The Box is an experiment that combines elements of a publication, toolkit, and exhibition, the box’s primary goal is to explore how a magazine can serve as a tool to facilitate collaborative learning, sharing, and the development of practical approaches to local action. It aims to democratise access to well researched and instrumental urban content that often gets presented in exclusive venues and fails to reach the diverse audiences in under-resourced areas whose lives are often implicated by the issues covered. What happens if you strategically direct it at them instead? The chasis it is built around is affordable, sturdy, compact, and flexible. It can be distributed physically to multiple locations simultaneously and serves as a provocation and prompt, inviting contributions from various sites and fostering a community dedicated to finding practical solutions for cities and urban communities facing uncertain futures. The box is targeted at built environment professionals, activists, organisers, educators, enthusiasts, and policymakers. The box and its contents can be used for exhibition, teaching, strategy, organising, and planning. A companion, bumper issue of Cityscapes Magazine will be released as part of each edition of the box. Box 01, titled Emergence, launches in Dec 2023. Collaborators on this project include Vyjyanthi Rao of Motet Studio, product designer Miguel Viera Baptista, Geci Karuri Sebina and Arindam Jana among others.
