Urban Recreation: City Art by Akay and Peter, the Barsky Brothers

Another intervention, 12m³, commented on the housing problems of Stockholm by building a house that dangled from the side of the cliff in an urban park, raising questions about ownership as the house seemed to be out of reach of regulations of the City Planning Office. The regulations were unclear as the Office regulates what can be built on land – not what hangs in the air. After the legal questions had been widely discussed, it become clear that even though the house had been illegally built, no one could do anything about it. The house could hang there as long as the Barsky Brothers wanted. With their project, the Barskys criticized the bureaucratic order that prevents using creative ideas in solving the housing problems.

In these projects, the Barskys made visible some power relations that usually remain unnoticed. In some sense, their work can be regarded as critical geography that does not stick in academic discussion, but happens on the streets and tries to transform urban space. Of course nowadays there is much happening in this respect: also urban studies have turned from the monumental and stable aspects of the city towards acknowledging the temporary events, things and meanings of the city.

¨Con su proyecto, los hermanos Barsky criticaron la orden burocrática que impide el uso de ideas creativas en la solución de los problemas de vivienda¨.

http://www.woostercollective.com/2007/01/urban_recreation_from_akay_and_peter.html