Collectivity Project

I was scheduled to visit my son in Den Haag on March 12, 2020. I was flying from Alabama and had a suitcase full of treats for him as well as new things I’d purchased specifically for my adventure.

On March 11, 2020, I was purchasing the final items for my trip, when Donald Trump canceled all travel to and from Europe excluding Great Britain.

I was broken-hearted.

I have to check multiple boxes before I can travel. And I’d, miraculously, checked them all only to have my trip thwarted.

From top to bottom:
My new neck pillow for the long flight from BHM to AMS.
My passport, not new, but my hard-earned Global Entry card is inside.
My new, sexy, black and white prescription glasses.
My new RFID blocking wallet.
My new Bose noise-cancelling headphones.
My Michael Kors carry-on suitcase. It is not new to me but would have been new to Den Haag.
Beginning in the far right are the gifts I brought from Birmingham. We Southerners love good food and I knew Rae would be homesick for some of his favorites.
McEwan & Sons make the best milled grits in Alabama. We would have eaten them for breakfast or with fried shrimp and fish.
Jiffy is a sweet, ready-to-make cornbread mix and the basis of my Mom’s famous corn muffins. The recipe is secret and hidden away but we were going to bake them. Taking the first bite would have reminded us of family Sunday dinners in a kitchen crowded with voices and laughter.
The bottle of Olive Miracle was a new product. It would have nourished and strengthened my son’s hair.
I have a niece who also lives in Den Haag and I was delighted to introduce her to Jim Dandy’s Quick grits. I also had an extra bag of McEwan & Sons for her.
My brand new RavPower bank so I could film and shoot for days.
My brand new Sigma wide-angle lens to capture sunsets and sunrises, and canals.
My new sexy sunglasses are to the left of my Sigma lens.
The blue box behind the Sigma are the Trefoil Girl Scout cookies my son loves. And the box on top are the famous Tagalong cookies. Neither of which had been to Holland.
My new Kindle is to the left of the cookies. I’d filled it with new books I planned to read.

I’ll keep the rooms in my hotel although I’ll break it down. My global entry card and passport must be packed away. I’ll use my wallet and wear both pairs of glasses daily. The grits, cookies, and, cornbread mix will be saved and refrigerated. I’ll use the hairspray and replace it when I can travel again. The power bank and lens I can use around Birmingham.

One day, each of these items will visit my son in Amsterdam and the hotel will be called the Joyous Reunion.

And it will be just that.

The Collectivity Project is about, now, in quarantine, exploring a different kind of collective where we can come into contact in an online space. This collectivity has a common goal, to think and draw, write and sing about constructing buildings and environments in which we want to experience with others.

DIY architects came together on 7 May to discuss the creation of a city, and to create buildings together. These architects used materials they had at home like cardboard, wine bottles, and plants to reevaluate what they find important in an urban environment.

Digital urban planner Rodrigo Cardoso has gathered creative blueprints to construct the open city of the future.

We’re happy to announce that the newly constructed digital city will open its gates on 28 May! You will be able to cut the city’s ribbon, and explore all of the stories, sounds, and textures of the Collectivity Project.

The Collectivity Project is proposed and facilitated by Lidija Poth.
Lidija Poth is an architect and a city planner. She runs her office and teaches at the Technical University of Delft.
In 2013 Lidija found the Hottentot foundation with a mission to engage children & youngsters in the design of their urban environment. She has been organizing different workshops, events, seminars and lectures within o.a. Child in The City. Lidija is also a board member of NGO HvPA in Rotterdam that serves as a platform for dialogue, place making and spatial development.

Future Imperfect
by Charlien Adriaenssens

It has the "building library" and crisp bag buildings, a shared square to celebrate imperfection and chaos, it also has a wall with many statistics, because I thought different perspectives on the world should be given in live-feeds on a wall to help people become conscious about the planet and support activism. Ironically enough in the magazines surrounding me I only found world-maps where Europe is the centre. While following the lecture Louis and me were eating, I also took a picture of the food as there was a saying that architecture is also like cooking. I used the picture of the food as a skyline, thinking that all buildings should have rooftop gardens and light-eyes at night, so they smile at the fisherman on the sea. If you want to see it yourself, you have to go to the seaside.

PLAYLIST:

ABOUT