Kabul's new mayor, Mayor Ghulam Sakhi Noorzad, a Moscow-trained engineer himself, has resurrected a soviet masterplan from the 1970's and taken to the power of demolition in order to reset Kabul as he sees fit. But how applicable is this image of the city today in Afghanistan's current state? Read
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Fred Levrat is directing a studio this semester at Columbia sited in Kabul. What is even more impressive is that they are on their way there for a site visit! The group left yesterday for Dubai and tomorrow they catch a flight to Kabul on Ariana Afghan Airlines.
An excerpt from the studio description:
The Gate of Afghanistan - Kabul Airport Road
Infrastructural and Symbolic Reconstruction in a war-torn Country
Context: Reconstruction after 23 years of war – priorities in a Global World Disorder
Problematic: Airport Road – what spatiality for the new city linear entrance.
How to design 2.8 Kilometer of “Symbolic Urban Boulevard�
Representation: What is the image of Afghanistan in the XXI Century?
Rupture and discontinuity of a culture through decades of war.
International imported value or Regional Identity for the new Gate of
Afghanistan?
Reality: This is a real project, which needs proposition and solutions. The Mayor of the City and the Minister of Urban Development are interested to see the Columbia University Students proposals.
read 'current studios' and 'Fred Levrat' on the GSAPP website to read the full description.
Would you join this studio?
The Guardian provides a little more context on contemporary Kabul.
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