THE URBAN CYBORG

I call her Asibi,

Half woman ,half machine, she moves at 10km/hr through the dense static traffic in the city center. With an A.S.I.B.I ( Automated Super Industrial Body index) of 1:1:1 ; 10 tons to 10 miles in 10 hours.

She has a 12 cylinder capacity exhaust lungs installed in her chest, her veins transmit 120kv of power from head to toe. Hydraulic levers for biceps and damper forearms extend from her hard weatherproof metal back. Her hip stregth is derived from a complex system of interlocking steel brakets and sockets and thick double action shock absorber buttocks. She has strong long legs, powerful thighs fitted with anti-buckle knees and massive pressure plates for her feet. She operates green; no fuel ,no gas. For stability, balance and speed, there is none to compare.

What would transform this beautiful, lovely woman into a heavy duty machine,an urban she -cyborg doing the work of pick up vans? the answer is extreme poverty. After arriving in the capital city from the far north of her country, refusing to sell her body, she offers for service the only thing she has; her daily ration of energy from being alive, strength and will power to survive the urban hustle. Her reward?, $5 a day to feed herself, her fatherless son and parents back home. None to buy energy tonic or painkillers to subside the pain or towels, toiletries and fragrant soaps to clean her sweat. Imagine what a nights rest must be like for her on the first come, first sleep, shop frontages on the zongo alleyways where rapists hound and mosquitoes breed.

Asibi is a common name among the Northern Ghanaian girls who leave the rural hinterlands to work in the cities of the south. Rural urban migration at its worst is seen in the effect on the health of women and children who arrive daily to find work as Kayayos or load carriers in the city centers and market places. They offer their 'strength' services to carry heavy loads for miles through traffic which would take longer for a van or truck to cross. And at what cost?!

How can we create beautiful and enjoyable cities with scenes like this?

Sweat and pain are the paint and brush with which scenes of poverty in urban areas are truthfully painted.

kojoderban

A PYRAMID OF EXCELLENCE

A Tribute to Michael Jackson , an artist par excellence.

25th June 2009 . That day i could not work. it was a feeling similar to 9/11.To ease the pain ,we played his videos on our pcs all day. Why dedicate a day of precious work time to the memory of MJ? what did Michael Jackson the pop star have to do with architecture? I asked myself, if i was given the award to design a museum in his memory, what form would it be? A pyramid is my answer.
Michael Jackson is to world entertainment what the Great pyramid of Giza is to architecture; a wonder of the world, timeless, unique, a form like no other, built to amaze, worth 100,000,000 photographs, a monument to entertainment, an icon to showbiz, the greatest pop cultural figure to transcend race, color and creed. He was a legend ,multi award winner, the greatest and brightest star of all time. The sale of Thriller, his all time bestselling album entered the Guinness book of records as he had a star on the hall of fame. A negro from a poor but musically gifted family from Indiana. He was born with a talent to sing and dance and when he did, he mesmerized everyone. he dazzled his audience.
What was his mark of success? it was holding the attention of his audience in awe and excitement for hours with enigmatic and powerful performances. Even in death at the age of 50, one million tickets for his concert were sold out to adoring fans who were expecting a 250% explosion of music, light and magic. If we as creative people, writers, actors playwright, artist and architects seek to have a spellbound effect on our subjects , we must find out his secret and learn from his life.
A CNN Larry King interview with Berry Gordy, founder of Motown records, the Jackson fives label, and close friends revealed the secret. His talent was harnessed to the maximum at an early age. Instead of the passiveness to creativity most of our parents exhibited, his father slapped and pushed him to exceed his threshold .He succeeded the way pyramids are built; with effort, concentration , a slave to a cause. The second secret was his rehearsals. he rehearsed 16 hours a day. As artists we have to practice and spend that many hours at our art. His life was characterized by attention to detail, strict, disciplined routines repeated till perfection was perfected perfectly. No excuses , no failures.
To achieve any level of greatness in this world and to reach the heights of fame where our work would be recognized worldwide, Mikes secret will have to guide our careers. His achievements were the results of a focused dedication to his art, Like the pyramid of Giza,a broad base rising towards one point of excellence and like it he will be a monument built to last and never to be forgotten.

To be a Thriller, start by looking at yourself , the man you see in the mirror, and remember the time that you've got to be startin something. Get off the wall and don't stop till you get enough.