An Afternoon with Cedric Price #2: Kathy Velikov

Summary

This video delves into Cedric Price's innovative ideas on urban design and education, focusing on his 'Think Grid' project. Price proposed a flexible, decentralized educational system that engaged communities and repurposed abandoned urban spaces for social value. The speaker traces the history of the project, its challenges, and its eventual decline. By reevaluating Price's work, the video highlights his visionary approach to urban revitalization, advocating for adaptive systems that empower citizens and address disinvestment, rather than relying on capital-driven revitalization efforts.

Takeaways

• 😀 Cedric Price's work focuses on the agency of architecture in dynamic ecological systems, infrastructures, and emerging social organizations, integrating technology, materiality, and environmental intelligence.
• 😀 Price's design practice oscillates between developing physical prototypes, large-scale speculative designs, and engaging in complex ecological, technological, and social paradigms, often influenced by systems thinking.
• 😀 The Detroit Think Grid project, initially proposed by Cedric Price in the late 1960s, aimed to transform traditional education by creating flexible, decentralized educational spaces within urban communities in Detroit, engaging with industry and labor context.
• 😀 Price’s collaboration with John Tyrell led to a vision for a distributed educational system that would be responsive to community needs and societal change, focusing on flexible, decentralized learning opportunities.
• 😀 The Think Grid aimed to utilize existing urban and suburban spaces in Detroit to create a network of educational pods, mobile learning spaces, and community-based outreach, transforming abandoned spaces into centers of learning and engagement.
• 😀 Price’s conceptual work emphasized that education did not require new buildings but could be delivered through innovative uses of existing infrastructure, such as public parks, streets, and factories.
• 😀 The Think Grid proposed a cybernetic approach to education, with a Town Brain controlling the flow of information and coordinating educational initiatives across multiple locations, enabling adaptive and responsive systems.
• 😀 The project was influenced by Price’s previous work on the Potteries Think Belt and envisioned an open, multi-scalar framework for learning that engaged local communities, industries, and institutions in a more integrated educational system.
• 😀 The Think Grid sought to address social inequality and urban disinvestment by reimagining how education could be delivered in marginalized areas, using minimal physical interventions and fostering social engagement.
• 😀 The proposal for the Think Grid ultimately faced challenges due to administrative changes and shifting priorities at Oakland Community College, but Price reframed and published the concept as part of a 1971 supplement that continued to explore these educational and urban reform ideas.

Q & A

What was the focus of Cedric Price's 'Think Grid' project?

The 'Think Grid' project, developed by Cedric Price, was a proposal for a new urban system designed to repurpose abandoned city spaces by using adaptive, minimal physical interventions. It aimed to create socially productive spaces that focused on empowering citizens and institutions, with an emphasis on collective engagement rather than capital-driven revitalization.

Why did the 'Think Grid' project lose momentum by 1969?

By 1969, the correspondence related to the 'Think Grid' project had significantly dropped off, indicating that the project was losing momentum. John Tyrell, the president of Oakland Community College, had stepped down in 1968, and despite Cedric Price’s efforts to continue discussions with the new president, Dr. Joseph Hill, the project was postponed or abandoned for various reasons.

What was the role of Dr. Joseph Hill in the 'Think Grid' project?

Dr. Joseph Hill, the new president of Oakland Community College after John Tyrell, was the person with whom Cedric Price attempted to continue discussions regarding the 'Think Grid' project. However, despite Price's eagerness, the correspondence suggested that the project was delayed, and eventually, it was shelved.

How did Cedric Price reframe the 'Think Grid' in 1971?

In 1971, Cedric Price reworked the 'Think Grid' project and presented it as part of a new report or supplement. This indicates that despite the project's initial challenges, Price attempted to revive and adapt it to different contexts, suggesting its lasting relevance.

What key concept does the 'Think Grid' emphasize regarding urban systems?

The 'Think Grid' emphasizes the idea of repurposing urban systems to focus on social productivity, engagement, and the empowerment of citizens, rather than relying solely on capital investment or traditional revitalization methods. It seeks to address urban disinvestment through adaptive, systemic interventions.

How did Cedric Price’s vision challenge traditional urban revitalization strategies?

Price's vision for urban renewal through the 'Think Grid' challenged conventional urban revitalization by proposing an approach that didn’t rely on capital investment or economic growth. Instead, it advocated for a reimagining of space through minimal, adaptive interventions that would empower local citizens and institutions to reshape their urban environment.

What was the intended impact of the 'Think Grid' on social processes and urban space?

The 'Think Grid' was designed to influence the social processes of urban space by rethinking how urban spaces are produced and reproduced. It aimed to create urban environments where citizens could actively engage and participate in reshaping their communities, making urban spaces more inclusive and adaptive to their needs.

What role did the concept of 'use value' play in Cedric Price’s approach?

In Price’s approach, the concept of 'use value' was important because it focused on how urban spaces could be repurposed for practical, socially valuable purposes. This contrasted with the traditional idea of 'exchange value,' which emphasized economic profit and capital investment, aligning with the goals of empowering communities and fostering engagement in urban spaces.

Why does the speaker suggest looking at Cedric Price's proposals from a new perspective?

The speaker suggests looking at Cedric Price’s proposals from a new perspective because, with today's technological advancements, the novelty of the 'Think Grid's' systems (such as information pods) is less striking. However, its focus on how urban spaces can be repurposed for social empowerment and collective engagement remains highly relevant and compelling.

What does the 'Think Grid' suggest about the role of institutions and organizations in urban spaces?

The 'Think Grid' suggests that institutions and organizations should play a key role in shaping urban spaces by engaging citizens and empowering them to become active participants in the development and transformation of their communities. It advocates for a systemic approach where citizens are not just passive recipients but active contributors to the urban process.