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Architect Carlos Mijares was asked to visit Villa de Álvarez, a small town in Mexico´s Pacific Coast, because the Major of town wanted him to design and build a new and permanent bull-fighting ring. When Carlos arrived to town, he evidenced the yearly, community self-constructed bull-fighting ring in the site where he was supposed to place his new project. When he saw this construction, he knew it was like nothing he had seen before, and recognized its invaluable value. Instead of building a permanent bullfighting ring, he documented what he was witnessing and wrote a book about it - a move that has now helped protect the temporary bull-fighting ring.
The bull fighting ring is put up every year and several families of the community participate in the construction. Each family is responsible for a section of the building, which is constructed with "petate", a mat made out of woven fibers, and wood. It is now Cultural World Heritage (or maybe only in Mexico) and it is considered the biggest handcraft in the world.

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Architects Lacaton & Vassal studied this public space, which they were hired to embellish. After spending time there, they decided it worked just fine... read what happened next here.

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Place Léon Aucoc, Bordeaux

lieu / location:

Bordeaux, France
> show on map

année / year:

1996

catégorie / type:

espace public/public space

état / status:

built / réalisé

client:

Ville de Bordeaux

This project fits within the framework of an "embellishment" plan for many town squares instigated by Bordeaux City Council in 1996. The square is triangular in shape, bordered by trees, with benches and a space for playing pétanque, like a village square.
Around it, the houses with their sober but well-designed facades form an excellent example of estate architecture and of collective public housing.
On our first visit we get the feeling that this square is already beautiful because of it's authentic, lacking in sophistication. it possesses the beauty of what is obvious, necessary, right. Its meaning emerges directly. People seems at home here in an atmosphere of harmony and tranquillity formed over many years.
We've spent some time watching what happened there. We've conversed with a few of the local inhabitants.
Then we asked ourselves about a development project on this square with a view to its embellishment.
What does the idea of "embellishment" boil down to ?
Does it involve replacing one groundcover with another ? A wooden bench with a more-up-to-date design in stone ? Or a lamp standard with another, more fashionable, one ? Nothing calls for too great a set of changes.
Embellishment has no place here.
Quality, charm, life exist. The square is already beautiful.
As a project we've proposed doing nothing apart from some simple and rapid maintenance works - replacing the gravel, cleaning the square more often, treating the lime trees, slightly modifying the traffic- of a kind to improve use of the square and to satisfy the locals.

Anne Lacaton & Jean-Philippe Vassal, architects

Ce projet intervient dans le cadre d'un projet d'"Embellissement" de plusieurs places, engagé par la ville de Bordeaux en 1996.
La place est en triangle, bordée d'arbres, avec des bancs et un espace pour jouer à la pétanque, comme une place de village.
Autour, les maisons aux façades sobres mais bien dessinées forment un bel exemple d'architecture de lotissement et d'habitat collectif social.
A la première visite, nous ressentons que cette place est déjà très belle parce qu'elle est authentique, sans sophistication. Elle a la beauté de ce qui est évident, nécessaire, suffisant. Son sens apparaît clairement. Les gens semblent y être chez eux, dans une atmosphère d'harmonie et de tranquillité, façonnée depuis de nombreuses années.
Nous y avons passé de longs moments à regarder ce qui s'y passait. Nous avons dialogué avec quelques uns de ses habitants.
Puis nous nous sommes posés la question d'un projet d'aménagement sur cette place à des fins d'embellissement.
A quoi renvoie la notion d'"embellissement" ?
S'agit-il de remplacer un matériau de sol par un autre, un banc en bois par un banc en pierre, au design plus actuel, ou un lampadaire par un autre plus à la mode ? Rien n'impose des changements trop importants.
Ici, l'embellissement n'a pas lieu d'être.
La qualité, le charme, la vie existent. La place est déjà belle.

Comme projet, nous avons proposé de ne rien faire d'autre que des travaux d'entretien, simples et immédiats : refaire la grave du sol, nettoyer plus souvent, traiter les tilleuls, modifier légèrement la circulation, ..., de nature à améliorer l'usage de la place et à satisfaire les habitants.

Anne Lacaton & Jean-Philippe Vassal, architectes

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Place Léon Aucoc, Bordeaux lieu / location: Bordeaux, France > show on map année / year: 1996 catégorie / type: espace public/public space état / status: built / réalisé client: Ville de Bordeaux This project fits within the framework of an "embellishment" plan for many town squares instigated by Bordeaux City Council in 1996.

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Fascinating architect basically known for all the buildings he never built. He questioned the assumption that buildings were the only solution to all spatial problems, unraveling years of planning and architectural theory and practice to their core.
The image is a drawing of his famous not-built project, the fun palace which took about ten years of planning... and was never built.

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Unsatisfied with his architectural upbringing, Gordon Matta-Clark became an anarchist of architecture and transformed derelict spaces that were going to be demolished into art - cutting through them! Unfortunately, non of his art buildings exist anymore. Read more.

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What inspired Anyi to use adaptation issues as a generator of her architectural design?

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What inspired Anyi to use adaptation issues as a generator of her architectural design?

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For the Fragile Festival at the Pina Bausch Zentrum in Wuppertal, raumlabor and Raul Walch have created symbiotic structures and garments out of trash. Together with a group of participants, a pavilion was created out of old furniture and discarded wood. Inspired by the way the nature of Wuppertal encroaches on the built environment, the project aims to blur the boundaries between the living, the artificial and the discarded. With the help of the AWG trash company, we have been collecting old furniture, wood and textiles, to give them new life. Gradually, these materials have been transformed into new structures, as well as characters who inhabit this space - all while merging with both each other and the existing environment.

raumlabor arbeitet an der Zukunft von Stadt, an Räumen und Situationen, die etwas dazu sagen wollen, wie wir vielleicht besser zusammenleben können. raumlabor zeigt hier seinen empathischen Blick auf die Menschen und den Planeten.

Forms of assembly

collaboration and co-habitation are core conditions of all life. It's about being together, exchanging, producing, decaying, opening up and giving way. Life is about different dynamics coming together. We like to see the city as a form of assembly. Beyond that, our whole planet with its critical zone or biofilm surface, this the thin layer of life surrounding the planet is living together in a potentially unique way in the cosmos, therfore the biggest scale of assembly. If we zoom in, we find the city and if we zoom in more, we see individual living beings, zooming into one of us humans, we discover, that our bodies themselves are universes of cohabitation and exchange. We are no single, autonomous beings, but rather large assemblies of body cells that exchange DNA across from bacteria to human and back.

Die Ausstellung „Empowerment" war vom 10.09.2022- 8.01.2023 im Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg zu sehen. Weltweit finden, beeinflusst durch verschiedenste Bedingungen und Einflüsse, feministische Debatten, Forderungen und Kämpfe statt. Die Ausstellung stellt verschiedene feministische Ansätze und Theorien dar, indem sie über 100 Werke von Künstlerinnen aus 50 Ländern darstellt. Es wird ein Überblick über Kunst und Feminismen seit dem Beginn des 21.Jahrhunderts gegeben.
Common Ground_plan_with text_230715
The Brick Factory is Prishtina's largest post-industrial site. Having been placed under the administration of Kosovo's Privatisation Agency in 2007, it was returned to public ownership by the Municipality of Prishtina in 2021. The future of the site lies in the hands of the citizens. Will it become a new cultural hub, as foreseen by the municipality? What kind of culture would it support? Would such a hub follow existing models or pioneer new ones? The discussion is only just beginning.
Ein postfossiler Themenpark
Du musst dein Leben ändern. Einer drohenden Heisszeit bist du sonst nicht gewachsen. Deiner Einsicht steht nicht nur persönliche Bequemlichkeit entgegen: Auch kapitalstarke Lobbyverbände versuchen dich auf dem Pfad fossiler Abhängigkeit zu halten.

Doch ein Ausstieg ist möglich: 260 Jahre lang wirtschaftete das Japan der Edo-Zeit (1603-1868) auf Grundlage von Sonnenenergie und erlebte dabei eine beispiellose kulturelle Blüte. Aus der Notwendigkeit zur Reduktion entstanden neue Kulturtechniken und Alltagspraxen. Kunst und Kultur erlebten Höhepunkte, die wir zum Teil bis heute kennen: Haiku, Kabuki, No, Kalligraphie, Kintsugi, Sushi, Kimono.

19.10.2023, dinner

Haus Coburg, Delmenhorst, 18:00

4.-7.10.2023, research conference

with Florian Stirnemann, Benjamin Foerster-Baldenius, Barbara Ehnes, Stefanie Wenner, Katrin Dod und Arwed Schultze
Zentralwäscherei Zürich
20.09.2023, opening

Symbiosen

Performance der Ergebnisse vom Bau- und Textilworkshop als Auftakt vom Fragile Festival

Schauspielhaus Wuppertal/Pina Bausch Zentrum

23.09.2023, dinner

Haus Coburg, 18:00

22.09.2023, opening

exhibition at Haus Coburg, Delmenhorst, sept. 23- jan. 28

11.06.2023, open day

Art and About - Ideen zur Nachhaltigkeit

17:00 thematische Führung „Kunst & Nachhaltigkeit" durch den Spreepark
18:30 Kunstgespräch mit Jan Liesegang (raumlaborberlin), Susa Pop (Public Art Lab), Stefan Shankland, Hans J. Wiegner (Public Art Lab), Moderation: Katja Aßmann (Künstlerische Leitung Spreepark Art Space)
Anschließend Klangperformance Thomash & Luter @ Spreepark Cohabitation Discourse

Spreepark Berlin, Eingang über Uferweg, nahe Eierhäuschen, Eintritt frei, 16:00-22:00

The Hüttentalstraße (abbrev. HTS) is a city highway that was built in the 1970's and has had a decisive influence on the surrounding cityscape. Due to its topographical location, the HTS was built on massive, concrete stilts and extends over the entire city area. A large part of Siegen's population lives in the immediate vicinity of the HTS.

Eine neue Studie zum Thema gemeinwohlorientierter Liegenschaftspolitik in Berlin von raumlabor und dem Atelierbeauftragten für Berlin.
Die Studie befasst sich mit der Erkundung von sogenannten „Arrondierungs- und Splitterflächen". Dieses ist eine Flächenkategorie im Betrachtungsverfahren des Landes Berlins von öffentlichen Flächen und Gebäuden, die als nicht zu verwerten deklariert werden. Die Studie arbeitet die Verfahrensweisen des Landes Berlins bezüglich seiner Liegenschaftszuordnung, Clusterung, auf und erarbeitet eine neue Flächenkategorie, deren Nutzung und Vergabe. Das Ziel ist die Erschließung von neuen Flächen für gemeinwohlorientierte Nutzungen (für Kunst, Kultur, aber auch Soziales, Bildung und besonderes Wohnen). Im Zentrum der Studie steht ein transparenter und nachhaltiger Umgang mit den Berliner Liegenschaften. more

Soft Democracies hat vom 01.-09. Juli im Olympiapark München alle Besucher_innen dazu eingeladen, an Gedankengebäuden mitzubauen, Utopien zu spinnen und neue demokratische Strukturen zu errichten. Die Installation wurde so zur Werkstatt für Formen der Teilhabe und deren Präsentation in der Öffentlichkeit.

FAKE ESTATE was inspired by Gordon Matta Clark. It is an effective tool for urban practice, that reuses the platform of a damaged construction trailer. The new design was conceived to meet the definition of the Building Code for Berlin for buildings that do not require a permit (§61 BauOBerlin). It is a radical statement that Urban Practice is not based on property, we must think about it as agile and tactical. It is an active form that establishes a constant connection to its context and serves at the same time as protected space. more

RESIST! beleuchtet 500 Jahre antikolonialen Widerstand im Globalen Süden und erzählt über koloniale Unterdrückung und ihre Auswirkungen bis heute. Die Ausstellung ist eine Hommage an die Menschen, die auf unterschiedlichste Art und Weise Widerstand geleistet haben und deren Geschichten bis heute kaum erzählt oder gehört werden. Die Arbeiten von über 40 zeitgenössischen Künstler*innen aus dem Globalen Süden und der Diaspora, die Geschichten von Rebellion und Krieg, Gewalt und Trauma sowie Überleben und Resilienz. Ihre Erzählungen werden ergänzt von historischen Dokumenten und zahlreichen Objekten aus der Sammlung des RJM, stumme Zeugen von Momenten des Widerstands. Innerhalb des Labyrinths eröffnen vier autonom kuratierte Räume weitere Perspektiven. more

We are happy and honored and thankful to announce - raumlabor has been awarded the golden lion in the 17th architecture exhibition „how will we live together?" in the venice biennale.

The jury composed of Kazuyo Sejima (president, Japan), Sandra Barclay (Peru), Lamia Joreige (Lebanon), Lesley Lokko (Ghana-Scotland), Luca Molinari (Italy), elaborated: [...] for an inspiring collaborative approach that argues for participation, regeneration and collective responsibility, resulting in two projects that are a model for imaginative civic revitalization.

This award is for all the people that collaborated with us over the years, it's for a way of doing architecture. we like to send our biggest thanks to everybody that contributed and contributes to this fluid being we call raumlabor. together, we can change things.

ZUKUNFTSARBEIT FÜR DIE HALLEN KALK

In 2018, Floating University Berlin was initiated by raumlabor as a temporary inner-city laboratory for collective, experiential learning and transdisciplinary exchange.

The founding year of the Floating University saw a diverse breadth of visitors involved to varying degrees with the activity on site, creating a unique ecosystem. The program consolidated a network of practitioners, who towards the end of 2018 decided to continue the experiment by transitioning from a 'temporary' project into an association: Floating University e.V.

Der open space ist wieder auf im K20, am Grabbeplatz in Düsseldorf.

Zusätzlich zu den open days, an denen man mit freiem Eintritt und ohne Voranmeldung vorbeigucken kann, findet dort unter dem Titel „Nichts als Zukunft" ein umfangreiches Programm zu den zentralen Fragen zur Gegenwart und Zukunft unseres Planeten statt, das durch die Kunstsammlung NRW organisiert ist.
Hier mehr dazu: https://www.kunstsammlung.de/de/openspace/#zukunft

Over the course of two weeks, over 150 participants took part in a diverse curriculum convened by practitioners in the field of spatial practices. Acting as a non-disciplinary learning environment, the School proposes, designs, builds, negotiates, maintains, performs and celebrates an educational and convivial space in and around Haus der Statistik, Berlin. At the same time, it becomes a dynamic actor within a process of urban transformation, serving as a common sphere of action between participants, neighbors and civic society.

We are proud and exited to announce our new book: Floating University Berlin 2018 - an illustrated report

It is a chronological reflection, in pictures, of the first year of the Floating University. In it we tell the initial story of our visionary inner city offshore-laboratory for collective, experimental learning, knowledge transfer and the formation of trans-disciplinary networks to challenge the routines and habits of urban practices.

Kulturwerke des bbk berlin und raumlabor berlin, edited by Christof Mayer, Dr. Martin Schwegmann, Florian Stirnemann, Johannes E. Henschel, Tomma Suki Hinrichsen, Anna Pape

raumlabor berlin und Berliner Universität der Künste, edited by Markus Bader, George Kafka, Tatjana Schneider, Rosario Talevi

raumlabor berlin, edited by Florian Stirnemann, Benjamin Foerster-Baldenius

Triennale Brügge, edited by raumlabor berlin, Markus Bader, Shendy Gardin, Jan Liesegang

ZK/U press, von raumlabor berlin und Kulturwerk des bbk berlin GmbH

archive books, a.titolo and raumlabor berlin, edited by a.titolo

Urban School Ruhr, edited by raumlabor berlin, Katja Aßmann, Markus Bader, Rosario Talevi, Urbane Künste Ruhr

The Osthang Project, edited by raumlabor berlin

We are very happy to announce that "5×10" has been acquired by the Kunstmuseen Krefeld to form part of their permanent collection and is currently on show in the Kaiser Wilhelm Museum, from 07.05.2020, as part of their exhibit Highlights of the 21st Century.

Das „Haus Bastian - Zentrum für kulturelle Bildung" der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin eröffnete am 31. August 2019 mit Konzept und Gestaltung von raumlaborberlin.

Es ein ist Modellprojekt dafür, wie ein Museum sich zukünftig als gesellschaftliche Schnittstelle für Bildung und Kunstvermittlung einsetzen kann.

We are very happy to announce that the sauna building, part of our Bathing Culture project in the former industrial harbor of Gothenburg, has won the SAVG Architecture Award 2015 (Swedish Association of Architects Gothenburg Region).

statement of the jury: The architects of Sweden Västra Götalands architecture prize 2015 has been assigned to the Sauna in Frihamnen (Bathing Culture Göteborg)
Like a stranded container it stands there. A slight unshaped figure with a corrugated surface, in the old basin of Frihamnen. The sauna gives vitality, contributes to new life and a new future. With its zest for life and will to create, the sauna becomes more than just a creative haven it also becomes a vitamin injection for the whole town.

The sauna building is also one of 4 nominees for the Kasper Salin-priset 2015 , the National Swedish Architecture Award.

We are excited to announce that the first edition in the Urban School Ruhr Series „EXPLORATIONS IN URBAN PRACTICE" is out!

Als Gewinner des Kunstwettbewerbs für das Gedenkortes Gütebahnhof Moabit wurde raumlabor mit der Realisierung beauftragt. Der Gedenkort wurde am 11 Juni 2017 eröffnet.

Im Rahmen des zehntägigen Festivals des Museum Judengasse brachte raumlabor berlin das Küchenmonument nach Frankfurt am Main.
For the ten-day festival of the Museum Judengasse raumlaborberlin brought the kitchenmonument to Frankfurt am Main.
Building the City Together explores the topic of action in public space, through the scope of a common space for living, working and thinking together designed and built on the Mathildenhöhe in Darmstadt in 2014. more

Munich beware! The legend strikes back:
Shabbyshabby Apartments!

Barca today is a modern suburb of Torino without any significant attractions for the young people living there. The project aims at promoting youth creativity in a place where the conditions of young people are difficult. The workshop "Cantiere Barca" established a space of commiunication, common activity and discussion with young people from Barca and Bertolla in their neighborhood. more

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For the Fragile Festival at the Pina Bausch Zentrum in Wuppertal, raumlabor and Raul Walch have created symbiotic structures and garments out of trash. Together with a group of participants, a pavilion was created out of old furniture and discarded wood.

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Wir schaffen nicht einfach Architektur – wir schaffen Möglichkeitsräume, befähigen Menschen, erarbeiten Zukunftsbilder, entwickeln Leuchtturmprojekte und setzen sie um.

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How much time did you have on those two projects?
What was the reaction of the local people towards your projects?

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I learned that we could go back and re-learn our cultural building heritage and use those skills for building and renovating, transforming our environment.

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I would be excited to research thoroughly the history and cultural values of the place.
I also think, that even though concrete is not as ecological material as any other, somehow I see sustainability in Tadao Ando's work. It is a built place meant forever.

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I didn't know that Finnish building regulations are so close to the passivehaus standards, so it wouldn't be too hard to start to build them instead of "normal" houses

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"Passive house principles simply explaind" video

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"Passive house principles simply explaind" video

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Could it really be possible to build a passive house that does not require mechanical heaters in Finnish climate, especially considering cold winters?

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Do we have good references of architectural or urban design based on (contemporary) critical regionalism or bioclimatic architecture in Finland?

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The passive house and the user perspective

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The passive house and the user perspective

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How do you think passive houses have been "marketed" or presented to the users? Many people are very woke about climate issues, but do you think there is accessible information for everyone to get? At least in Finland passive houses seem to have a very "hippie" reputation.

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Bioclimactic design and critical regionalism! Very interesting topics not yet presented in our studies!

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I can't wait to get to normalise the ideas of critical regionalism in getting empowerment in the design projects from the local culture & climate and people

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I found it really interesting to understand how much bioclimatic and vernacular architecture are/can be related to each other and how much we can learn from vernacular architecture when seeking sustainable design solutions

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Do you see some constructional risks in passive houses? Will those last decades in healthy condition even when amount of rain increases?

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Do you think passive house is  enough? ...

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Do you think passive house is  enough? ...

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...and, why is (at least in the passive house video) Passive Houses considered "healthy"? Isn't for example natural ventilation considered more healthy?

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While CLT is lauded as the new best thing while we still don't know the long-term effects of the adhesive used are there any exemplary works involving massive natural materials being used with U-values nearing or exceeding the passivhaus levels comparable to CLT?

ie. CLT without adhesive but for example with wooden joinery etc.?

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Should passive housing be supported by legislation?

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Should passive housing be supported by legislation?

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In the videos linked to the materials it was said that a passive house costs about 3-10% more than building a "regular" house. Do you know is there a willingness in Finland/other nordic countries to support the popularity of passive houses via legislation? Are there plans to provide financial support for the building projects that will do it with the passive standards? If the largest emissions of households come from heating, it would seem that the passive house would solve that issue.

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Is it possible to build houses to meet the passive standards with massive structures to minimize the moisture/vapour problems caused by the multilayered structures?

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What kind of arguments your office uses to make it possible to get the more holistic solutions through when working with the "hard-nose" developers?

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I enjoyed relating bioclimatic design to