Think anarchism. What comes to mind? Most likely not urban allotments. These places are still revolutionary, but they offer a blueprint for building more inclusive, fairer and greener communities. So says the author of a book.
It may not seem like an obvious pairing, but architecture and anarchy are often inextricably linked. Anarchism was a distinct form of politics that emerged in the second half 19th-century. It has inspired many alternative communities.
Christiania in Copenhagen, Slab City, California desert, La ZAD, in France, and Grow Heathrow, London all have self-organised forms. This includes the renovation of abandoned buildings. On the other hand, it could also include building new spaces to allow individual freedom and radical change in social organization.
Anarchism is at its core a political system of thought and action. It reflects the original meanings of the ancient Greek word. anarkhi meaning ‘the absence of government’. All forms of anarchism rely on self-organisation or government below. Anarchism often stems from a radical scepticism of unaccountable authority. This is why it favors bottom-up organization over hierarchy. It is not about disorder, but rather a different order – based on the principles of autonomy, voluntary association, self-organisation, mutual aid and direct democracy.
Christiania, an intentional community of approximately 850-1000 residents, was founded in 1971. It is an intentional community that consists of a number of residents who squatted military buildings and converted them to communal homes. Others built their own homes in a remarkable variety of styles and materials over time. Even temporary anarchist projects like the 1980s protest camps on Greenham Common in Berkshire or the more recent Extinction Rebellion occupations at London require the construction of makeshift shelters as well as basic infrastructure.
Seeds that can be grown
In my new book, Architecture and Anarchism: Building Without Authority, I look at how anarchist building projects are often targeted by the authorities because they’re deemed illegal. And how as a result of this, there is a knock-on effect that casts people who self-build as somehow “exceptional” – driven by desires that are simply alien to the rest of us.
This, however, I believe, misses what anarchist politics is all about. This also ignores the fact that these principles are rooted within values that are shared more widely.
Slab City is an off the grid, alternative lifestyle community located in the California desert. Image: Design Class
Colin Ward, a British anarchist, believed that the values of anarchism in practice were rooted in the things we all do. He was particularly interested how people have an innate desire for sharing time and space without expecting financial remuneration. As part of his work, he often embraced everyday subjects such as community allotments, children’s playgrounds, holiday camps, and housing cooperatives.
He believed strongly in anarchism, believing that it was an ever-present, but often untapped force in social life. It just needed to be nurtured to grow. Ward argued for a way of building that was focused on changing the role of citizens from recipients to participants “so that they too have an active part to play” in the building of towns and cities.
Some recent architectural practices – for example, Assemble in the UK, Recetas Urbanas in Spain, Raumlaborberlin in Germany – have actually developed ways of working that are almost entirely focused on such a model of participation. Indeed, in September 2019, Raumlaborberlin built a ‘Utopia Station’ in Milton Keynes, in the UK. This structure combined steel scaffolding, metal stairs, striped awnings, and salvaged windows to create three-storey high.
Anarchism is based upon the values of mutual assistance, self-organisation, voluntary association. Image: Design Class
Visitors were asked to make suggestions for future urban design. The models were then created and displayed. Such a playful – and joyful – approach to citizen participation stands in stark contrast to the often dour and depressing ways we’re generally asked to comment on buildings being planned.
Community spaces
Last year, the UK government published its post-Covid-19 recovery plan to “build back better”. The report focuses on economic growth and fails to address the disastrous environmental consequences.
A radical reshaping and reorganization of the values that support our politics would be a different approach. Anarchism can contribute to this area. Its core values, such as mutual aid, self-organisation, voluntary association, offer a holistic understanding of what constitutes success.
Personally, I found urban allotments to have been places where the contours and effects of such a revolution can be felt. These are land areas that have been set aside by local authorities to allow residents to grow food for a nominal annual rental.
‘Allotments are places where the contours of everyday revolution can be felt’ . Image: Dan Rozier
Although I’ve never met anyone on my own allotment who identifies as an anarchist, the seeds are nevertheless there to see. Allotments can be described as common spaces within cities. Sites are kept off the market and filled more or less with temporary structures such as greenhouses or sheds that can be bought or made by others.
Although you’re not allowed to build a dwelling on an allotment (at least in the UK), it’s not difficult to transfer the underlying principles to other sites in cities. As I look out of my bedroom window to the allotments just beyond my home, I often wonder why it’s not possible to set aside land for other kinds of communal activities? Even housing?
It’s in places like allotments that the otherwise radical nature of alternative possibilities is seen. This is where we can hope to build an inclusive, egalitarian, ecological, and emancipatory future. This is the building back of better.
Paul Dobraszczyk, a lecturer on architecture at University College London, is one of the authors.
This article is republished under Creative Commons license from The Conversation. You can read the original article.
Main image: Christiania, Copenhagen. Credit: Schorle
