Ball
With the three-meter diameter ball young people are empowered to claim space in the city. The ball is available in Brussels since the year 2000.
Cars and regulations as much as parental concern make it increasingly difficult for children to play outside or in the street. The ball is a tool to make it impossible to overlook the young people who use urban space: in this case cars have to be careful for children instead of the other way round. Meanwhile its use is also a way to raise awareness about the role of public space in the city and its development.
The ball is made of heavy-duty plastic, and is inflated by a domestic vacuum cleaner. A red and a green ball are in regular use since 2000. The punctures they suffered are easy to patch with a piece of plastic and glue. Its size makes it a spectacular yet harmless toy.
The ball was also used to raise political awareness about the need for space for young people. At the end of a tour through Brussels, a number of senior politicians signed the ball as a way of acknowledging the issue, most of them gave public space a prominent place in their programme.
Gallery
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Ongoing projects:
L-Atlas
Precare
Generalized Empowerment
Krax
Micronomics
Cartografie
Bouillot
Publications:
Bunker Souple Repertorium 1998 & 2000: available at Citymine(d) offices.
Generalized Empowerment. Uneven Development and Urban Interventions, 2006. Download here.
MapRAC. Plannen voor het RijksAdministratief Centrum. La Cité Administrative de l'Etat en cartes & en question, 2004: available at Citymine(d) offices.
Micronomics scanning: DVD online soon.
Networkbook for Urban P/Arts. 42 initiatives capturing London's Public Space, 2004: available at Citymin(e)d offices.
Towards. Cartes Subjectives d'interventions Urbaines à Bruxelles // Subjectieve Kaarten van Stedelijke Internventies in Brussel: available at Citymine(d) offices.