Risk in the City
http://www.flickr.com/photos/malinkychild/975100455/∞

http://www.bclub.org.uk/drupal-share/files/GuidetoRisk.pdf∞
This guide (click on the link above to down load as pdf) and this report are outcomes of my research into physical and financial risk, working with climbing club and City professionals, encountering with them the streets, bollards and façades of the financial institutions of the City of London.
Risks that are taken on the outside of financial institutions in the City of London and risks that are taken on the inside are different. When climbing on buildings, climbers take full responsibility for their bodies and each other, they experience directly the risks and rewards of engaging with their surroundings. Risk is not remote i.e. effective in locations geographically remote from the decisions making process. It is not immaterial or conceptual, climbers experience directly the consequences of their actions. Climbers in the City are highly visible and open to challenge from security guards, workers and police, we explain and take responsibility for our actions. Climbing club’s approach is perhaps the inverse of organised institutional irresponsibility1 a term used to describe the workings of global financial markets. For this guide Navin Reddy risk analyst and Rich …. risk manager were invited to get to grips with the City. To risk unconventional behaviour for social, physical, emotional and intellectual rewards. To consensually construct understanding and integrate the physical with the intellectual by climbing, scrambling and talking we experienced a sense of multiple possible modes of engagement with seemingly fixed rigid structures.

Useful terms for talking about physical and financial risk.
Arbitrage
Taking advantage of the spaces between the remits of each building’s security firm in order to climb in the area.
Hedging
Using equipment to try to minimize or eliminate risk.
Speculation
Through an investment process that uses experiential awareness of risk, climbers take into account the many factors at play, including high security and police anti terrorist shoot to kill policy, to strategise on how to extract valuable climbs from the volatile environment of the City. This investment process involves en route discussions about, factors that present themselves such as the proliferation of churches in the City, derivation of building materials, ethics of specific institutions and values of the City in general.


Climbing moves and activities approved by the City of London Police, Pc Hutchins June 26 2005

On June the 26th climbing club met at the usual place opposite the Lloyds building on Leadenhall street in the City. Three riot vans and two police cars came to meet us, we were approached by an officer and told that we would be prevented from urban climbing. We immediately challenged the police saying that we would be deconditioning our bodies by experimenting with architecture and street furniture, that we would be expanding our repetiore of movements on the city streets beyond going to work or going shopping, we would be creating a group dynamic that evolved from each participants unique approach and desires. That we would be educating ourselves about the extent to which the built environment dictates our behaviour and therefore shapes society and hopefully experiencing a sense of possibilities for collective activity in the face of rigid controlling structures. Some of the kinds of activities we intended to carry out were run past them and climbing club was able to hurriedly compile this list of City Police endorsed manoeuvres:
• Jumping on bollards
• Swinging on railings
• Climbing trees without causing damage to their branches
• Climbing lampposts up to but not beyond 2 meters
• Climbing on police riot vans is not allowed even if they do have useful grippy grilles and bars
The police officers were then invited to join in, they scratched their heads and perhaps feeling unable to unthinkingly enact conventional relations of power the police officers decided to come with us, after we had been climbing for a few minutes one of them told us that if we ran into any trouble from security guards they would be there to defend us. Two police officers remained with us throughout a two hour climbing expedition.

images

police play too∞

anarchitecture climb1∞

anarchtecture climb2∞

Dougie Bishop's Gate∞



Climbing Club
Initiated by Lottie Child in 2002, climbing club investigates the built environment of the City of London by climbing, traversing and scrambling all over it.Climbing club’s ethos has evolved through the discussions and experimentation of those who constitute it. By trying new things with our bodies in relation to architecture to expand the repertoire of modes of engagement with structures that initially seem to determine only very limited behaviour. Through urban climbing it is possible to discover multiple possible modes of engagement with the built environment, the group and other seemingly fixed, rigid structures both physical and social.
By occupying space on the city streets, climbing club joins with town planners and architects in their shaping and changing of urban space through misusing and trying new behaviours within it.
Climbing club members try new things with their bodies and if useful, fun or successful these moves are noticed by other members and incorporated in to the repertoire of moves.

How to organise your own climbing club
With a few people, choose a location that interests you.
Wander around, mess about.
You might start by climbing stairs two at a time or walking with one foot on the road and one on the pavement.
Be mindful of your fear it is a useful way to gauge what you are capable of.
At some point you might want to get onto the façade of a building.
Traversing, rather than scaling is a high reward, low risk approach.
For more information about Climbing Club contact Lottie Child lottie@malinky.org also see www.malinky.org Climbing Club is part of higher educational, self institution The University of Openess. www.twenteenthcentury.com/uo


Lottie Child and the University of Openness Climbing Club will host a Risk Conference during Real Estate on Sunday 28th August at 6.30pm see RiskConference


1 Ulrik Beck World Risk Society.

Lottie Child and the University of Openness Climbing Club hosted a Risk Conference during Real Estate, at the ICA on Sunday 28th August at 6.30pm. Risk Conference was a conference call conducted by urban climbers and a risk manager whilst climbing on financial institutions in the City of London see RiskConference


link to the univerity of openess climbing club
http://twenteenthcentury.com/uo/index.php/UoClimbingClub?PHPSESSID=a47b2a9b9d4736a5dfdc252082d51879∞
InvitationRiskAnalysts

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