Sliding Friction: The Harmonious Jungle of Contemporary Cities

Nicolas Nova and Fabien Girardin
in Walabab editions, Designed by Bread and Butter, Preface by Bruce Sterling, Postface by Julian Bleecker.


This book is about uncovering curious phenomena that occur in our contemporary cities, showing the complexity and the richness of our spatial environments.

“After months of fun labor, Nicolas and Fabien Girardin released Sliding Friction: The Harmonious Jungle of Contemporary Cities. This booklet assembles photos and annotations the authors took here and there along their dérive through the many cities they lived in and visited. “Sliding Friction” is an attempt to showcase the curious aspects of contemporary urban spaces. Through 15 topics and 4 themes the authors focused their lenses on the sparkles generated by the many frictions between ideas, practices and infrastructures that populate cities.” “We hope to provide some raw food for thoughts to consider the city of the future. Do we want to mitigate, or even eliminate these frictions?”