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Jack Self

@j_self

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Architect, Editor-in-Chief @realrvw

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Feeling self conscious, might delete later. @zara @realrvw #whatitmeanstolivetoday by @j_self

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4 years ago

“NOTHING NEW” - a catalogue/receipt text for @uho_co show at @thednlgallery - opens tomorrow; check them out! by @j_self

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a year ago

Civic Grid was included in the @royalacademyarts summer show (thanks to @farshidmoussavi @stephmacdonald6a @tomemerson6a)

@civicgrid is an ambitious Canadian startup reimagining how clean energy infrastructure takes form in cities. It aims to advance the urban energy transition by developing decentralised, local systems conceived as civic architecture.

The flagship prototype is currently under construction and slated to open later this year. I’m so grateful to work with the immensely talented @maxfine (founder) and @harskamparchitecture (architect) – a really rare example of totally collaborative design and seamless teamwork. by @j_self

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a year ago

@j_self in conversation with @gretavoeller for ISSUE_0 @o__mag__

I DO NOT WANT TO LIVE IN A PERFECT
Article available in English and in German

Greta Voeller: You have spent years exposing the hidden architectures of contemporary life. Morton calls the moments when such structures become unstable through ambiguity, strangeness or the uncanny “flickers of mercy.” Where do you currently encounter such flickers in your life or work?

Jack Self: As David Graeber says, “The ultimate, hidden truth of the world is that it is something that we make, and could just as easily make differently.” These so-called flickers of mercy are the moments when the specificity and arbitrary nature of reality is exposed. As such, they become the entry point for many people to think about other worlds that are possible. In the current world — with its economic absurdities, dehumanising social hierarchies, relentlessly humiliating systems of oppression and control — I’m not sure this concept of mercy holds up. Everything is ambiguous, strange, and uncanny. The cognitive dissonance required to function on a daily basis is extreme. The era of neoliberalism was monolithic and smooth, and it was during this time that looking for fissures and cracks became a productive form of resistance. Since 2022, the production of perpetual crisis has meant we are all living inside these states of exception.

I understand mercy as forgiveness and compassion. The regimes under which we live today lack these two qualities entirely.

Full article in link in bio

bio: Jack Self is an architect and editor-in-chief of @realrvw , a magazine dedicated to “what it means to live today”.

Greta Voeller is is a curator, writer, and editor with professional experience in publishing, curatorship, and audience engagement across arts institutions and publishing houses internationally. Her research focuses on emerging practices and transdisciplinarity within the contexts of art, ecology, and cultural production. For o—mag, she acts as editor and curator. by @j_self

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25 days ago

BTS. Civic Grid’s architectural battery installation in Cannington, ON.

Making energy more available and livable. The project lowers the building’s operating costs while adding electrical capacity and backup capability to the site. Community outlets and lighting are available 24/7, and stay on during a blackout.

📷: @normalandboring by @j_self

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a month ago

Civic Grid’s architectural battery installation in Cannington, ON.

Making energy more available and livable. The project lowers the building’s operating costs while adding electrical capacity and backup capability to the site. Community outlets and lighting are available 24/7, and stay on during a blackout.

📷: @normalandboring by @j_self

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a month ago

Civic Grid’s architectural battery installation in Cannington, ON.

Making energy more available and livable. The project lowers operating costs while adding electrical capacity and backup capabilities to the site. Community outlets and lighting are available 24/7, and stay on during a blackout.

📷: @normalandboring by @j_self

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a month ago

Thank you @stellamatutina.earth (also hmu re tagging I couldn’t find everyone but I’d like to use this post as a community record) by @j_self

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3 months ago

Join the SRC beta waitlist at www.src.site by @j_self

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3 months ago

Preview of the SRC app. Join the beta waitlist at www.src.site by @j_self

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3 months ago

taken in Paris, France by @j_self

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4 months ago

"Love is everything. Love is political. Love is the possibility of new and otherwise worlds." 🤍

The upcoming @realrvw 18 features an interview of Sumayya Vally (@sumi_v) conducted by Shumon Basar (@shumonbasar), exploring the role of love in imagining otherwise worlds, and the profoundly archictectural role of play and pretending in insisting on new realities.

📷 Images above from In the Assembly of Lovers, commissioned by @artbasel Qatar 2026 under the artistic directorship of @wael_shawky. Images courtesy Art Basel Qatar.

The interview will be available to read in print via Real Review. With thanks to @j_self 🧡

#Counterspace by @j_self

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4 months ago