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TIMC09 我的城市!!!
Urbanism, music & video from Macau/Hong Kong/Beijing
Saturday, 4 July @ Albergue SCM Macau | 7.30pm >> 11:00pm
TIMC09!!! LIVE PERFORMANCE: Hou Mun AV show by Dead J and CXW
Dead J & Chen Xiongwei (performance) | source: Shanghai eArts Festival 2008
DEAD J aka ShaoYanPeng is a Beijing Based producer. He started performing IDM and breakcore alongside Shanshui label founder Sulumi in the end of the 90’s. Since then he’s been composing soundscapes , dreamy electronica as well as straight up dark techno. He has released three albums on modern sky: Mental imagery, Mental Magic and Psychedelic Elephant, released last winter.
ChenXiongwei is a graphic designer and an image manipulator. He graduated from the Central academy of art and design in 1993 then worked in advertising in Guangzhou where has made his own visual digest of China. The result is a world populated with red font’s slogans and saturated inserts of mercantile culture, a realm made of giant cities and burlesque characters that he brilliantly puts into motion.
86/33 LINK | Music and Art from France, China, Europe, Planet Earth and soon Mars!
Performance of Dead J and Chen Xiongwei by 86/33 LINK | Leo de Boisgisson*:
For the occasion of TIMC09!!!, 86/33 LINK is happy to join forces with MovingCities and co-organize this event together with +853 in the beautiful site of Albergue. What started as a friendly trip to Macau with Monica last January , accompanied by a lot of black coffee and Portuguese pastries evolved into a substantial project where the ‘Urban Panorama workshop’ and the artists presented by 86/33 LINK will interact and create a lively documentation on the city /island/realm of Macau.
In the shape of a video piece and an audio-visual performance, electronica producer Dead J and visual artist Chen Xiongwei will utilize moving and still fragments extracted from the urban exploration.
*86/33 LINK is a non-profit organization registered in Paris linking up Asia and Europe by creating a platform for independent artists, mostly musicians but also new media artists and street artists and also by providing professional expertise to companies or institutions seeking information and guidance on Chinese cultural and music business.
TIMC09!!! LIVE PERFORMANCE: Filipina Heterotopia by Cédric Maridet
Cédric Maridet | source: Emo Edwin's flickr
Filipina Heterotopia | Sound work by Cédric Maridet
Cédric Maridet (1973, France) works and lives in Hong Kong since 1999 and is currently a full-time PhD candidate in media art in the School of Creative Media, HK’s City University. His research focuses on soundscape theories and on the paradigm between sound-event and sound-object. He founded electronic music label monème in June 2004 as the main platform to release his works [_habitus, 2006]. He has participated in performances in HK and exhibitions in HK, Macau, New York, Paris, London, Madrid and Berlin. He was awarded Prize of Excellence in the Hong Kong Art Biennial ‘05 for ‘Huangpu‘ (video), and was invited to be the artist in residence at HK’s Visual Art Centre. He is also a contributor as a “streamer” for the open microphones project of French-based research lab in audio art Locus Sonus. His works focus on field recording, audio-vision, the construction of altered sonorous spaces and architecture.
Filipina Heterotopia: (…) This piece is rooted in a socio-economic context, which can be witnessed in Hong Kong. Since the 1970’s, and the poor economic situation the government of Philippines has actively promoted and supported the migration in order to find work abroad. As a result, there is now a great number of Filipinas in Hong Kong, who came to find job as domestic helpers to take care of children, elderly, and of the household in general. As stated in their contract, they should live with their employees, and have a day of rest on Sunday usually. They usually gather on that day in open public spaces, outside their employee’s house. (…)
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THIS IS MY CITY 09!!! Live Performances Dead J & CXW + Cédric Maridet
Main organizer: Cultural Association +853
Co-organizer: Albergue SCM
Event co-producer: 86/33 LINK
- THIS IS MY CITY 09!!! Macau event | MovingCities Jun 26, 2009
- TIMC09!!! Urban Panorama Workshop call | MovingCities Jun 29, 2009
http://movingcities.org/
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TIMC09 Urban Panorama Workshop (click to download pdf) | Macau, 3-5 July 2009
In the Urban Panorama Workshop, part of THIS IS MY CITY 09 three-days event, MovingCities will collaborate with Nuno Soares, and explore Macau’s urban landscape by investigating the relation between the cultural/media imaginaries and the concrete conditions of the everyday. In order to do so we will hop from rooftop to rooftop, scanning Macau’s skyline. Starts this Friday, join us!
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TIMC09 我的城市!!!
Urbanism, music & video from Macau/Hong Kong/Beijing for a three days’ event
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URBAN PANORAMA WORKSHOP
Macau Skyline Architectural Research
Workshop by MovingCities [Mónica Carriço+Bert de Muynck] & Nuno Soares
Main organizer: Cultural Association +853
Co-organizer: Albergue SCM
Event co-producer: 86/33 LINK
THIS IS MY CITY, this is my skyline!
Workshop Main Objective
A two-day workshop explores Macau’s urban landscape by investigating the relation between the visual quality and the mental image of the city which is held by its citizens. Using strategies of experimental and empirical field research along Macau’s rooftops and sightseeing spots, a parcour will form the set-up for an intensified collaborative design workshop. By reading Macau “from within” its territory, landmarks and new building geographies will be identified, laying focus on three components of the city’s skyline (character, structure, and meaning).
Through research and design this workshop’s main objective is to understand the potentialities of bringing new types of architectural approaches onto its territory, by reading and interpreting the current state and by projecting speculative designs, so to transform, strengthen and discuss its urban features. The expected outcome will be a “what if” scenario based on a series of optical transformations of Macau’s skyline.
Workshop Approach
Contrary to common belief, a city does not have one fixed and single skyline, as the urban environment is not a stable entity that can be solely understood from one viewpoint only. A myriad of perspectives determines its image.
By exploring Macau from a unique set of locations, from atop rooftops to other vista points, the workshop investigates what a series of skylines tell about Macau’s urban complexion.
What can be read in its horizon, not from outside the city, but from within, and how does this shape the understanding of the city?
How do singled-out architectures dominate the view and act as point of references?
The analysis and effects of physical and perceptible architectural constructions are one of the foundations for city design. The workshop uncovers the role of form in the creation of the city’s image. Investigating in research and design the shifting perception of architectural forms, the participants will bring their findings and speculation in relation with the future development of Macau.
Workshop Day Plan
PART I [Friday, July 03 | 09:30 – 20:00]
The first day of the workshop focuses on the visual quality of Macau. A tour along several rooftops, which aren’t commonly accessible, will offer a multi-perspective view from which design parameters will be distilled. Eight elevated outlooks, in the different boroughs of Macau Island, will form the locations to engage with Macau’s complex urban landscape. Impressions will be registered in the form of photography, video, sounds and sketching.
PART II [Saturday, July 04 | 10:00 – 18:00]
The second day concentrates on the analysis and design exercise.
Starting with a discussion amongst the participants about their experience, an initial analysis will be made by processing the collected material. The afternoon will be reserved to make a sharper reading and analysis of the state of affairs of Macau and to test a speculative architectural approach to the skyline, focusing on the relation between background and foreground, notions of singularity, form simplicity, dominance, directional differentiation, visual scope and meaning.
During the evening’s THIS IS MY CITY09, organization selected works (only) from the participants will be included in the Urban Panorama Workshop exhibition to be open. Furthermore, the works will be also included in a live event (co-produced by 86/33 LINK), which will be handed over to Beijing sound-artist DEAD J and visual jockey Chen Xiongwei, who will remix it in order to explore additional interactive skyline scenario’s.
PART III [Sunday, July 05 | 16:00 – 18:30]
The workshop will culminate on a third day encompassing a roundtable discussion with invited guests – including local architects, municipality actors, city-planners, artists – that are deeply intertwined with Macau’s future urban developments.
In this debate, formal dialogues amongst people that participate on the design of the city will be confronted and contrasted with the views and projections done by the workshop participants. The purpose is to trigger a creative debate about the contemporary image of Macau, based on uncovering future scenarios – stemming from empirical rooftop research and the new skyline scenarios developed during the workshop.
All attendees will be awarded a certificate of participation on this workshop officiated by +853 Cultural Association, MovingCities and Albergue SCM.
Please click to download the application form and/or contact +853 [+853 28523869 / TIMC853(at)gmail(dot)com] for more information.
http://movingcities.org/
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THIS IS MY CITY 09 poster (click to enlarge) | Macau, 3-5 July 2009
Between July 3 and 5, MovingCities is invited by Macau’s Culture Association +853 to participate in this year THIS IS MY CITY 我的城市!!! event.
TIMC IS A EVENT THAT AIMS TO CELEBRATE THE URBAN LIFE IN ITS DIVERSITY OF CULTURES AND PEOPLE. BY COMBINING MUSIC, VIDEO ART AND DESIGN THIS EVENT INVITES EVERYONE TO EXPERIENCE THE CITY OF MACAO IN A SOPHISTICATED AND CREATIVE WAY BY PRESENTING A MULTIDISCIPLINARY CULTURAL EXPERIENCE.
Very soon, we will be making a series of posts, introducing Macau’s URBAN PANORAMA workshop*, and other relevant updates on this collaborative city happening.
Stay tuned!
*update: Urban Panorama Workshop [Macau TIMC09 event] call for participation!
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TIMC09 我的城市!!!
Urbanism, music & video from Macau/Hong Kong/Beijing for a three days’ event
The Albergue da Santa Casa da Misericórdia (澳門仁慈堂婆仔屋) will be holding on the next July 3 to 5, 2009, this year’s edition of the multidisciplinary event This Is My City (TIMC), which is an initiative from the Cultural Association +853, co-organized by Albergue and with the institutional support of the MSAR Cultural Institute and the Institute of European Studies of Macau.
The event, which has the aim of explore new ways of feeling the city, is divided in three moments: a workshop about urbanism, a round table to debate the questions to be raised throughout the workshop, and also a performance that will include music and video art.
Similarly to what happened last year, the main moments of TIMC will occur at Albergue, in São Lázaro Neighbourhood. And once again, artists and cultural agents from Macau and China will be together. The 2009 edition of TIMC will also count with the presence of an artist living in Hong Kong.
The Cultural Association +853 invited the project MovingCities, based in Beijing, to coordinate the URBAN PANORAMA workshop, which will be held during the three days of the event. Conceived by the architects Mónica Carriço and Bert de Muynck, with the local assistance of the architect Nuno Soares, the URBAN PANORAMA explores Macau’s urban landscape by investigating the relation between the cultural/media imaginaries and the concrete conditions of the everyday.
this is my city, this is my skyline!
On the first day of the workshop, the participants will do a research about the characteristics of the city on Macau’s rooftops and sightseeing spots. The collected material will then be analyzed and prepared in order to create an exhibition, which will be inaugurated on July 4, at 20:30, in the conference room of Albergue.
On July 5, 16:00, also at the conference room of Albergue, there will be a round table that will seat together the architects who held the workshop and several individualities experienced in urban management and design. All those interested in the subject are welcomed in the debate. The URBAN PANORAMA workshop is for people who want hands-on experiment and experience of the urban reality and that have some design and analytical skills: students, architects, urban planners, designers, artists, photographers, film-makers, practitioners, writers and all interested in debating the city.
TIMC is an invitation to feel and enjoy the city. Therefore, on the evening of July 4 there is a performance in Albergue with artists from Macau, Hong Kong and Beijing, which is co-produced by 86/33 LINK, a cultural association from the Chinese capital.
The performance starts with the opening of the exhibition URBAN PANORAMA. Then, Cedric Maridet will present his work, focused on field recordings, soundscape compositions, audio-vision and the construction of altered sonorous spaces. The French artist, who is living in Hong Kong, will bring to TIMC09 his approach about the Philippine community living in HKSAR.
After that, DEAD J will show what is being done in China in the electronic sounds’ field. Coming from Beijing, DEAD J is considered as one of the most interesting artists in the Chinese electronic music scene. During his performance, Chen Xiongwei, a VJ also from the Chinese metropolis, will manipulate images produced by the participants on the workshop URBAN PANORAMA.
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映像．音樂．都市風情：三日文化盛事串連京港澳
《我的城市！！！二○○九》在婆仔屋舉行
本年度的跨界別文化盛事《我的城市！！！》將於二○○九年七月三至五日假仁慈堂婆仔屋舉行，活動由+853文化協會主辦、仁慈堂婆仔屋協辦，並獲澳門特別行政區文化局及澳門歐洲研究協會支持。
今 年《我的城市！！！》將藉三項活動，探索如何以新鮮角度體驗澳門的城市風情。其中為期兩日的工作坊將探討澳門的都市景觀，緊接的圓桌會議並會深入議論澳門 的城市議題。一如去年，《我的城市！！！》的重頭戲將在「瘋堂」的婆仔屋上演，來自澳門、香港及北京的藝術家與文化界人士將濟濟一堂，以音樂與錄像勾劃三 地都市風貌。
+853文化協會今年邀請到來自北京的智庫組織移動城市（MovingCities）舉辦一連三日的「城市全景」工作坊（URBAN PANORAMA），來自北京的建築師伯德孟（Bert de Muynck）及莫妮卡·卡瑞苏（Mónica Carriço）將聯同澳門建築師Nuno Soares，帶領工作坊學員探討澳門人心目中的都市形象與視覺質素之間的聯繫，從而探索澳門的城市景觀。
參與工作坊的學員第一日將登上 不同建築物的天台與觀光景點，考察並記錄澳門的城市特徵，學員的研調成果在加以分析及整理後，將在第二日晚上八時十五分起在婆仔屋的會議室公開展覽。三位 帶領工作坊的建築師，在第三日下午四時將回到婆仔屋會議室主持圓桌會議，與擁有豐富城市管治與設計經驗的業界人士一起討論澳門的城市規劃，並歡迎公眾人士 參與討論。
「城市全景」工作坊歡迎所有曾經親身體會都市現實生活、並具備基本設計與分析能力的公眾人士參與，無論是學生、建築師、城市規 劃師、設計師、藝術家、攝影師、錄像製作人、作家或其他有興趣議論本澳城市命題的市民，都歡迎登上網站http: //thisismycity853.blogspot.com以了解參加「城市全景」工作坊的詳情。
《我的城市！！！》邀請所有人感受 再享受澳門－－正因如此，婆仔屋七月四日晚上將會匯聚北京、香港和澳門的藝術家，出席由北京文化組織88/33 LINK統籌的藝術表演。當晚節目將由「城市全景」展覽的開幕禮拉開序幕，緊接將放映由居港法籍藝術家Cedric maridet創作的錄像作品，透過實地錄音、城市音景組曲、透聲幕等視聽元素，展現在香港的菲律賓群體的生活寫照。
錄像放映後，來自北 京的DEAD J （邵彦棚）將表演具獨特個人風格的電子音樂，他被視為中國電子音樂界中最令人感興趣的人物，觀眾藉演出能一窺內地樂壇多元前衛的一面。音樂之中，同樣來自 北京的視覺藝術家陳偉雄更會運用來自「城市全景」工作坊的圖片，讓一幕幕澳門風情畫與前銳的電子音樂結合串連，以把當晚節目推上高潮。
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http://movingcities.org/
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Line 13 Redux | workshop area: Longze station, Badaling expressway and its surroundings
On June 19, three and a half weeks after MovingCities kickstarted research and design for Beijing’s short and intense two-day Line13 Redux-workshop, the students of the School of Architecture and Community Design (University of South Florida, Tampa) presented their first analysis and design proposals. An overview.
Line 13 Redux | by Stephanie Herring & Brennen Huller
Line 13 Redux | by Maryam Younes & Chablis Applewhite
After the Line13 Redux Fieldtrip and one and a half day show-us-the-instant-analysis workshop studio, the students participating in the USF ‘Summer Studio in China‘ continued throughout the past weeks further investigation. Under the guidance of Assistant Professor Shannon Bassett they developed site analysis, concepts and were asked to define their program of intervention. The “review” of June 19 was intended to discuss the first results produced so far.
Line13 Redux Workshop Review | June 19, 2009
Invitees included Professor Ann Bergren (B.A.S.E. / UCLA), Juliane Demel (CAUPD), Michelle Lin (FRAME magazine China) and Mónica Carriço+Bert de Muynck (MovingCities). For a full textual and visual overview of the Line13 Redux-workshop so far, check the below links. We’ll keep you in the Line13-loop about further developments.
Line 13 Redux | workshop pages
- Line13 Redux
- Line 13 Redux | Workshop Field Trip (part 1): Beiyuan-Lishuiqiao
- Line 13 Redux | Workshop Field Trip (part 2): Longze
- Line 13 Redux | Studio
- Line 13 Redux | Review
- Line 13 Redux | Students’ work (in progress)
http://movingcities.org/
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Two Artist Studio's | by Wang Hui | Limited Design
In Mark Magazine #19 (April-May 2009), Bert de Muynck | MovingCities published a small article called “The Importance of Slowness” about two artists’ studios in the suburbs of Beijing designed by Wang Hui | Limited Design. In it, the architect explains why he didn’t go to his office for two months and how century old trees dictated the design of the studios.
Two Artist Studio's | by Wang Hui | Limited Design
Born in 1969, Wang Hui possesses everything needed to make him the helmsman of a new generation of Chinese architects: his work is precise, distinctive and admired. At the same time his career and designs seems to go against the dictatorship of speed that Chinese architects are subjected to. The interview took place in Beijing’s “Today Art Museum” and touched up his experience of working at Atelier FCJZ, setting up MIMA Design and his current architectural activities with Limited Design:
At this moment, attitude is very important. Many architects are doing the same things – crazy, unlimited stuff, including city planning and huge buildings – but I’m trying to distance myself from that sort of work, to look back and analyse certain phenomena, and to think for myself. I’m almost 40, but that’s quite young for an architect. My question is how to use architecture to think about society, about human life, about people’s lifestyles. But I think my thinking is very limited, so my work is limited.
Pictures by Limited Design
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- read full article: “Wang Hui | Limited Design | The Importance of Slowness”
published in Mark Magazine #19 (Apr-May 2009)
Other MARK publications:
A Letter from Beijing | MARK Magazine #09 (Jul-Aug 07)
An interview with Ai Weiwei (CN) | FAKE Design | MARK Magazine #12 (Feb-Mar 08)
Olympic Architecture | MARK Magazine #14 (Jun-Jul 08)
Babel for Billionaires | MARK Magazine #15 (Aug-Sep 08)
Mongolian Private Meadow Club by MAD | MARK Magazine #16 (Oct-Nov 08)
Anything That Is Good Is Called Lekker | Mark Magazine #17 (Dec 08- Jan 09)
Local Hero | An Interview with Wang Shu (CN) | Mark Magazine #19 (Apr-May 09)
http://movingcities.org/
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Times Museum Guangzhou | Image by Iwan Baan
In the July 2009 issue of DOMUS Bert de Muynck | MovingCities published the first review of the Times Museum (Guangzhou) by Rem Koolhaas & Alain Fouraux. Recently DOMUS also put the Urban Transformation-bookreview online, which was published in its February 2009 issue. Scoop!
Times Museum Guangzhou | Image by Iwan Baan
For copyright reasons it is currently impossible to republish the review of the Times Museum. But this short project description, floating here and there on the web, should give an insight in the project:
The Times Museum is interwoven in a newly built 19 stories residential building block in the north of Guangzhou. By distributing the museum over several different floors of this building, a high degree of diversity is generated by an archetype that is very common in contemporary urban China, the commercially developed residential building block.
Images for the article were provided by architecture photographer Iwan Baan. Get a hard copy of the magazine and/or check out the complete Times Museum photoset by Iwan Baan.
Times Museum Guangzhou | Image by Iwan Baan
Urban Transformation | Ruby Press
“Urban Transformation” was published in 2008 by Berlin-based Ruby Press, a new publishing house specialized in “books on architecture, art and other cultural practices engaged in the production of space in contemporary society.” The book itself is a collection of essays inspired by the Holcim Forum 2007 held in Shanghai.
Urban Transformation | Ruby Press
The point of departure of “Urban Transformation”, edited by Ilka and Andreas Ruby (Ruby Press), is that “as opposed to the colonial era of the 19th century, the term ‘urban’ today no longer indexes a normative cultural concept – such as expressed, for instance, in the “European City” – but represents a cosmos of extremely varied notions determined by geographical, cultural, and individual preferences.” Unfortunately this idea got totally side-tracked in a myriad of musings on all things vaguely related to the term ‘urban’, except a few excellent contributions. Overall the book presents a collection of scattered contributions by a seemingly randomly selection of authors and architects. For the why and how underpinning this critique, check out the now and then also positive “A Sense of A City“-review on the DOMUS website.
http://movingcities.org/
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Beijing Line 13 | Northern Section
Line 13 Redux workshop | Beijing, May 25-26, 2009
On May 25 and 26, 2009, MovingCities was invited by Shannon Bassett, Assistant Professor at School of Architecture and Community Design | University of South Florida, Tampa, to give a short design workshop. After dealing in last years’ ‘Line13 Superlinearity‘-workshop with the Northern section of Beijing’s elevated subway line, ‘Line13 Redux‘ focussed on the intersection of the Badaling Expressway and Line13 as the locale for research and intervention.
Line 13 Redux fieldtrip | Beijing, May 25, 2009
On Monday May 25, Line13 Redux kicked off with a fieldtrip on Line13. Departing from the Dongzhimen subway station we moved to the first stop on the Northern section of this subway line, the Beiyuan subway station. From here we walked along dusty roads, large construction sites and a large canal to the Lishuiqiao subway station. Half a year after our previous walk in this area – see ‘Looping Line13‘ (December 2008) – it wasn’t difficult to understand in which direction this area is currently developing: it seems that in-between the Beiyuan and Lishuiqiao subway station one of Beijing’s largest residential housing development is currently under construction.
For an extensive documentation of the present state of this area, check the images on Line13 Redux | Fieldtrip (Beiyuan-Lishuiqiao).
Line 13 Superlinearity fieldtrip | Beijing, May 27, 2008
Throughout the past years MovingCities developed a couple of self-initiated investigations around Beijing’s Line13 and has been fortunate to develop some of its findings further by giving the aforementioned workshops. Our interest can be summed up as follows:
Line13 is the mobility spine that makes Beijing move. It is an elevated subway line cutting through large parts of the modern city. With Beijing’s attempts to spread its urban growth into a polycentric model, Line13 re-organizes this ambition; connecting nodes of polycentric development. Surrounding the line are zones where economical, sociological and cultural tensions co-exist.
Street market panorama (source: Carlos Gil/USF - click to enlarge)
From Lishuiqiao we took Line13 to the most Western stop on the Northern section, Longze subway station. Here the subway line intersects with the Badaling Expressway, a 70 kilometer highway connecting Beijing with the Great Wall. Since its construction in 1996 (finished in 2001), the Badaling Expressway has acted as an important attractor for urban development in the North-Western part of Beijing. Around the Longze subway station, where the expressway meets the subway line, four distinct and programmatically autonomous areas can be discerned; a semi-legal and self-built migrant village, an area called ‘car city’, a low-rise residential area and a high-rise upscale residential area.
For an extensive documentation of the present state of this area, check the images on Line13 Redux | Fieldtrip (Longze).
Line 13 Redux fieldtrip | Beijing, May 25, 2009
In the afternoon we headed to the Crossboundaries studio where the workshop took off. In an upcoming post we will provide background and the outcome of this short and intense Line13 Redux-workshop. Stay tuned.
For now, have a look at our project pages:
- Line 13 Redux | Workshop Program
- Line 13 Redux | Workshop Field Trip (part 1): Beiyuan-Lishuiqiao
- Line 13 Redux | Workshop Field Trip (part 2): Longze
- Line 13 Redux | Studio
Pictures by movingcities.org
http://movingcities.org/
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Leaving Brussels | May 10, 2009
On Sunday May 10 MovingCities flew back to Beijing. A short inter-European flight from Brussels to Stockholm was followed by a longer Stockholm-Beijing flight. Only the first leg of the travel provided excellent conditions for aerophotography, especially while flying over a cloudless Belgium and The Netherlands.
While figuring out and writing down possible principles for accidental aerophotography, it is unavoidable to touch on the opposite end this issue. The fear of flying. This series are the result of a desire to fly continuously over this earth, very similar to the necessity Marciello, played by Sean Penn, was subjected to in Thomas Vinterberg’s 2003 movie “It’s all about love“. In this ‘apocalyptic science fiction’ Sean Penn philosophises on an encroaching weather apocalypse from the back of an airplane, seemingly continuously phoning and overlooking the earth. This character used to have fear of flying, cured it by an overdose of drugs and is in now a slave of the sky.
Landing in Stockholm | May 10, 2009
For those with a fear of flying, check out the recent momus -memo aptly called “Fear of flying“. The recent disappearance of Air France flight 477 over the Atlantic, urged momus for some instant memoirs of moving over the globe. Bookmark, follow and read Fear of flying. An extract:
When I fly, I usually take a window seat at the rear of the economy cabin. I’m happy if nobody is sitting anywhere near. I never read or listen to music or watch the movie. All I do is gaze out of the window — I find the landscapes, even the blandest ones, incredibly beautiful.
Likewise.
Brussels - Rotterdam | May 10, 2009
Rotterdam | May 10, 2009
Amsterdam | May 10, 2009
Stockholm Bromma Airport | May 10, 2009
Stockholm Arlanda Airport | May 10, 2009
Smoking Spot at Arlanda Airport | May 10, 2009
Pictures by movingcities.org
http://movingcities.org/
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View from Parking58 | May 5, 2009
After grinding the euro out Ground Euro, MovingCities went scanning the skyline from two of Brussels’ largest urban balconies, the RAC and PARKING58. The RAC (Rijks Administratief Centrum) was the location of Brussels’ most brutal buildings. Some video’s for disappearing buildings.
RAC (large site on the right) | GoogleEarth
On the site of the largest ensemble of post-war modernist buildings in the Brussels inner city area stood, and only for two decades, the Finance Tower, also know as “La Femme” (link in dutch only). There “La Femme” loomed over the city, reminding it of the intense struggle it had with a century of non-stop urban change. Around 2002 this building was mysteriously sold (in a case of typical real-estate corruption in Brussels and Belgium) and, under the pretext of renovation, the 145 meter building was teared down.
Désenchantée by Kate Ryan | video still
With it an exceptional piece of Belgian architecture disappeared, but not before being immortalized in the notorious Désenchantée-video clip (watch it!) of Belgians’ finest Eurotrash star Kate Ryan and, even more importantly, in the Anton Corbijn directed HeadHunter-video clip (watch it over and over!) of Belgians’ legendary fathers of electronic body music FRONT 242.
HeadHunter by FRONT 242 | video still
Today, plans are being developed by Studio Arne Quinze. He is hired by the real-estate developers keep control over the conceptual design and asked to propose guidelines for the architectural design of the buildings and connected public spaces.
Next to the Studio Arne Quinze plan for the RAC, the developers released this document to the public. In it you can read real radical real-estate blablabla of following kind;
By taking advantage of the competences of conceptual architect studio led by Arne Quinze, the real estate partners have radically opted for a creative approach to existing and new spaces. This expresses the clear wish to boost a new élan and a pole of attraction for this part of town that was long cut off from the happenings in the city.
“La Femme” was also the backdrop of the “The Art of Adult Architecture or The Politics of Pornographic Planning“-piece that Bert de Muynck published in 2005 for a special issue of Cut-Up Magazine.
After the RAC, a visit to the best free view of the whole town, Parking 58. Situated in the center of the town, it is a 10 floor parking space with a top floor offering a 360 degree view of Brussels. A couple of snapshots.
View from RAC | Brussels, May 5, 2009
View from Parking58 | Brussels, May 5, 2009
Pictures by movingcities.org
Brussels Capital of Europe | MovingCities
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Crossing exhibition | SOU FUJIMOTO ARCHITECTS
Bert de Muynck | MovingCities publishes “Crossing: Dialogues for Emergency Architecture” on the ArtForum Chinese website. The piece discusses the 16 proposals from Chinese and foreign architects shown at the earlier reported exhibition at the National Art Museum of China.
Crossing exhibition | ENCORE HEUREUX + GSTUDIO
Marking the first anniversary of the May 12th Wenchuan earthquake, the “Crossing: Dialogues for Emergency Architecture” exhibition aims to raise awareness over the prevention and relief of natural disasters and epidemics. From the review:
All in all, Crossing: Dialogues for Emergency Architecture was an excellent exhibition. Organized jointly by NAMOC, CAFA and curators Zhou Shu and Pan Qing, it presented diverse proposals – in terms of scale, aesthetics and functionality – from an inspiring group of emerging and established architectural practices. The organizers have been able to present these proposals, and guarantee the quality the architects desired, in a safe museum environment where art meets architecture. Strangely this did not weaken or obscure the emergency and urgency that the solutions provoke.
Read full review: “Crossing: Dialogues for Emergency Architecture” | ArtForum
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Ground Euro | May 5, 2009
The recent plans developed for Ground Euro painfully show the reality of the city of Brussels. On top of that, the infamous Capital of Europe was recently unmasked as the most boring city in Europe and a fire broke out in the Berlaymont building, the European Union commission’s headquarters. Between 2003 and 2006 MovingCities followed and participated in the discussion around the presence of the European Union in Brussels and recently went back to take a couple of snapshots and follow-up on the new facelift-strategy for the area.
The discussion about the kind of architecture that best represents Brussels’ role as Capital of Europe was sensational for a second. A lot a strategic, iconographic and political energy was targeted towards this issue in the period of 2003-2006; this most likely due to the expansion the European Union underwent in that period. An expansion which faced some of its leaders with the obvious reality that there were no architectural structures on Ground Euro uniting the different cultures, nor representing the values the European Union standing for. In essence this wouldn’t need to be a dramatic task for an architect, politician or cultural scientist. If it wasn’t in Brussels.
The Image of Europe | Ground Euro | September, 2004
Between 2003 and 2006 it felt like something was happening, when the whole spectacle ended in a circus tent in the heart of Ground Euro. At the time we published “The Image of Europe“-review on that exhibition:
In The Image of Europe exhibition, Koolhaas/AMO constructed an epic history of Europe and the EU with multiple ambitions: to provoke a new iconography, to devise a communication strategy, and to construct a narrative for a continent that certainly has been and still seems to be splintered by political quarrels between nations. If The Image of Europe was sold initially as propaganda to effect change in a complex situation, it should also be considered the hard outcome of the Erasmus Group’s soft discussion on Europe three years ago, the present result of which is without a doubt a construct of realpolitik.
Ground Euro | May 5, 2009
This European content-circus afterward traveled to Munich and Vienna. Since then silence has surrounded the project. The circus is probably dismantled and Rem Koolhaas has been recuperated to become part of the “Reflection Group“. On December 14, 2007, the European Council decided to establish a group of prominent personalities selected on the basis of merit so to identify the key issues which the Union is likely to face in the future. Their mandate is to assist the European Union in effectively anticipating and meeting challenges in the longer term horizon of 2020 to 2030. News about their meetings and discussions seldom reach the public, one reason being the fact that after this issue was recently addressed in the press, former Spanish Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez (chair of the Reflection Group) stated “that at the moment members needed to discuss (this issue) between themselves. He nevertheless admitted that a debate could take place after the summer.”
Operation Facelift | © by JDS Architects 2009
In April 2008 the EU announced “Operation Facelift“, a competition (organized by the Brussels-Capital Region, in close collaboration with the European Commission and Brussels-Town) for the restructuring of Ground Euro. From 35 teams applying for this, the following 5 teams were selected: Christian de Portzamparc (FR), Fletcher Priest Architects (UK), Xaveer de Geyter Architecten (BE), OMA (NL) and JDS Architects (BE). Stirring away from earlier ambitions to make the area “icon-friendly”, the purpose of the design exercise, anno 2008, was to ride the “eco-train”:
The area covered by the competition is the zone around the “rue de la Loi” between the inner metropolitan ring and the “chaussée d’Etterbeek”. (…). It aims to create an eco-district bringing together the main European administrative centre, diversified housing and cultural and leisure facilities which are accessible to all. This project also meets the shared wish of the European Commission and the regional authorities to reorganise the Commission’s existing premises along the “rue de la Loi”. This would bring the Commission’s holdings within this zone from the current 170.000 m² to 400.000 m² (projected surface area).
Operation Facelift | © by Fletcher Priest Architects 2009
Operation Facelift | © by OMA 2009
The competition was won by Christian de Portzamparc (FR) with a project that, according to the press release, has following qualities:
The urban design proposed by the winning team fulfills the specifications of the competition and addresses the goals of the master plan for the European district: to create an original urban form bearing a strong and symbolic identity for Europe, and integrating perfectly with the adjoining neighbourhoods; to carry forward a convivial and environmentally-friendly city project combining offices and housing, and giving priority to soft transport modes (public transport, pedestrians, cyclists).
Operation Facelift | © Christian de Portzamparc by 2009
This is the type of comments that would legitimate the ambition all other proposals as well. In the wake of this decision a couple of good articles have been written about this issue; “Grand New Designs for Brussels” (Der Spiegel), “Brussels’ EU quarter set for spectacular facelift” (EurActiv) and “Making Brussels beautiful” (euobserver).
Operation Facelift | © by Xaveer de Geyter Architecten 2009
In the mean time, all offices have put their Ground Euro proposals on their websites, the ones of Christian de Portzamparc (FR) and Fletcher Priest Architects (UK) do not provide a direct link, while the results of “Operation Facelift” by JDS Architects (BE) can be found here, by OMA (NL) there and by Xaveer de Geyter Architecten (BE) here.
A couple of snapshots of Ground Euro. The European Capital’s reality in your face…
Ground Euro | May 5, 2009
Pictures by movingcities.org
Brussels Capital of Europe | MovingCities
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Leaving Lisbon | May 4, 2009
Landing in Brussels | May 4, 2009
Pictures by movingcities.org
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Exercícios ginásticos de espaço | Os Espacialistas
During our stay in Lisbon we enountered occasionally and for several reasons Portuguese architects representing a new and diverse generation. They, to say the least, explore a wide range of spatial interventions, in the world and on the web. An introduction to the work of EMBAIXADA Arquitectura, Weltraum Architekten, Os Espacialistas, ateliermob, Sami Arquitectos and Pedro Gadanho.
Caldas Welcome | April 18 2009
On April 18 we attended the final lecture of the Caldas Welcome-program, set-up to debate the future and redevelopment of the city of Caldas. Lisbon-based architects EMBAIXADA Arquitectura and Simon Troufa Real – with whom we undertook the May 1 Lisnave-expedition (part I and part II) – held presentations.
EMBAIXADA Arquitectura | Caldas Welcome
EMBAIXADA Arquitectura | Tomar Environmental Monitoring Offices | Image: Daniel Malhão
Last year, MovingCities met EMBAIXADA Arquitectura in Tomar in 2008, while visiting their Tomar Environmental Monitoring Offices-project. Their proposal for Caldas Welcome is now online.
Os Espacialistas (could be translated as The Spatialites) had presented during an earlier meeting in Caldas. They are described as an active group of space performers (within architecture and urban design), whose main task is the artistic creation of shape processes from already existing space situations.
Os Espacialistas | Portfolio
Their impressive 51-pages portfolio shows a wide range of deranged architectural interventions, ephemeral spatial interactions, weird explorations on the border between man and architecture and in-situ material transformations. All is documented by photography and video, which they see as devices to draw, think, perceive and analyse both the natural and the constructed space. Recently Os Espacialistas exhibited at the Paulo Amaro Gallery in Lisbon. The Os Espacialistas-press release is one of the few writings in English about this group of space-jackers. Unfortunately this text suffers from an intensely unnecessary crypto-artistic way of writing, doing unjustice to the work itself:
Art and Architecture become obvious instruments of perception, capable of making the plasticity of a certain interventional location, in connection with another, appear both natural and constructed through the constant creation of new processes of shaping, exercising, intensification, awareness, vitality and energetic fiction of the tangible substances found there.
Tiago Mota Saraiva | ateliermob
Along the road we also met up with the Portuguese specialists of fake architectural news, Weltraum Architekten, and of the real architectural news, ateliermob. In January 2006 the architecture office ateliermob launched its bilingual English-Portuguese website/blog and soon realized they tapped into the communication vacuum surrounding their generation of young Portugueze architects. Today their site acts as a new platform for showing the office’s daily practice and methodology as well as to promote other interesting offices or Portuguese teams awarded internationally and parallel activities to architecture. ateliermob was distinguished in 2007 with the the Best Portuguese Blog in the category of Corporate. Recent posts include a comment on the absurdity of the selected six “young” Portuguese architects at a recent RIBA-exhibit (with a link to 6 upcoming Portuguese architecture offices), an overview of proposals for roundabouts for the city of Tomar and their proposal for Parque Mayer (Lisbon).
Gruta das Torres | Sami Aquitecturos
Although we didn’t meet them this time, Setúbal-based architects Sami Arquitectos and Lisbon based blog Shrapnel Contemporary are, besides all aforementioned, the ones to watch/bookmark. Recently Sami Arquitectos were part of the “Architecture: Portugal outside Portugal“-exhibition at the “AEDES Pfefferberg” Architecture Gallery in Berlin and won the “Prémio Nacional Tektónica/OA’09“-award for their “Gruta das Torres Visitors’ Center“-project. MovingCities wrote about their ORDOS100-proposal for Perspective Plus.
Shrapnel Contemporary
Shrapnel Contemporary is an intelligent and active blog curated by the architect, curator and writer Pedro Gadanho. More regular than occasional Shrapnel states to take the place of the literary notion of the fragment by releasing splinters on architecture, culture and contemporary urban practice. Recent posts include musings on three architecture magazines that caught his attention, and the announcement of Beyond, a new and promising book series “dedicated to new, experimental forms of architectural and urban writing” of which Pedro Gadanho is Editor-in-Chief.
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Deserted shipyard along the Southern shore of the Lisbon Tagus estuary | May 1, 2009
Our final set of Lisbon snapshots deals with the second half of our May 1 Lisnave expedition. Continuing to explore the Southern shore of the Lisbon Tagus estuary, we ran into deserted shipyards and collapsed warehouses.
Somewhere along the Southern shore of the Lisbon Tagus estuary | May 1, 2009
Pictures by movingcities.org
Expedition undertaken by MovingCities, EMBAIXADA Arquitectura and Simon Troufa Real.
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Lisnave shipyard | May 1, 2009
After weeks of wandering aimlessly around in Lisbon, MovingCities met up on May 1 with the architects Paulo Goinhas & Cristina Mendonça (EMBAIXADA Arquitectura) and Simon Troufa Real. Our destination was the abandoned Lisnave shipyard located in Almada, along the Southern border of Lisbon’s Tagus estuary.
Today the Lisnave shipyard is aspiring to part of a large European wave of successful redevelopments of dilapidated industrial shore areas. Therefore in 2007 the Almada Nascente development was launched, aimed at rehabilitating the grounds of the former Lisnave shipyards.
Lisbon & Tagus estuary | Google Earth
Almada (Lisnave shipyard located on the right) & Tagus estuary | Google Earth
The urban plan for Almada Nascente (Almada’s Eastside) was commissioned by the Almada municipality and developed by British architect Richard Rogers, together with architects João Santa –Rita and Ana Roxo. Their masterplan, based on a total investment estimated at 1,000 million euros, would take 15 years to complete and featured 850,000 m² of built areas, attracting to the area 9,500 new residents and generating 13,500 jobs. They explain the ambitions of their “Almada Eastern Riverside“-masterplan proposal as following:
The masterplan layout is based on a linear arrangement of neighbourhoods running parallel to the existing docks and the new water channels; high-density developments around MST/transport nodes; mixed-use development focused around existing docks; public piazzas sited at strategic locations along the riverfront promenade and new east-west connections with Almada town centre.
Lisnave shipyard | May 1, 2009
Currently, this project seems to be on hold. Not unsurprisingly, knowing that the former Lisnave shipyards are owned by the property investment fund “Fundo de Investimento Imobiliário Fechado Margueira Capital”. This fund resulted from conversion of Lisnave’s debt, and is essentially made up of land and buildings used by Lisnave in the Margueira area. In 2007, the company managing the fund began a search for national and international investors who might be interested in investing in the Almada Nascente development.
Today, it seems like they are still searching for investors.
During our fieldtrip to Lisnave we thought it wouldn’t be bad if they would also be searching for a new perspective on the redevelopment, new architects and a new proposal. A couple of snapshots while scanning Lisbon’s Southern shore.
Almada | May 1, 2009
Lisnave shipyard | May 1, 2009
View on Lisbon from Almada | May 1, 2009
Pictures by movingcities.org
Expedition undertaken by MovingCities, EMBAIXADA Arquitectura and Simon Troufa Real.
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Lisbon | May 4, 2009
During our second week of Lisbon explorations we ended up in suburbia. And on the summits, the so-called Miradouro’s, of some of the 7 hills. Oftentimes near the end of the evening. Some snapshots from the suburbs of Algueirão and Mem Martins and views from the Miradouro de Santa Catarina, Miradouro da Graça and Miradouro da Nossa Senhora do Monte.
Lisbon & Miradouro de Santa Catarina | April 30, 2009
Algueirão and Mem Martins | May 2, 2009
Lisbon | May 4, 2009
View from Miradouro da Graça | May 4, 2009
View from Miradouro da Nossa Senhora do Monte | May 4, 2009
Pictures by movingcities.org
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Lisbon | April 22, 2009
More pictures resulting from circumstantial movements through Lisbon, while ascending and descending the hills and overlooking the city. A continuation of “7 Hills“-project which was presented and developed, in pre-MovingCities times, for the UIA2005 Congress in Istanbul:
Bert de Muynck | MovingCities presented the “7 Hills“-project as a visual interpretation of cities built on the apocalyptic topography of seven hills. These cities are Brussels, Rome, Lisbon, Edinburgh, Istanbul and Amman. All equal in topography, all resembling and differing from the other. “7 Hills” is a mythical-critical interpretation of the image of these cities, broadens, resurrects and focuses on the accidental encounter between apocalypse, hill and metropolis. Also a “7 Hills Paper” was presented during the congress:
Cities with seven hills all are visual combinations of mental, physical and mythical images of the environment. An urban environment that deals with heights, overviews, landmarks, axis’s, monumental, stairs, sometimes monumental groups and forms, all leading to a processes from one environment into the other. Today, these cities, Amman, Brussels, Edinburgh, Istanbul, Lisbon and Rome, are without doubt all characterized by kinesthetic sensations. Whether it is by foot, car, public transport or bicycle, the sensations of dropping, turning, climbing and twisting is celebrated till the point of urban energy. Hills can mean a point in a journey; different hills give different visual extensions and overlaps to the shape of the site. A constellation that from one hill could seems to align, turns into a circular setting from another hill. One these hills, whether it the Haga Sofia in Istanbul, the Justice Palace in Brussels, the Capitol in Rome or the Castles in Lisbon and Edinburgh, a program of dominance gets form.
For now, some snapshots while enjoying Lisbon’s kinesthetic sensations.
Lisbon | April 22, 2009
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Lisbon | April 21, 2009
Following up on earlier visits to Lisbon, a series of new urban snapshots. Pictures that are the outcome of a leisurely and seemingly detached relation with all things urban. While being disconnected from any form of work, research or commission, we moved without purpose and halted at those spots where crowds gathered, voids were taking over the urban body and on roads leading to the Atlantic Ocean.
Lisbon harbour | April 18, 2009
Lisbon IC1 to Caldas da Rainha | April 18, 2009
Lisbon: Adamastor, Sta Catarina, Calçada do Combro | April 22, 2009
Portugal | April, 2009
Lisbon | April 29, 2009
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Crossing exhibition opening at NAMOC, Beijing | May 12, 2009
On Tuesday May 12 the “Crossing: Dialogues for Emergency Architecture“-exhibition opened at the National Art Museum of China . Marking the first anniversary of the May 12th Wenchuan earthquake, the exhibition shows 16 proposals from Chinese and foreign architects. Their aim is to raise awareness over the prevention and relief of natural disasters and epidemics. Introduction and snapshots of the opening.
Jointly sponsored by the United Nations Development Programe (UNDP) and the Ministry of Culture of the P.R.C., the objective of the exhibition, according to Fan Di’an, the Director of the National Art Museum of China, is the following:
The works in this exhibition not only reflect the practical qualities of emergency architecture – such as environmental protection, energy saving, local materials, convenient transportation, low cost, and ease of building – but also architecture’s humanistic significance. (…) This exhibition also goes beyong signifying practical and humanitarian qualities. It seeks to highlight emergency architecture’s artistic and organic characteristics. There are many similarities shared between art and architecture, the most important of which is the spiritual experience that accompanies the best examples of works found in both fields.
Crossing exhibition | OBRA (left) and Radic + Puga + Sotomayor (right)
Currently, MovingCities is in the process of writing a review on the exhibition, this will be posted in the coming days. For now we provide the links to the websites of the participating architects, followed by the links to their projects on the “Crossing: Dialogues for Emergency Architecture“-website.
Crossing: Dialogues for Emergency Architecture | Architects
CAL-Earth / Nader Khalili >
Lv Pinjing + Foundational Instructions Faculty Team, School of Architecture, CAFA
CAFA /A4 A4设计组 >
ECAL / Martino d’Esposito >
ENCORE HEUREUX + GSTUDIO >
Estudio Teddy Cruz >
I|K Studio (via archdaily) >
JIA KUN ARCHITECTURE >
Keio Uni. Ban & Matsubara lab. + Southwest JiaoTong Uni. (via TreeHugger/PingMag) >
Leondelima >
OBRA >
PRODUCTORA >
RINTALA EGGERTSSON ARCHITECTS >
Smiljan Radic Clarke + Gonzalo Puga Larrain + Osvaldo Sotomayor Rojo >
SOU FUJIMOTO ARCHITECTS >
Song XieWei + Han Tao + Xi Xiaojing >
Tham & Videgård Hansson Arkitekter >
Crossing exhibition opening | May 12, 2009 | Beijing
Crossing exhibition | Lv Pinjing + Foundational Instructions Faculty Team, CAFA
Crossing exhibition | OBRA
Crossing exhibition | Radic + Puga + Sotomayor
Crossing exhibition | Tham & Videgård Hansson Arkitekter
Crossing exhibition | Leondelima
Crossing exhibition | ENCORE HEUREUX + GSTUDIO
Crossing exhibition | CAL-Earth / Nader Khalili
Crossing exhibition | RINTALA EGGERTSSON ARCHITECTS
Crossing exhibition | SOU FUJIMOTO ARCHITECTS
Pictures by movingcities.org
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Brussels | April 16, 2009
Lisbon | April 16, 2009
Pictures by movingcities.org
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