Learning from Nairobi - Mobility
A Cultural Library Project
Published on 26. October 2010
Book
Paperback/Softback
271 pages
978-3-9814404-0-9 (ISBN)
Description
Cultural Library is a series of projects, a collaboration of international research partners investigating everyday habits and rituals and the use of products and spaces associated with them. The current Cultural Library project MOBILITY is a collaboration between 20 students from Cologne and Nairobi, three international research partners and experts from various disciplines (design, architecture, city planning).
The results, and the manner in which they are presented in this book, show, yet again, the problemsolving potential that design has, due to its interdisciplinary approach. By asking the relevant questions (>what are the decisive factors that shape the urban space in the centre of Nairobi?< or >what opportunities does current information technology offer to improve the situation of the jobseekers who gather every day at certain spots in the city?<) and also through details that enable us to get a handle on complex interdependencies (>what can sukuma-wiki, a staple Kenyan vegetable, tell us about mobility structures?<), those taking part in the project and the project authors have sketched out both the relevant issues and opportunities for intervention with regards to the theme of mobility at the micro- as well as at the macro level. Developing finished product solutions is not the main thrust of this project; rather it is about the aspects of transformation and interaction: how can the collaboratively gained knowledge be reworked to make it useful, to start a discourse and, above all, to put intercultural
differences to good use. The title Learning from Nairobi clearly reflects this.
This book presents both the results and the nature of this German-Kenyan collaboration, which was based on reconsidering existing solutions and developing new ideas. >Moments of interaction< - not only intercultural, but also interdisciplinary - are visualised in this book in a lively and engaging manner. We hope that we can pique the readers' interest in understanding the interdependencies and in finding out about the different ways of looking at the issues. Readers will be invited to join the discussion and ask questions. By providing links to the project's website culturallibrary.com with further information on themes, places and cultural dimensions, we will show the wider context regarding the questions and the snapshots illustrated in the book.
The results, and the manner in which they are presented in this book, show, yet again, the problemsolving potential that design has, due to its interdisciplinary approach. By asking the relevant questions (>what are the decisive factors that shape the urban space in the centre of Nairobi?< or >what opportunities does current information technology offer to improve the situation of the jobseekers who gather every day at certain spots in the city?<) and also through details that enable us to get a handle on complex interdependencies (>what can sukuma-wiki, a staple Kenyan vegetable, tell us about mobility structures?<), those taking part in the project and the project authors have sketched out both the relevant issues and opportunities for intervention with regards to the theme of mobility at the micro- as well as at the macro level. Developing finished product solutions is not the main thrust of this project; rather it is about the aspects of transformation and interaction: how can the collaboratively gained knowledge be reworked to make it useful, to start a discourse and, above all, to put intercultural
differences to good use. The title Learning from Nairobi clearly reflects this.
This book presents both the results and the nature of this German-Kenyan collaboration, which was based on reconsidering existing solutions and developing new ideas. >Moments of interaction< - not only intercultural, but also interdisciplinary - are visualised in this book in a lively and engaging manner. We hope that we can pique the readers' interest in understanding the interdependencies and in finding out about the different ways of looking at the issues. Readers will be invited to join the discussion and ask questions. By providing links to the project's website culturallibrary.com with further information on themes, places and cultural dimensions, we will show the wider context regarding the questions and the snapshots illustrated in the book.