MONU MAG

NEW CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS FOR MONU #39 - SINGLES URBANISM

When I recently found myself flooded, during the ever-expanding shopping frenzy of the so-called Black Friday season, with offers branded as Singles’ Day deals, it struck me: singles have become a remarkably powerful force in our societies. The prominence and intensity of Singles’ Day—a celebration that began among students at a Chinese university in the early 1990s and has since grown into one of the largest global shopping festivals—underscores that singles are no longer just a demographic statistic, but a transformative presence reshaping cities and economies worldwide. That is why we aim to investigate, with this new issue of MONU entitled “Singles Urbanism”, how singles transform cities and to understand the spatial consequences of life lived alone, and the growing prevalence of living outside the traditional structures of coupledom and family, and its urban influence... continue reading at http://www.monu-magazine.com/submit.htm.

Image: Patrick Bateman (American Psycho); Carrie Bradshaw (S*x and the City); Travis Bickle (Taxi Driver); Fleabag; Thomas Magnum (Magnum, P.I.); Sinterklaas; Batman; Theodore Twombly (Her); Automat (Edward Hopper); Zaha Hadid; Mary Poppins; Bridget Jones; L. B. “Jeff” Jefferies (Rear Window); Coco Chanel; The Scream (Edvard Munch); Amélie Poulain; WALL-E; Wanderer above the Sea of Fog (Caspar David Friedrich); Yayoi Kusama; Whoopi Goldberg

MONU is currently supported by:

The Berlage - MSc in Architecture and Urban Design/ Preview Fall 2025: The Community
(https://theberlage.nl)


Publication: Making Space Together by Endeavour
(https://www.vai.be/en/publications/making-space-together-endeavour)



EKA - Estonian Academy of Arts’ Urban Studies Master’s Program
(https://www.artun.ee/en/curricula/urban-studies/about-the-program/)


Incognita’s Architecture Trips: Discover Eastern European Architecture and Urbanism
(http://www.incognita.ch/)


Find out more about MONU's supporters at http://www.monu-magazine.com/support.htm.

THE URBAN IN CONFLICT, TENSIONS AND ARCHETYPES SHAPING OUR URBAN NARRATIVES AND ENVIRONMENTS - A REVIEW OF MONU #37 BY REBECCA BILLI

When I was in high school and studying the classics, my professor highlighted that, while the Odyssey is the epic of the journey, the Iliad is the poem of conflict. As such, it is built on dichotomies. A dual-focused epic, its plot and grammar structure are always bipartite. There are "a one" and "an other." It is in this concept of "the other" that conflict emerges. In literature, tensions have been acknowledged as instrumental to the advancement of a plot. Analogously, in cities, conflict influences the present and can catalyse new futures. It brings ahead both shortcomings and strengths of contemporary society. The premise of MONU's issue 37 supports the claim that conflict is a fundamental force shaping urbanity... continue reading the review at http://www.monu-magazine.com/news.htm.

Rebecca Billi studied architecture between London and Lisbon and earned a Master’s in Museum Studies from Leiden University. Her work explores museums and cities, exhibition formats, and the manifestation of cultural encounters in urban contextst. She’s a PhD candidate at Universidade Autonoma de Lisboa and founder of the multidisciplinary design and research platform Cosebelle.

Images:
1. Johanna-Maria Fritz, "Like a Bird", MONU #37, page 49, ©Johanna-Maria Fritz/OSTKREUZ
2. Digital Collage, MONU #37, Conflict-driven Urbanism, collage by author
3. Fabian Ritter, "Youth of Kyiv", MONU #37, page 65, ©Fabian Ritter
4. Niema Alhessen and Khalda El Jack, "The [Un]Making of Communal Lands and Militarised Zones", MONU #37, pages 39-43, collages by Niema Alhessen and Khalda El Jack

MONU is currently supported by:

The Complete Guide to Combat City by Julia Schulz-Dornburg
(https://www.jovis.de/en/book/9783986120986)


The Berlage - MSc in Architecture and Urban Design
(https://theberlage.nl/apply)


Royal Academy of Art the Hague - Master’s Programme Interior Architecture (INSIDE)
(https://www.kabk.nl/.../interio.../admission-requirements...)thehague

The Athletic Coup - Film Festival
(https://coupfilmfest.com/)

The Athletic Coup - Film Festival - Athens, Greece.
Untold Stories of Athletes And Niche Sports From Around The World.
Through the lens of cinema, this film festival series brings to life the passion, dedication and triumphs of athletes from all walks of life, inspiring audiences to dream big and strive for greatness.

Incognita’s Architecture Trips: Discover Eastern European
Architecture and Urbanism
(http://www.incognita.ch/)


Find out more about MONU's supporters at http://www.monu-magazine.com/support.htm.