Farghat___amman

CALL FOR PARTICIPATION

DEADLINE TO SUBMIT APPLICATIONS: 05.05.2022  

Parks, squares, and sidewalks are usually understood to be spatially open and accessible to everyone, yet, the usership of such spaces and its purpose is not only determined by their physical characteristics, but also defined by social expectations and regulations, which impacts the perception of the physical space. 

In Amman, public space is often regarded by its residents as being scarce, difficult to access, and not inclusive of its diverse communities. This has an impact on the sense of community, and belonging to the city. The question of public space has become even more pressing in the wake of the global Covid-19 pandemic. 

Meanwhile, neglected urban public spaces are all around Amman; unbuilt areas such as empty lots, leftover spaces, deserted parks, or physical elements that are left unfinished, such spaces provide an opportunity for designers, architects, urbanists, and artists to breathe life into the city; they offer an opportunity for interventions that are capable of creating immense change within the community, however small they are in scale. 

Known as urban acupuncture, such small-scale interventions that involve the city’s residents can contribute to creating more inclusive spaces through localized actions. Relying on methods that include mapping, surveying, site analysis, observation, exploration, and experimentation; ideas will be imagined and implemented on a micro-scale using participatory and interactive creative approaches. These urban pocket interventions within the cityscape can have a great impact on the urban fabric, improve the quality of public life, and in turn cultivate the sense of an empowered community. 

The output of this residency serves to feed into the broader framework of the 7Hills for Social Development’s Research and Development arm, in which they experiment with multi-disciplinary methods of listening, observing, participating, experimenting, and developing public spaces, and public space policy in Jordan. With this program, the Goethe-Institut also intends to highlight cultural work in public space and engage a wider audience. 

HOW TO APPLY

COOPERATION

7Hills for Social Developement is a community based skateboarding-driven non-for-profit that works to create safe inclusive public spaces, and activate them through our Urban Education Program, which includes skateboarding, arts, and vocational training components to empower local, refugee, and migrant youth in Jordan.