Today we are talking with Israeli designer and urban planner Nisan Almog. Nisan shares his genius, creativity and passion for social change through radical urban planning. 

 

He grew up in a suburb of Tel Aviv in a Jewish, Persian and Libyan family. He started his artistic career after university. He has always been artistic. One of his first projects was treehouses. They built four large scale tree houses in a park and it was his inspiration for his other large scale projects with emphasis on public spaces. Follow along to find out how Nisan takes art outdoors and in the process changes the community and culture.   

 

Topics discussed today include: 

• He tries to be site specific when he creates outdoor venues 
• He also focuses on political or social issues 
• He also creates art in galleries and museums, but he loves the outdoor venues where all people can enjoy 
• The outdoor venues are also interactive 
• In Tel Aviv they created a public art format that encourages engagement and participation 
• A beloved project is cubes made from cardboard and it builds an imaginary playground that allows people to play 
• It also has an online component, a camera component, and a radio component 
• Urban Planning - is a master plan for cities 
• Nisan is part of a movement called radical urban planning that addresses social issues in neighborhoods and streetscapes 
• They try to encourage participation of people especially young people 
• They also address issues of gender inequality 
• They always have an issue they want to address before they create the urban art 
• DreamFields addresses urban planning and transforming the way people think about space through a crowdsourced online game 
• When organizations want a fresh concept they will contact Nisan to create a large scale project that will inspire and change hearts and mind 
• Walking into a space and not being confined to what you see is a beautiful thing 
• Nisan thinks of himself and his work as a channel to encourage other people’s creativity and allow people to be creative in different environments 
• Walking and meditation allow Nisan to think and focus 

 

Links and Resources: 

• Nisan Almog 
• DreamFields 
• UN Habitat 

 

To connect with Elissa, send her an email at [email protected]. 

 

Quotes: 

“We created formats to involve teenagers to the cityscapes” Nisan Almog 

 

“We worked with skaters to build a revolutionary skate park” Nisan Almog 

 

“Once you give the people the opportunity to say what they want, there are so many creative ideas that pop up” Nisan Almog