Architecture of Appropriation in Poortgebouw: forms of resistance in Rotterdam, Istanbul and Hong KongArchitecture of Appropriation in Poortgebouw: forms of resistance in Rotterdam, Istanbul and Hong Kong

Designer, farmer and lecturer Michael Leung (Hong Kong) will speak about the sociocultural context of farm squats in Hong Kong. Researcher and writer Pelin Tan (Mardin, Turkey) will talk about forms of local resistance in Istanbul, followed by a session by Poortgebouw residents on the history and the current situation of the space and its community, within the urban context of Rotterdam. Finally, researcher E.T.C. Dee will present archival research on squatting in Rotterdam.

This programme is part of the ongoing research project _Architecture of Appropriation, _in which Het Nieuwe Instituut investigates squatting as an architectural practice.

Prior to the talks and the discussion there will be a screening of the film _2084: A Science Fiction Show / Episode 2: The Fall of Artists' Republic _(18 min. 2014) directed by Pelin Tan and Anton Vidokle. This episode is filmed on location in Tripoli, Lebanon, set in a future where the Artists' Republic, an artist-run city-state after a successful occupation, has collapsed and art has become a thing of the past. Despite the demise of art, artists inexplicably continue to exist, albeit as animals.

Michael Leung is a designer, urban farmer and visiting lecturer. He was born in London and moved to Hong Kong in 2009 to complete a Masters in design. His work ranges from conceptual objects for the dead to urban agriculture projects such as The HK FARMers' Almanac (2014-2015) and Community Farming Project. Michael is a visiting lecturer at Hong Kong Baptist University and at the Intercommon Institute, where he teaches socially engaged art (MA) and social design, respectively. His research focuses on Insurrectionary Agricultural Milieux, rhizomatic forms of agriculture that exist in local response to global conditions of biopolitics and neoliberalism. An amalgamation of his work, zines and fictional stories can be seen and purchased at a neighbourhood street market stall called Kai Fong Pai Dong, located in a vegetable market in Yau Ma Tei, Hong Kong. The market stall reconfigures public space into a community garden and a platform that welcomes post-work and post-capitalist action.

Pelin Tan is a researcher and writer based in Mardin, Turkey. Her research projects include Threshold Infrastructure on the Pearl River Delta Sea in China, on fisher women, labour and design (HK Design Trust, 2016). As part of Campus in Camps, Dheisheh Palestinian Refugee Camp, she has been part of the pedagogical consortium on refugee heritage since 2015. In 2012 Tan was the Japan Foundation researcher at Osaka Urban Research Plaza, where she researched alternative collectives and urban justice. With Onder Ozengi she conducted research on labour and working condition in art. With Anton Vidokle she co-directed the 2084 episodes of films on the future of art. Currently Tan is working on a book with writer and researcher Dr. Lu Pan on 'the autonomy and alternative collectives in Asia'. She is a member of Artikisler Video Collective and contributor to The Silent University. Tan is a Lead Author of the 'Cities' chapter of IPSP, edited by Sasskia Sassen and Edgar Pieterse (2015 - 2017).

The Poortgebouw is an imposing building - dating from 1879 - that is constructed over a main road in the Kop van Zuid district of Rotterdam. This listed monument was commissioned by the infamous businessman Lodewijk Pincoff and designed by architect Van de Wall as the head office of the Rotterdamse Handelsvereniging. The building lost its intended function simultaneously with its completion when Pincoff fled the country to avoid prosecution for fraud. Subsequently, having served various functions, interspersed with years of vacancy, the building was squatted in 1980. The squatters carried out maintenance work, carried out spatial interventions, and added workshops, a stage, shared kitchens and bathrooms. The Poortgebouw became a well-known venue in the underground scene. In 1984 was awarded legal status, with the residents initially renting the building from the city and later from private owners. Today the Poortgebouw is home to a lively community of some thirty residents, who hold monthly house meetings and are organised into various working groups devoted to particular issues, such as internal maintenance, activities and workshops. The building is also home to a give-away shop, a weekly café and a bimonthly open podium for performances.