Archinect - News

Following the closing of the Calais "Jungle", the streets of Paris fill with tents

2016-11-01T18:56:00-04:00

The number of migrants sleeping rough on the streets of Paris has risen by at least a third since the start of the week when the "Jungle" shanty town in Calais was evacuated. Along the bustling boulevards and a canal in a northeastern corner of Paris, hundreds of tents have been pitched by asylum seekers - mostly Africans who say they are from Sudan - with cardboard on the ground to try and insulate them from the cold.

While their presence is not new, it has grown substantially this week, said Colombe Brossel, Paris deputy mayor in charge of security issues.

According to the article, there are up to a thousand more people living on the streets of Paris—amounting to around 2,500 in total—following the closure of the Calais refugee settlement. Most of these asylum seekers are from Sudan or elsewhere in Africa. While the city of Paris has plans to open two new reception centers, they will only be able to house less than 1,000 people.

Meanwhile, France and Britain are squabbling over which country will take responsibility for the 1,500 minors who were living in Calais. Despite pleas from the French president François Hollande, the new Prime Minister of the UK, Theresa May, has declined to make any extra commitments. May has taken a hardline stance against immigration since assuming office after the Brexit referendum.

Khartoum's urban planning secrecy sparks protest

2016-05-09T13:31:00-04:00

The [Khartoum Planning Project-05, or KPP-05] state[s] that heritage buildings will be taken over for cultural, recreational and tourism functions. The government ministries that currently occupy such buildings will be moved elsewhere. There’s nothing in the plans to demonstrate a clear strategy for preserving these buildings' heritage. [...] There have been no proper consultation processes. This has undoubtedly led to the current flux of protest and anger.

2013 Curry Stone Design Prize Winners Announced

2013-11-07T20:02:00-05:00

The Curry Stone Foundation has announced the winners of the 2013 Curry Stone Design Prize. Now in its sixth year, the annual prize celebrates humanitarian design and honors the influential work of socially engaged practitioners.

This year's Prize winners are:

Hunnarshala (Bhuj, India)
Proximity Designs (Yangon, Myanmar)
Studio TAMassociati/Emergency (Venice/Milan, Italy)

Principals from each group will attend a two-day awards ceremony at the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco tonight at 7:30 p.m. PST.

The ceremony continues tomorrow Nov. 8 at the Autodesk Gallery, San Francisco, where each winner will present their work at the Design Like You Give A Damn! LIVE conference starting at 12:30 p.m. The two-day event will be live-streamed here.