The Dutch magazine Volume has published an article of mine on how the logic and networks of youth cultures provide an inspiring model for European cooperation. Volume is an independent quarterly for architecture to go beyond itself and is a cooperation between:
Archis Foundation, Amsterdam
AMO, Rotterdam
C-LAB, Columbia University New York
First time I made it to a cover of a magazine. Here´s a teaser on the article:
"Several youth cultures show how difference can be a prerequisite rather than an obstacle to interaction. By giving serious attention to interaction practices in transnational youth cultures we could actually find answers to many of the diversity problems with which Europe currently struggles."
Volume can be bought from selected bookstores:
Amazon
NAI Publishers
Bruil
Archis
Showing posts with label architecture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label architecture. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Great American City
It was somewhat accidental that I ended starting my summer holidays from Chicago last week. KLM offered a cheap deal and we thought it would be an easy way to get across the Atlantic. Before travelling, I did not give the city much thought. I always thought New York, LA, San Francisco and even Washington D.C. would be more interesting. I mean what do you think of when someone mentions Chicago: pan pizza and Al Capone, lately also Barack Obama.
Little did I know that in a day I would fall in love with Chicago. I loved the fact that its urban planning is based on a complete different notion than ours here in Europe. It is OK to make it big. The picture captures the idea well: green meets high.
My new top list for Chicago would be:
1. Millennium Park: Best display of public art I have ever seen. Great pieces which attract the public to touch and have fun. The fountain projecting faces of people of Chicago into it was swarmed by children, especially when the fountain spit high-pressure water out of the mouth of the projected person. The flower garden captured in the picture and the Pavillion by the great Frank Gehry really make it worth visiting. And hey, I don't mind at all that most of the art was paid by Wrigley and Boeing.
2. Bongo Room: the best and biggest pancakes I have ever had with constant refill of coffee in a design resembling a kindergarten. Friendly service just on Wabash (1152 S Wabash Av).
3. Sky scrapers: Chicago knows how to make it impressive whether it is Xerox, Sears, AON (see pic) or parking lots in the shape of corn cobs. It was rather funny that yesterday we went to see the fantastic new Batman film Dark Knight only to realise that it was filmed in downtown Chicago.
4. Oprah: I mean come on. In the hotel room our every morning started with her, filmed just around the corner. Somehow Oprah is like the beacon of what Chicago is about in its optimism, upbeat and freshness.
Yesterday Chicago, today chaotic but hope-driven Los Angeles and tomorrow blitz of Las Vegas. I love America.
Little did I know that in a day I would fall in love with Chicago. I loved the fact that its urban planning is based on a complete different notion than ours here in Europe. It is OK to make it big. The picture captures the idea well: green meets high.
My new top list for Chicago would be:
1. Millennium Park: Best display of public art I have ever seen. Great pieces which attract the public to touch and have fun. The fountain projecting faces of people of Chicago into it was swarmed by children, especially when the fountain spit high-pressure water out of the mouth of the projected person. The flower garden captured in the picture and the Pavillion by the great Frank Gehry really make it worth visiting. And hey, I don't mind at all that most of the art was paid by Wrigley and Boeing.
2. Bongo Room: the best and biggest pancakes I have ever had with constant refill of coffee in a design resembling a kindergarten. Friendly service just on Wabash (1152 S Wabash Av).
3. Sky scrapers: Chicago knows how to make it impressive whether it is Xerox, Sears, AON (see pic) or parking lots in the shape of corn cobs. It was rather funny that yesterday we went to see the fantastic new Batman film Dark Knight only to realise that it was filmed in downtown Chicago.
4. Oprah: I mean come on. In the hotel room our every morning started with her, filmed just around the corner. Somehow Oprah is like the beacon of what Chicago is about in its optimism, upbeat and freshness.
Yesterday Chicago, today chaotic but hope-driven Los Angeles and tomorrow blitz of Las Vegas. I love America.
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
Going Romanian
Before travelling to Romania last Saturday, I did not really know what to expect. My link to the country consisted of two drastically different worlds:
-theoneminutesjr worksops with Roma children and orphans
-glossy and ambitious arts magazine Omagiu which is often praised on the European level
Well, now being back, the picture is more or less the same - as paradoxical and confused. My first observation was the overcommercialisation of the public sphere and lack of urban planning in Bucharest. Bucharest has all the means to be a beautiful city due to its historical centre. But as we drove into the city, every single wall was plastered with massive advertisements of clothing, alcohol or electronics. People had sold their view to LG and Carrefour. In the midst of sadly deteriorating old buildings rose massive skyscrapers by foreign companies. My local hosts told me that many of the old buildings - including some churches - are at risk due to to heavy construction just next to them. Due to Bucharest's location in an earthquake area, the new buildings are built on wheels that allow them to survive an earthquake. But the trembling from the movement of a skyscraper or Inter-Continental hotel means the end of the church next to it.
Bucharest's hypercapitalism is in a perverse interplay with the Communist era. In the very centre of the city you have a building planned to be the radio headquarters, which was never finished and now houses homeless people and junkies - all this covered in massive advertisement of McDonald's. This tale of two worlds really makes me sick.
But the main souvenir of this era is the second-biggest building in the world, Parliament Palace on a hill right smack in the centre. The colossal nature of the building is something you only realise when you are told to walk to the entrance of the other side of the building and it takes you 20 minutes. Ceausescu's "Taj Mahal" was supposed to host all main institutions of the Communist administration. The building with 1100 rooms hosts currently the Parliament and the Museum of Contemporary Arts amongst others.
The MNAC museum was one of the many paradoxes. The glass elevators built on the wall of the Parliament Palace look like something borrowed from the Pompidou Centre. The scale and collection of the museum competes with any respectable capital in Europe. Braco Dimitrijevic's work demystifying and challenging concepts of art was both clever, witty and aestetically superb. The massive halls allow the viewer a clean art experience.
But at the same time I was often the only visitor in each floor. From the window of this distinguished member of the global art scene I could see garbage containers at its entrance and a massive unkept field right in the middle of the city. The terrace on the roof of the building was filled with German business men. Hardly anyone spoke Romanian.
Romania leaves me with a confused but in the end optimistic feeling. In a video workshop in the beautiful Northern city of Cluj I met young people optimistic for their country. They did not want to leave for Western Europe but strived for playing a part in modernising Romania. The attitudes of the teenagers are the best asset of any country.
-theoneminutesjr worksops with Roma children and orphans
-glossy and ambitious arts magazine Omagiu which is often praised on the European level
Well, now being back, the picture is more or less the same - as paradoxical and confused. My first observation was the overcommercialisation of the public sphere and lack of urban planning in Bucharest. Bucharest has all the means to be a beautiful city due to its historical centre. But as we drove into the city, every single wall was plastered with massive advertisements of clothing, alcohol or electronics. People had sold their view to LG and Carrefour. In the midst of sadly deteriorating old buildings rose massive skyscrapers by foreign companies. My local hosts told me that many of the old buildings - including some churches - are at risk due to to heavy construction just next to them. Due to Bucharest's location in an earthquake area, the new buildings are built on wheels that allow them to survive an earthquake. But the trembling from the movement of a skyscraper or Inter-Continental hotel means the end of the church next to it.
Bucharest's hypercapitalism is in a perverse interplay with the Communist era. In the very centre of the city you have a building planned to be the radio headquarters, which was never finished and now houses homeless people and junkies - all this covered in massive advertisement of McDonald's. This tale of two worlds really makes me sick.
But the main souvenir of this era is the second-biggest building in the world, Parliament Palace on a hill right smack in the centre. The colossal nature of the building is something you only realise when you are told to walk to the entrance of the other side of the building and it takes you 20 minutes. Ceausescu's "Taj Mahal" was supposed to host all main institutions of the Communist administration. The building with 1100 rooms hosts currently the Parliament and the Museum of Contemporary Arts amongst others.
The MNAC museum was one of the many paradoxes. The glass elevators built on the wall of the Parliament Palace look like something borrowed from the Pompidou Centre. The scale and collection of the museum competes with any respectable capital in Europe. Braco Dimitrijevic's work demystifying and challenging concepts of art was both clever, witty and aestetically superb. The massive halls allow the viewer a clean art experience.
But at the same time I was often the only visitor in each floor. From the window of this distinguished member of the global art scene I could see garbage containers at its entrance and a massive unkept field right in the middle of the city. The terrace on the roof of the building was filled with German business men. Hardly anyone spoke Romanian.
Romania leaves me with a confused but in the end optimistic feeling. In a video workshop in the beautiful Northern city of Cluj I met young people optimistic for their country. They did not want to leave for Western Europe but strived for playing a part in modernising Romania. The attitudes of the teenagers are the best asset of any country.
Friday, November 16, 2007
And what are you trying to say?
Last year the Finnish Business and Policy Council EVA published a fascinating report on the changes of corporate architecture. The pamphlet (in English) compared the messages companies are sending with their headquarters built in the beginning of the 20th century and now.
The most powerful comparison in the document was the comparison between the old headquarters of the Helsinki telephone company HPY (now Elisa) and the headquarters of Nokia (new). When HPY’s headquarter was a big, slightly gothic granite monolith communicating ”we are here to stay”, Nokia’s glass complex communicates ”we are dynamic, open and transparent”. The irony of this all was that in the midst of its economic problems Elisa sold its headquarters to a new media company.
Why am I ranting about this? Because I am currently in Budapest – a mixture of romantic old sights and gigantic Tesco hypermarkets. At the same time Budapest is perfect for that getaway weekend of the good old times and for full-blown ”you can buy a washing machine at 3 a.m. if you want” capitalism.
Today I had a meeting at MTV, the Hungarian national television. The organisers of my previous meeting at British Council drew me a map. They said:”It is a massive building, you cannot miss it.”
Well, I could. The building in the picture is MTV headquarters. It is a colossal castle that in my mind looks more like a presidential palace or a parliament than a place where you make TV programmes. I was going around and around the square searching for a media house, passing the castle a few times. Finally asking a local helped. She looked me like I was retarded. I could see what she was thinking:”Are you stupid or what? It is the biggest building on this square right behind you.”
Diversity is not only a question of understanding, colourful hand dolls and living together. It is also realising that something natural to us can be perfectly alien to someone else.
The most powerful comparison in the document was the comparison between the old headquarters of the Helsinki telephone company HPY (now Elisa) and the headquarters of Nokia (new). When HPY’s headquarter was a big, slightly gothic granite monolith communicating ”we are here to stay”, Nokia’s glass complex communicates ”we are dynamic, open and transparent”. The irony of this all was that in the midst of its economic problems Elisa sold its headquarters to a new media company.
Why am I ranting about this? Because I am currently in Budapest – a mixture of romantic old sights and gigantic Tesco hypermarkets. At the same time Budapest is perfect for that getaway weekend of the good old times and for full-blown ”you can buy a washing machine at 3 a.m. if you want” capitalism.
Today I had a meeting at MTV, the Hungarian national television. The organisers of my previous meeting at British Council drew me a map. They said:”It is a massive building, you cannot miss it.”
Well, I could. The building in the picture is MTV headquarters. It is a colossal castle that in my mind looks more like a presidential palace or a parliament than a place where you make TV programmes. I was going around and around the square searching for a media house, passing the castle a few times. Finally asking a local helped. She looked me like I was retarded. I could see what she was thinking:”Are you stupid or what? It is the biggest building on this square right behind you.”
Diversity is not only a question of understanding, colourful hand dolls and living together. It is also realising that something natural to us can be perfectly alien to someone else.
Friday, September 14, 2007
Better dreams
My family comes from an industrial city called Karkkila. My grandfather worked at the factory, my father had a summerjob at the factory and the director of the Högfors steel factory was the most influential person in Karkkila. He kept the schools going, the public saunas warm and the tennis courts (for the upper class) clean.
I had not thought of this for years before yesterday when we visited the Zollverein, an old coal mine and a coking plant in the city of Essen in the West-German Ruhr area. Zollverein - with steel tycoons like the Krupp family - is currently being turned into one of the biggest cultural centres in our entire region as the factories have been closed gradually starting in the 1970s.
The area is massive and beautiful. The symmetric forms and clarity (form follows function) really pleases one's eye. The Ruhr area - with its notorious reputation as the place where you cannot see the blue sky because of the smoke and where you cannot swim in the river - won the bid for the European Capital of Culture in 2010 and is now transforming itself into something new and shiny.
The presentation of their plans was impressive. They plan to close the motorway for a streetparty, they are building islands on the rivers and doing a year-long cultural programme for the area of 54 cities. Their start was already good by snatching the Love Parade away from Berlin. The budget for 2010 activities is around 48 million euros - excluding the recontstruction costs like the ones at Zollverein.
The trip was the ECF's staff day and me and most of my colleagues were positively surprised after nagging on the bus about the destination. Even if Essen still has a long way to go in order to be a creative hub - starting from having at least one bar open in the centre after midnight -, their start is greatly impressive. Zollverein is an example of thinking long-term and big. And some of the elements like the bright orange staircase and escalator by the Dutch star designer Rem Koolhaas are just breathtakingly beautiful.
In 2000 I worked in a project that was part of Helsinki's European City of Culture programme. The best thing in that year was the way it allowed the citizens of Helsinki to love and be proud of their hometown. Helsinki suddenly became exciting, fun and lively.
Karkkila - my family's hometown - was long known as the Finnish city with the greatest debts, one of the heaviest unemployment rates and highest communal taxation. Karkkila still has a long way to go if it wishes to work its way out of this vicious cycle of mass emigration to Helsinki and companies shutting down their production plants.
The Ruhr area is up to similar challenges. one of the successes of the year could be a new dream for the area that has been for years the prime tragic example of the end of industrialisation.
I had not thought of this for years before yesterday when we visited the Zollverein, an old coal mine and a coking plant in the city of Essen in the West-German Ruhr area. Zollverein - with steel tycoons like the Krupp family - is currently being turned into one of the biggest cultural centres in our entire region as the factories have been closed gradually starting in the 1970s.
The area is massive and beautiful. The symmetric forms and clarity (form follows function) really pleases one's eye. The Ruhr area - with its notorious reputation as the place where you cannot see the blue sky because of the smoke and where you cannot swim in the river - won the bid for the European Capital of Culture in 2010 and is now transforming itself into something new and shiny.
The presentation of their plans was impressive. They plan to close the motorway for a streetparty, they are building islands on the rivers and doing a year-long cultural programme for the area of 54 cities. Their start was already good by snatching the Love Parade away from Berlin. The budget for 2010 activities is around 48 million euros - excluding the recontstruction costs like the ones at Zollverein.
The trip was the ECF's staff day and me and most of my colleagues were positively surprised after nagging on the bus about the destination. Even if Essen still has a long way to go in order to be a creative hub - starting from having at least one bar open in the centre after midnight -, their start is greatly impressive. Zollverein is an example of thinking long-term and big. And some of the elements like the bright orange staircase and escalator by the Dutch star designer Rem Koolhaas are just breathtakingly beautiful.
In 2000 I worked in a project that was part of Helsinki's European City of Culture programme. The best thing in that year was the way it allowed the citizens of Helsinki to love and be proud of their hometown. Helsinki suddenly became exciting, fun and lively.
Karkkila - my family's hometown - was long known as the Finnish city with the greatest debts, one of the heaviest unemployment rates and highest communal taxation. Karkkila still has a long way to go if it wishes to work its way out of this vicious cycle of mass emigration to Helsinki and companies shutting down their production plants.
The Ruhr area is up to similar challenges. one of the successes of the year could be a new dream for the area that has been for years the prime tragic example of the end of industrialisation.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Art for social impact
I got back from Morocco on Saturday evening a half an hour before midnight having plane once again delayed when departing from Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport. That airport and me – not a match made in aviation heaven. Well anyway, my stay in the Netherlands was extraordinarily short as I left on Sunday morning to London for a British Council conference on higher education. Currently I am in Helsinki for seeing some people for work and seeing how theoneminutesjr workshop is running.
On Sunday – although somewhat exhausted – I decided to make some room in my agenda for high culture. A friend of mine had recommended the Antony Gormley exhibition in Hayward Gallery so I made my way through Central London, crossed the Thames and walked to the South Bank. Even with some waiting outside in line, Gormley’s exhibition was definitely the right move for the day.
Gormley works with extremely heavy sculptures mostly somehow using his own body as the subject mostly using lead as his material. His clever invention was not to limit himself into the gallery but scatter his works on the rooftops of London. I love the idea. When one stands on the terrace of the gallery, one can easily spot some 20 iron men standing on rooftops. I love this kind of project which question where art belongs and makes art accessible for greater numbers of people. In the gallery I witnessed a father and daughter engaged in a dialogue:
”Oh, daddy, there’s one!”
”Sweety, let’s see how many we can spot.”
The major revelation in the Blind Light exhibition was the work actually named Blind Light which is basically a big cloud-filled glass box with fluorescent white light. The effect is extraordinary. One enters the box and within 20 seconds you lose all sense of orientation. It is wet and cold inside, you don’t know where the entrance was and you see people appearing and disappearing. Of course a rational person knows that by following the walls you end up to the entrance but I must confess that the room puts the thought into your head: what if I just don’t find my way out?
With the glass box Gormley poses an interesting question – what is natural and what is unnatural? By taking the natural and uncertain inside and forcing people to be observed by others from the outside, he manages to question some of our notions of reality. As he writes in the booklet:”Architecture is supposed to be the location of security and certainty about where you are. It is supposed to protect you from the weather, from darkness, from uncertainty. Blind Light undermines all that.”
If in London before 19 August, I highly recommend Blind Light.
On Sunday – although somewhat exhausted – I decided to make some room in my agenda for high culture. A friend of mine had recommended the Antony Gormley exhibition in Hayward Gallery so I made my way through Central London, crossed the Thames and walked to the South Bank. Even with some waiting outside in line, Gormley’s exhibition was definitely the right move for the day.
Gormley works with extremely heavy sculptures mostly somehow using his own body as the subject mostly using lead as his material. His clever invention was not to limit himself into the gallery but scatter his works on the rooftops of London. I love the idea. When one stands on the terrace of the gallery, one can easily spot some 20 iron men standing on rooftops. I love this kind of project which question where art belongs and makes art accessible for greater numbers of people. In the gallery I witnessed a father and daughter engaged in a dialogue:
”Oh, daddy, there’s one!”
”Sweety, let’s see how many we can spot.”
The major revelation in the Blind Light exhibition was the work actually named Blind Light which is basically a big cloud-filled glass box with fluorescent white light. The effect is extraordinary. One enters the box and within 20 seconds you lose all sense of orientation. It is wet and cold inside, you don’t know where the entrance was and you see people appearing and disappearing. Of course a rational person knows that by following the walls you end up to the entrance but I must confess that the room puts the thought into your head: what if I just don’t find my way out?
With the glass box Gormley poses an interesting question – what is natural and what is unnatural? By taking the natural and uncertain inside and forcing people to be observed by others from the outside, he manages to question some of our notions of reality. As he writes in the booklet:”Architecture is supposed to be the location of security and certainty about where you are. It is supposed to protect you from the weather, from darkness, from uncertainty. Blind Light undermines all that.”
If in London before 19 August, I highly recommend Blind Light.
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