Bidonville Aesthetics and Genealogies of Modernity from Algiers, 1953/1963

The aesthetics and ethics of the bidonville are part of Kader Attia's broader reconsideration of the genealogy of modern architecture and his recognition of its distinctly Algerian origins, which are inextricable from colonial histories and inheritances. Attia's installation and his reflections on its foundational points of reference offer a compelling invitation to extend questions of authorship and appropriation to the Congrès internationaux d'architecture moderne , CIAM-Alger grid. Visual materials under the heading, “Ethics and Aesthetics,” included drawings accompanying Torrés's text that depicted an exemplary gargote , one of the twenty café-hostels located in Mahieddine that catered to its substantial population of male laborers living on their own in Algiers. Strategies of collage were critical to the composition of individual panels.