LUP (Laboratoire d'urbanisme participatif/Participative Urban Planning Lab)

LUP (Laboratoire d'urbanisme participatif, participative urban planning laboratory) is atelier d'Architecture autogérée (aaa)'s irregular periodical.

Founded in 2001 by Doina Petrescu and Constantin Petcou, Atelier d'Architecture Autogérée is Paris-based collective platform, which conducts actions and resurch on urban mutations and cultural, social and political emerging practices in the contemporary city. Not only architects, but also artists, students, activists, researchers, theoreticians, and residents work with aaa. Their goal is to valorise the position of the resident/user as political condition and to develop strategies to reterritorialise residents' space of proximity, decision and action within the city.

Since summer 2008, aaa has been working on Rurban, a project that explores the ecological, economic and social complementaries between 4 axes of territories : collective/shared housing, local development, bio-agriculture and inter-culture. Rurban is accompanied with workshop and discussion with guests, participants, as mentioned above. These programs constitute the framework of LUP Peridodical. aaa's philosophy is that a 'self-managed architecture' can provoke assemblages and networks of individuals, desires and different manners of making. So should LUP Periodical be considered: a self-made magazine, a simple A3 Newspaper-style format, including a glossary for urban planning and architecture non-specialists. The design is made by Anne Desrivières (aaa).

I have two samples (#10 and #12) of this periodical, unfortunately in French, and I am not sure that the periodical includes English-version. The first one presents their project entitled "Rurban", the second one has been made with Katrin Bohn. I am waiting for a possible new issue made in collaboration with Ecosistema Urbano who took part in their workshop last June.

LUP can be downloaded in aaa's website : www.urbantacticts.org.

LUP #10 and #12 and their latest publication "Urban Act. A Handbook for Alternative Practice" can be ordered here. Therefore, in their website, one can find English-version of articles written in collaboration with Philosopher Tony Negri and on their manifold projects such as ECO-box.