A domain of reflection, a zone of imagination, a sphere of cosmic reverie, a field of observation, an empire of fleeting thoughts, a territory of contemplation, a province of desires, an orbit of fantasy. Sixteen new pieces of writing – essays, poems, prose poems, short stories – two interviews taking you to the kitchen table, spare bedroom, home office, home studio, garage, shed, bedroom, bathroom, garden, closet and, on one occasion, car productions. 

The book is accompanied by an audio compilation including ten homemade tracks that reflect the ways in which architectural spaces shape music production and how that music, in turn, transforms architecture’s atmospheric qualities.

Edited by Marta Michalowska and Andrea Cetrulo

Contributors:

Alison Irvine/ Andrea Cetrulo / Casper Laing Ebbensgaard / Cecily Chua / Charlotte Law / Cucina Povera / ENDGAME / Flora Pitrolo / Jason Bahbak Mohaghegh / John Bingham-Hall / Labeja Kodua Okullu / Lyall Hakaraia / Marta Michalowska / Meghana Bisineer / Michael Salu / Niall Campbell / Pol Esteve Castelló / R.W.P/ Rut Blees Luxemburg / Satu Streatfield / Stephen Sutcliffe / Victor Ginesta / Vladimir Muratovski Divo aka Elektro Kultura / William Messenger.

What role does storytelling play in urban imaginaries? How do these imaginaries converge or diverge from reality? Can we use stories to test ideas for future architecture?

Concrete & Ink: Storytelling and the Future of Architecture, the first volume in the series Staging Cities, brings together commissioned writing in fiction and non-fiction, a graphic story, and interviews, narrating buildings, housing estates and cities, between utopias and dystopias, through imagination, dreaming, magic, games and concrete realities, across past and present, and into the future.

Edited by Marta Michalowska/ Justinien Tribillon

Contributors:
Adania Shibli/ Alia Trabucco Zerán/ Alison Irvine/ Bedwyr Williams/ Ben Okri/ Crystal Bennes/ Jodie Azhar/ Justinien Tribillon/ Marta Michalowska/ Matthew Dooley/ Meghana Bisineer/ Mona Kareem/ Natasha Lehrer/ Nina Leger/ Sophie Hughes/ Sophie Mackintosh. 

This Edition documents a research exchange organised with support from the British Embassy in France. Exploring different models of infrastructure for cultural production through spatial and network analysis, it asks how those that design and run these infrastructures can develop new approaches and solidarities by reflecting on their everyday experiences in dialogue with colleagues from another city.

Lead Authors: Elahe Karimnia, Justinien Tribillon, John Bingham-Hall

Contributors:
Abigale Neate Wilson/ Océane Vilbert/ Louise Dubois/ Elsa Buet & Viviana Checchia.

The ‘political voice’ is the subject of the second volume of Sonic Urbanism publications. This volume explores the political voice as a particular sonic phenomenon, asking how and where it is possible to have a ‘voice’ in urban politics, the relationship between material and metaphorical readings of political speech, and how voices can be amplified or silenced in cities. Responses explored vocal contestations and noisy citizenship, technologies that transmit or transform voices, and the ways that sound art and experimental music stage collective voicings.

Contributors:
John Bingham-Hall/ Fabien Cante/ Grégoire Chelkoff/ Ella Finer/ Tom Gooch/ Eleni Ikoniadou/ Kareem Al Kabbani and Tom Western/ Alexandra Lacroix/ Duncan MacLeod/ Gascia Ouzounian/ Jonathan Packham/ Saskia Sassen/ Eric de Visscher.

Following our first colloquium, ‘Crafting a Sonic Urbanism’, which took place at the MSH Paris Nord in September 2018, we are excited to present a publication on Sonic Urbanism. Edited by &beyond, it invites participants to share essays on sonic communities, urban composition, acoustic architectures, phonographic methods, and public performance projects. 

Contributors:
Sara Adhitya/ Nathan Belval/ John Bingham-Hall/ Caroline Claus/ Burak Pak/ Alexandra Lacroix/ Marta Gentilucci/ Frédéric Mathevet/ Sharon Phelan/ Richard Sennett/ Justinien Tribillon.

”Can we design the conditions for culture?”

The aim of this report is to challenge and enrich the conceptual basis on which the nature of cultural infrastructure is understood.

Its three sections; Inhabiting Cultural Infrastructure; Designing Cultural Infrastructure; and Conceptualising Cultural Infrastructure represent distinct ways of achieving this aim. They can be read together, or as self-contained treatises.

Authors:
John Bingham-Hall, Adam Kaasa

This edition features the work of 10 artists from the UK and Lebanon who explored the sound environments, acoustic potentialities and aural histories of two cities, London and Beirut. This edition is a collaboration between Institute for Global Prosperity UCL, Recomposing the City, RELIEF Centre, Optophono and Theatrum Mundi.

Optophono was established in 2013 as a music label that goes beyond fixed recordings. Instead of publishing fixed media such as CDs or DVDs, they make interactive editions that they print on external drives and USBs. Optophono is currently based in Oxford, England.

Contributors:
Joan Baz/ John Bingham-Hall/ Gerard Gormley/ Nathalie Harb/ Omaya Malaeb/ Nadim Mishlawi/ Merijn Royaards/ Youmna Saba/ Mhamad Safa and Christabel Stirling.