It is no clear who invented the "Urban Acupuncture", but is clear that some people developed a very strong concept based on small interventions in economically limited built environments.
For example, Jaime Lerner's approach to the revitalization of cities depends on the relative agility of local policymakers. He calls it urban acupuncture. As the name suggests, it involves pinpointed interventions that can be accomplished quickly to release energy and create a positive ripple effect. Lerner's recent book by the same name provides sundry examples of successful urban acupunctures from the demolition of San Francisco's Embarcadero Freeway to the renewal of Puerto Madera in Buenos Aires and the construction of Curitiba's Opera de Arame theater at the site of an abandoned rock quarry. Urban acupuncture need not be limited to physical interventions. Policies to reduce noise pollution or that encourage nightlife in otherwise desolate areas also qualify. In the end, urban acupuncture is the most logic behavior for cities with limited resources; it is practiced formally as well as informally.
We developed the idea with our practice in Europe and Central America; the idea of punctual interventions to create great effects is present in projects such as the Amon Collective, C.C.M.E.C., El Pochote, Los Hatillos, P.O.D., Plug N Skate, Trama Verde, and W.T.A..
Credit
Oliver Schütte and Marije van Lidth de Jeude with project specific support.
Various locations, 2004 – ongoing.