An Atlas of Commoning

Places of Collective Production

An Atlas of Commoning: Places of Collective Production
An exhibition by ifa-Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen in collaboration with ARCH+

Presented in cooperation with the Tbilisi Architecture Biennial (TAB) at TBC Concept

Opening: Friday, October 4, 18:00-20:00 
Symposium Commoning Tbilisi and Curator’s Tour: Sat. October 5, 14:00-19:00
Exhibition Duration: October 4 - November 15, 2024

Opening Hours: Monday–Saturday, 10:00-20:00
Free admission 

Curatorial Team: 
Anh-Linh Ngo, Mirko Gatti, Christian Hiller, Max Kaldenhoff, Christine Rüb (ARCH+); Elke aus dem Moore (ifa); Stefan Gruber (CMU)

Research Partners: 
School of Architecture, Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) Pittsburgh, Remaking Cities Institute, 
Prof. Stefan Gruber, and Technische Universität Berlin, Institute of Architecture, Prof. Rainer Hehl

Curators of Tbilisi Edition:
Stefan Gruber (CMU), Tinatin Gurgenidze (TAB), Mariam Shergelashvili 

Social media and other platforms whose business models are based on the commercialization of social relationships, have transformed words like "community", "sharing" or "we" into empty concepts that no longer represent solidarity or a progressive social agenda, but rather form the basis for an emerging platform capitalism. This economic development is accompanied by a global political shift fueled by traditional community notions of identity and affiliation, exclusion and discrimination. Against this background, the exhibition and publication project "An Atlas of Commoning" aims to reclaim and redefine the open and emancipatory space of "we" as a concept. The project focuses on urban commons - here commons are to be understood as a set of practices dealing with the collective production and governance of (material and immaterial) resources and spaces in general, rather than with the resources themselves, hence "commoning", the verb, takes center stage. Commoning is a process of dealing with differences and conflicts between the individual, the community and society. A process of spatial organization in the relations between production and reproduction, ownership and access to resources. A process that brings together solidarity networks and redefines individual and collective rights. The project questions the prevailing social and political structures and seeks new forms of collective, yet pluralistic, governance.

The starting point of the exhibition is an Atlas, a visual archive with a diverse selection of contemporary and historical case studies. The Atlas, which was developed by ARCH+ in collaboration with the School of Architecture at Carnegie Mellon University, consisted of 25 projects related to commoning. This initial selection is being complemented with new case studies, added in collaboration with local partners as the exhibition tours from city to city. As a result, the "Atlas of Commoning" continues to grow as an open knowledge archive, producing invaluable documentation of local grassroots projects from all over the world. 
In Georgia, the notion of commons is intertwined with the historical legacies of Soviet collectivism and traditional community practices. The rapid urbanization and privatization of public spaces since the collapse of the Soviet Union have brought to the fore the consequences of individualization and market-driven developments focused on competition and resource extraction. In response, grassroots initiatives are invested in reclaiming and protecting urban commons and advocate for the shared stewardship of communal spaces, cultural heritage, social practices, and the environment.
After being shown in Berlin, Pittsburgh, Montevideo and Buenos Aires, An Atlas of Commoning is presented in Tbilisi in conjunction with the 2024 Tbilisi Architecture Biennial. The field work on Georgian case studies was conducted by graduate students of CMU’s Urban Design program led by Prof. Stefan Gruber, with the support of Mariam Shergelashvili, and Jesse Vogler and Loseb Andrazashvili from the Architecture Program at the Free University of Tbilisi. A symposium on Commoning Tbilisi, along with site visits to selected commoning initiatives will be realized as part of the Biennial program. 

With contributions from: 
Morehshin Allahyari & Daniel Rourke; clemens krug architekten &  Bernhard Hummel Architekt (Team: Oliver Clemens, Anna Heilgemeir,  Bernhard Hummel, Emma Williams); Assemble & Granby Workshop; Iwan Baan; Brandlhuber + Christopher Roth; DAAR Decolonizing  Architecture Art Residency; Theo Deutinger; Eureka; Manuel Herz;  Sandi Hilal, Philipp Misselwitz & Anne Misselwitz; Immo Klink; Kotti & Co; Kuehn Malvezzi; Angelika Levi; Golan Levin (F.A.T. Lab) & Shawn Sims  
(Sy–Lab); Makoko Waterfront Community; Tukano Maloca; Miethäuser Syndikat; National Union of Sahrawi Women; NLÉ Architects; PlanBude Hamburg, Svenja Baumgardt & Sylvi Kretzschmar; Common Ground e.V. & Nachbarschaftsakademie; Quest – Florian Köhl / Christian Burkhard;  Martha Rosler; Harald Trapp / Robert Thum; Urban-Think Tank, Chair of Architecture and Urban Design ETH Zürich; WiLMa GmbH; Samson Young.

The "Atlas of Commoning" also includes works by: 
Airbnb; ARGE ifau | HEIDE & VON BECKERATH; Atelier d’Architecture Autogérée; BARarchitekten; Bau- und Wohngenossenschaft Spreefeld  Berlin eG; Carpaneto Schöning Architekten; City in the Making; FATkoehl Architekten; Die Zusammenarbeiter; El Campo de la Cebada; Genossenschaft Kalkbreite; Genossenschaft Kraftwerk1; Go Hasegawa and Associates; IBeB GbR; Müller Sigrist Architects; Refugee  Accommodation and Solidarity Space City Plaza; Schneider Studer Primas; Stiftung House of One – Bet- und Lehrhaus Petriplatz Berlin; Gemeinde Yoshino; ZUS [Zones Urbaines Sensibles]. 

Tbilisi initiatives include the Betlemi Neighborhood Revitalization, Birzha, the Center of Contemporary Art Tbilisi, Napirze in Rustavi, the Kinbe Project, the Save the Rioni River Movement and Street School.

Atlas Drawing Collages:
Students from Carnegie Mellon’s Master of Urban Design program, and the research platform “Commoning the City” led by Stefan Gruber with Jonathan Kline: Saloni Agarwal, Ariba Asad, Rutuja Badve, Ernest Bellamy, Tamara Cartwright, Keyi Chai, Nickie Cheung, Seyoung Choo, Yongwen Dai, Yang Gao, Jianxiao Ge, Yidan Gong, Fangyu Huang, Rebecca Lefkowitz,  Ruoyu Li, Linyue Luo, Shreya Mathur, Yash Parikh, Sai Narayan Ramachandran, Paul Moscoso Riofrio, Ritika Sanjay, Deepanshi Sheth, Aditi Shreedhar, Sujan Das Shrestha, Koushik Srinath, Gautam Thakkar, Aditi Thota, Valeria Duque Villegas, Yirui Wang, Alvin Wong, Chi Zhang, Xinyue Zhang, Chun Zheng, Yi Zhou, Lu Zhu.

Architectural Models:
Students from the Technical University Berlin taught by Rainer Hehl: Aaron Barnstorf, Sarah Baur, Sebastian Georgescu, Alexander Grams, Mirko Hahn, Nicolas Herre, Gerrit Jasper, Rosanna Just, Jakob, Köchert, Laura Lüttje, Miriam Möser, Stefan Neumaier, Daiki Ori, Canan Öztekin, Luisa Pöpsel, Nadine Reppert, Selina Schlez, Hans J. Walter (TU Berlin),  as well as Martin Edelmann (ifa) and Quest – Florian Köhl / Christian Burkhard.

For more information, visit https://biennial.ge/

ARCH+
ARCH+ is Germany's leading discursive journal for architecture and urbanism. The name is also a policy: more than architecture. Each quarterly issue details a specific topic, picking up on current discussions from other disciplines with regard to the cultural and political frameworks of spatial production. Founded in the wake of the 1968 movement, the focus of ARCH+ is the critical reflection of the social aspects of architecture. 
www.archplus.net

Carnegie Mellon - Architecture
Commoning the City is a research project of the Remaking Cities Institute (RCI) at Carnegie Mellon University with students from the Master of Urban Design. The Remaking Cities Institute (RCI) is the Carnegie Mellon - Architecture’s research center for urbanism, participatory action and community design. 
www.architecture.cmu.edu/rci

The Tbilisi Architecture Biennial
The Tbilisi Architecture Biennial was established in 2017. TAB aims to bring together professionals from diverse disciplines united under one topic on a biannual basis. Policy makers, the local public and other stakeholders are presented during the event, initiating and broadening the critical discourse on architectural and urban issues in Tbilisi and beyond.
www.biennial.ge

TBC ART GALLERY
TBC ART GALLERY  is a cultural center that exhibits modern and contemporary art in Tbilisi, Georgia, located in a former central department store, one of the Modern style buildings built in the 1910s on Marjanishvili Street/ TBC CONCEPT Flagship. A special focus is on educational programs, featuring guided tours by curators, lectures, talks, film screening, readings, panel discussions and workshops at TBC concept Flagship.