THE OTHER CITY
Project Space Series 2010 – 2011 WONDERLAND PAVILION Project Space Venice | 23 – 26 August 2010 The Other City brings up the topic of newly emerging challenges for urban space design in European cities and the creation of feasible, cutting- edge approaches. The design of our cities is one of the most pressing and vitally signifi cant topics today, particularly for the young and European oriented architecture generation. The resolution of this issue is supported by many wonderland teams dedicating their time and eff ort to this complex subject, working beyond the limits of the common idea of “architecture”. Which creative architectural practices should be followed in order to react in a concise and meaningful manner towards the new social, economic, ecological, cultural and political situations in Europe? The change in traditionally accepted norms and conditions have considerably transformed urban development processes in Europe, aff ecting the role and fi eld of architecture and creating new aims.
CONCEPT The Project Space is to be considered as a temporary laboratory to develop ideas, test experimental strategies, implement new methods, discuss alternative planning instruments and present future-orientated visions. Each Project Space takes place over several days, and consists of the following activities: Lectures Publicly available interdictive lectures by wonderland teams and from guest experts specialising in the fi eld(s) of architecture, design, arts, administration, politics and other relevant areas. Round Table Discussions Open discussions and space to exchange experiences from all participants. Workshops Creative workshops taking place over several days focusing on the issue of urban situations and planning areas in order to develop new strategies while involving local occupants and regional institutions. Presentation and Documentation In form of a fi nal presentation the elaborated ideas of the teams are presented to inhabitants, architectural critics and to the local municipalities. As a summary of the project spaces a booklet will document the developed results and the elaborated research work. The intense workshop started with a site seeing, followed by a kick-off lecture and a panel discussion of experts. Annette Baldauf talked about the mall concept. Henriette Waal explained the recent shift happening in the Viennese Naschmarkt . Marie Theres Croy expounded upon the urge change of users. Pedro Campos Costa explained Lisbons criteria’s for a shopping street re-creation. Based on the outcome of the lectures, the following facts were defi ned by the participating architects: To ensure a unique identity in aspern, futuristic features have to be implemented. In terms of shopping, the teams agreed on the systematic planningof free space in order to be able to host future activities, which will act as an attention grabber, attracting people to come, visit, live and stay in aspern. The most common idea coming from the teams was to ensure that the ground level is vacant, so it could be utilized in various ways and would make new marketing strategies possible. The Croatian team ATMOSFERA proclaimed, in order to be unique and diff erent from other shopping streets, the shopping concept has to be enriched with emerging artists and practices. Mika Savela , the Finnish team, detected the qualities of the area between the last two metro stations of U2 and the lakeside as suitable for a shopping street, if the continuity of the street breaks caused by the crossing ring roads could be solved.
Mimexity, from Italy, would like to dissolve in aspern the groundlevels of the northwestern part of the city into a grid of points, hosting only the building entrances. Around the solid buildings of cultural institutions and building entrances, temporary mobile structures could colonize parts of the ground space, enabling the city to remain dynamic. For MYCC , the Spanish team, it is essential to implement this free ground fl oor concept on the whole city of aspern. Only by doing so a natural development would take place based on local needs. (Irene Prieler and Bahanur Nasya)
Due to that and as the task was unconventional and exciting, we spontaneously decided to participate in the “Venice project space” with an idea of our own. Fortunately our concept enabled us to travel to Venice for one week and to meet all the people working together on the pavilion. We didn’t really have an exact idea in regards to what will expect us – but of course we looked forward to the collaborations and were quite curious to see what will happen. When we arrived in the Morion we received a very warm and friendly welcome. Several teams and people had already been working on their projects and exhibitions. We were instantaneously captivated by the virulent and vibrant atmosphere, so it was easy to connect with the diff erent groups, the wonderland staff and the teams of DUS architects and x architekten. Sharing the Morion for a week with all these people – living, working, cooking, eating and drinking together – unifi ed us as part of a big team, the Morion and perhaps even the quarter to a certain extent. The inhabitants of the neighborhood were partially skeptic but nevertheless very open-hearted. The teams who have been at the Morion for a longer time already established a trustful relationship with the vicinity. Thus it was easier to get in contact and interchange with the inhabitants. We think that this fact was one of the main ideas of the wonderland project space and pavilion: To invite and engage people to reactivate and occupy the Morion even though it will take time.
We hope that our common project “bella tavola” has been a helping part in this on-going process! And we wish Morion all the best! For us personally it has been a very intensive and wonderful time. We had a creative, productive and inspiring interchange of ideas and we met interesting people, which we hope to meet again perhaps in line with other projects. And we evidently had much fun! It was great to live and work together and to share this experience. Thanks to everybody! We are looking forward to becoming an active part of the wonderland organisation and maybe come back to the Morion another time! (MESS) Riapertura Morion The goal of collective ika was to change the general perception of the Morion which had gotten a bad reputation with problems like noise littering and drugs. It's nice to
In preparation for the reopening of the Morion in August 2010 we realized a series of sensitive interventions. As a fi rst step we built a bench out of waste material that we put it in front of the building as a sign of presence and a point for communication. This furniture evolved into a place where we could get in contact with the local population. Then we asked the neighbors for plants, seeds and off shoots in order to plant the backyard. This was a quite suitable way to get in contact with them and involve them into what happened at the Morion. They implanted a little piece of themselves trough the act of donating a living plant – which is something very personal for many people they implanted a little piece of themselves thus relating to the content of the Morion. An autonomous irrigation system ensures the well-being of the plants during times where nobody resides in the Morion. Over the course of three weeks we screened a series of silent movies onto a bed sheet that we hung from a clothes line. This was a simple way to engage people in the street. The only thing we had to do was to remove the bulbs of two street lights, put some chairs out and wait until darkness. (ika)
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