At the beginning of August Durban will play host to the International Union of Architects’ (UIA) World Congress, this year entitled Architecture Otherwhere. This is a massive event, and a big coup for Durban! In addition to the conference, which takes place from the 3rd to the 7th August, a number of smaller projects and events will look at topics related to architecture and how our built environment affects our social and economic environment. One of these projects, Urban Biotopes, tries to find sustainable solutions to urban development issues such as safety, housing, migration and mobility – and does so in an interesting way. The Durban leg of the project, 10 traders / 10 cameras / 10 narratives, involves ten informal traders each being supplied with a camera so that they can record and speak out about issues in the urban environment that affect them on a daily basis.
Click here to watch a short film introducing the project and go to www.uia2014durban.org to read more about the UIA 2014 conference.