theory of urban environmentalism that combines urban design with the traditional Chinese medical theory of acupuncture.[1] This strategy views cities as living, breathing organisms and pinpoints specific areas in need of repair. Sustainable projects, therefore, serve as needles that revitalize the whole by healing the parts.[2] By perceiving the city as a living being, urban acupuncture promotes a common machinery and establishes the location of certain nuclei - similar to the key points on the human body that traditional acupuncture locates. Satellite technology, different networks and theories of collective intelligence are used to intervene surgically and selectively in the nodes that have the greatest potential for regeneration.[3].
Urban organism
Created by Finnish architect and social theorist Marco Casagrande, this school of thought eschews large urban renewal projects in favor of a more local and collective approach that, in an era of limited budgets and resources, could offer respite to the urban population in a democratic and economical way.[4] Casagrande maintains a vision of cities as complex energy organisms. Each of these organisms is decomposed into different layers in which energy flows are superimposed that determine the actions of citizens, as well as the development of the city. By mixing environmentalism and urban design, Casagrande manages to develop methods of specific manipulation of said urban energy flows in order to create sustainable urban development towards what he calls “3rd Generation City” (post-industrial city). The theory is developed at Tamkang University of Taiwan")[5] and Ruin Academy").[6] All of these theories are applied in numerous projects such as, for example, community gardens and urban farms in Taipei.
Marco Casagrande describes urban acupuncture as:
Participatory planning
The theory of urban acupuncture opens the door to creativity without control and with total freedom. Each citizen is enabled to participate in the creative process of participatory planning and feel free to use urban space for any purpose and develop their environment according to their will. This post-industrialized city is called by Casagrande. Such is characterized by having sensitive citizens who feel the call to sustainable cooperation with the rest of nature, a citizenry that is aware of the destruction that modern and callous machinery is causing to nature, including human nature.[9] In a broader context, urban acupuncture can be seen as communicating to the city outside as a natural sign of life in a city programmed to subsume.[10].
Third Generation City
Third Generation City
Urban acupuncture shares certain similarities with the new urban concept of tactical urbanism. The idea focuses on local resources as programmers and promoters in settling citizens and caring for interventions, rather than capital-intensive municipal ones.[11] Proponents argue that these small changes will boost community morale and catalyze revitalization.
Reduced to a simple statement, urban acupulture focuses on small, subtle interventions, made from below, that harness and direct the energy of the community in a positive way to heal urban decay and improve the urban landscape. It is intended as an alternative to large mega-interventions, made from the top down, which normally require heavy investments of municipal funds (which many cities at this time simply do not have or have better options in which to invest it) and the intervention of countless and very long bureaucratic processes.[12].
The micro-interventions directed by urban acupuncture are referred to both citizen-activists and communities with resource problems. Its examples are very diverse.[13] In Mexico, urban acupuncture refers to the fact of converting Shanty Towns, such as sheds in poor neighborhoods, into simple homes that allow added complements later and that are based on future needs and their feasibility. This strategy produces a transformation of marginal areas, without the need to relocate families that have lived together for generations.[14]
In South Africa, urban acupuncture is seen as potentially providing a means for people to release their creativity and benefits. For example, innovation and entrepreneurship are concentrated in certain parts of the city, that is, communities, thus providing opportunities to those areas that do not have the type of infrastructure found in major cities. This approach can provide a more realistic and less costly method for city planners and citizens as an effective way to make minor improvements in communities in order to achieve the greater good in cities.[15].
Jaime Lerner, former mayor of Curitiba, suggests urban acupuncture as the future solution to contemporary urban problems. By focusing on the tiny pressure points in cities, we can initiate positive effects for larger-wave society. Urban acupuncture reclaims ownership of land for the people and emphasizes the importance of community development through small interventions in the design of cities. They are pinpointed interventions that can be quickly accomplished to release energy and create a positive ripple effect.[16] It involves pinpointed interventions that can be quickly accomplished to release energy and create a positive ripple effect.[17] In 2007, Lerner himself explained:
Taiwanese architect and academic Ti-Chi Nan is searching with micro-urbanism in the vulnerable and insignificant side of contemporary cities around the world identified as micro-zones, the recovery points in which micro-projects have been carefully proposed to involve the public at different levels, with the aim of resolving conflicts between owners, villagers and the general public.[19].
A group of architects formed by Wang Shu, Marco Casagrande, Hsieh Ying-chun and Roan Ching-yueh (called WEAK!) base their research on the description of the unofficial Instant City, or Instant Taipei. They develop the idea of how architecture uses the city as a platform for growth and a source of energy, where it binds itself like a parasite and from where light and water filters... This is so widespread and rooted in the urban landscape and Taiwanese culture that one can speak of an instant city. The proliferation of illegal urban farms or night markets is so widespread that it creates a parallel city on top of the "official" Taipei. WEAK! is dedicated to analyzing and cataloging the different cases of urban acupuncture depending on the context such as Illegal Architecture, Popular Architecture, or Weak Architecture.[20] The theory of urban acupuncture suggests that dozens of small-scale, less expensive and scrupulously located projects are what cities need to recover and renew themselves.[21].
Urban acupuncture shares certain similarities with the new urban concept of tactical urbanism. The idea focuses on local resources as programmers and promoters in settling citizens and caring for interventions, rather than capital-intensive municipal ones.[11] Proponents argue that these small changes will boost community morale and catalyze revitalization.
Reduced to a simple statement, urban acupulture focuses on small, subtle interventions, made from below, that harness and direct the energy of the community in a positive way to heal urban decay and improve the urban landscape. It is intended as an alternative to large mega-interventions, made from the top down, which normally require heavy investments of municipal funds (which many cities at this time simply do not have or have better options in which to invest it) and the intervention of countless and very long bureaucratic processes.[12].
The micro-interventions directed by urban acupuncture are referred to both citizen-activists and communities with resource problems. Its examples are very diverse.[13] In Mexico, urban acupuncture refers to the fact of converting Shanty Towns, such as sheds in poor neighborhoods, into simple homes that allow added complements later and that are based on future needs and their feasibility. This strategy produces a transformation of marginal areas, without the need to relocate families that have lived together for generations.[14]
In South Africa, urban acupuncture is seen as potentially providing a means for people to release their creativity and benefits. For example, innovation and entrepreneurship are concentrated in certain parts of the city, that is, communities, thus providing opportunities to those areas that do not have the type of infrastructure found in major cities. This approach can provide a more realistic and less costly method for city planners and citizens as an effective way to make minor improvements in communities in order to achieve the greater good in cities.[15].
Jaime Lerner, former mayor of Curitiba, suggests urban acupuncture as the future solution to contemporary urban problems. By focusing on the tiny pressure points in cities, we can initiate positive effects for larger-wave society. Urban acupuncture reclaims ownership of land for the people and emphasizes the importance of community development through small interventions in the design of cities. They are pinpointed interventions that can be quickly accomplished to release energy and create a positive ripple effect.[16] It involves pinpointed interventions that can be quickly accomplished to release energy and create a positive ripple effect.[17] In 2007, Lerner himself explained:
Taiwanese architect and academic Ti-Chi Nan is searching with micro-urbanism in the vulnerable and insignificant side of contemporary cities around the world identified as micro-zones, the recovery points in which micro-projects have been carefully proposed to involve the public at different levels, with the aim of resolving conflicts between owners, villagers and the general public.[19].
A group of architects formed by Wang Shu, Marco Casagrande, Hsieh Ying-chun and Roan Ching-yueh (called WEAK!) base their research on the description of the unofficial Instant City, or Instant Taipei. They develop the idea of how architecture uses the city as a platform for growth and a source of energy, where it binds itself like a parasite and from where light and water filters... This is so widespread and rooted in the urban landscape and Taiwanese culture that one can speak of an instant city. The proliferation of illegal urban farms or night markets is so widespread that it creates a parallel city on top of the "official" Taipei. WEAK! is dedicated to analyzing and cataloging the different cases of urban acupuncture depending on the context such as Illegal Architecture, Popular Architecture, or Weak Architecture.[20] The theory of urban acupuncture suggests that dozens of small-scale, less expensive and scrupulously located projects are what cities need to recover and renew themselves.[21].