wo r k s h o p s p e c i a l EASA009 ITALIA . DARFO BOARIO TERME . TUTTE LE NOTIZIE . SEMPRE! 5 AUGUST . ISSUE 10
Operation Ace High
Tutor: Gabriele Falconi (IT) This is one of the most serious workshops this year at EASA. But still it has around 12 participants hard working by using computers, plans and probably brains.Yeahs, thats not easy when you party everyday and tutors were expecting bit more working hours, but what can you do?You should know by now – EASA is so more fun related thing. Anyways, the main idea of a workshop is to rethink and redesign very extraordinary space, that is a former NATO base. The location has rocky mountain landscape with poor vegetation as long with radars and concrete structures. So, the participants have been given task to think about this Alpine area, its infrastructure, architecture and habitat and come up with several proposals what can be made of it. The current owner of the land is also interesting in young architects visions of this territory, that led the workshop to get sponsorship. Participants say, the work is all most done. Watch for the results coming up!
Super-Splash
Tutors: Paddy Roche (IE), Julian Grossman (IE) and Thomas Cattrysse (BE) It would be soo nice to have this structure finished as soon as possible. Yes! I am talking about our own EASA SWIMMING POOL! Unfortunately, its still under construction. 12 participants and 2 tutors (Thomas,
we all know you’ve been working in this workshop as well, please get well ) are drilling, cutting and of course enjoying the sunshine all days long just behind event tent. The structure: its going to be the pool in a company with 4 benches of different hight and size, so you can sit, lie or just put your elbow in a comfortable way. Materials been used: wood, plywood and tiles for the decoration of the benches. Important thing: as long we all future great architects, it is not enough just the make some timber structure – we need to create super concept of it. Also, here in the workshop all pieces are made taking into account Le Corbusiers Modular Man. Julian the Tutor says, he always wanted to check these calculations out – if its really works for people besides Le Corby himself. Everyone at EASA will have a chance to see and experience that on Friday-Saturday when the pool ansamble will be finished. I’m sure its going to be huge public super-splash fun!
Pop Up
PRECEDENT MODELS
Tutors: Guillaume Bonoure (FR), Hugo Pointillard (FR), Rupert Maleczek (FR), Chloe Genevaux (FR) Participants: 9 Pop up- popped us up today with a very interesting story. They have a 6 years old collaboration- experimentation trying to get waste materials articulated into different geometrical forms using 3d modules which can be arranged in different angles and meshes. Let’s say that the plainest, easiest explanation is picturing a honey-comb mesh… well something like that, even that and more. The end result is always a functional structure (shade, rest, sit etc.), easy on the eye, attractive for people and friendly towards nature since its all recycled materials. Their first commission was 6 yrs ago and it was for a roof top over a public space made from cardboard but as they said at that point none of them was ready to construct it properly. Sometime later they formed a group called Waste and went back and did the roof top. Waste changed its name to Archiwaste and if u is interested for more info on their experiments please visit their site: www.archiwaste.com > you would be surprised to see that they even constructed a bridge just using cardboard. One of their works is: L’HOMME A LA VALISE – a place to stay, sleep, enjoy and as they say it’s a metaphor for the shelter of the goat keeper. One part of it was built in Belgium, another in France and assembled in France. So that’s enough for the introduction now let’s move into their work here…. Well, they are working on constructing a sun shade, a parasite in empty space (although it has more functions.. ) which can be unfolded, reused. This sun-shader will just pop up anywhere… where you least expect it- so beware. What they first did is build a model so if you are interested to know what it is going to look like feel free to check them out they are working between the tutor gym and the school on the green. They stretched their pop-up idea by making movie nights and popping corn for everyone… and we thank them for that! Cheers guys, well done!! Interesting note: there will be a workshop soon at the experimental center for architecture Cantercel.. so if you are into these things check it out… www.centercel.com.
SUPERCITY_ THREESOME
Tutors: Leyla Ibrahimova (AZ), Narine Voronina (RU), Darko Krstevski (MK) Three tutors, three parts of the workshops and three groups of people are making it! 3 should be a lucky magic number for the guys. So, this workshop is about making an installation – “a collage city” presenting Europe‘s most important (from the participants point of view) buildings. As every successful project, this workshop starts from a research – how to choose the most appropriate buildings for the city. If you feel like great urbanplanner – you should go into this one! The group two – is making the 3d installation of the chosen architectural objects. It might be a bit simplified or look more like boxes then a model at this moment – but its getting better and more recognizable with each day of hard work.The 3rd part of the workshop is to make “a house for the city” - a pavilion, where
PRECEDENT MODELS
WORKSHOP MODEL
the model going to be placed. As long as this object will be left for school purposes, Italian organizers said it should be waterproof -which brought an interesting furn into the design of the pavilion. Guys work with timber, cardboard and door frames, that adds a final touch to the pavilion. But don‘t expect to see some boring expo box in the end. Participants and tutors assure thats gonna be something you can play with – rearranging the city whenever you wish, still saving the main structure. Participants say they feel cool about the workshop and tutors, but have the lack of time(what a surprise?!). Darko the Tutor keeps silent about some participants disappearances on the site and appearances on the lake, but sends a lot of warm greetings to Edgaras (LT) who seems to be a real pro in everything you can imagine to be done connected with a construction. Good luck guys with finishing!
WORKSHOP MODEL
Re.Pose
Tutors: Frederik De Smedt (BE) Alper Derinbogaz (TR) Participants: 20 with this workshops ideallic location by lake Moro it might be easy to think that its going to be filled with refreshing swims and ice-creams. But let me tell you all, this workshop is no fucking joke, tutored by the same people who brought you the Zauna in Ireland 008 and Floated in Greece 007, these guys have the right kind of experience under their belts to make you expect hard work, late nights, high quality and big impact. The 6m heigh, 2 story pavillion is located in a beautiful spot and acts as an interactive photo booth with a small camera obscura on the ground floor and a large window which frames the views on the first floor. The site itself is part of an educational centre dedicated to the historical way of living and should mean that the booth receives a lot of use in the future. When umbrella arrived, the ground floor steel elements had already been welded into place, following a late effort by the re.pose team last night which saw most of the team arriving back at 12.30 after a BBQ and some drinks on site, a further 7 people stayed behind to continue welding until 3.30 am. That’s right 3.30 AM with some people sleeping on site. The structures departure from the typical EASA friendly timber to the more epic steel and has resulted in an entirely new construction experience, “the steel is okay to work with, different but not harder. Less improvisation and more precision” - Frederik. Things certainly do have to be precise when you use 1300kgs of steel. The foundation slab of concrete also has to been extra deep to support all this extra weight. The challenging nature of this projects design, location and materials has resulted in some setbacks, such as the now typical late arrival of materials and the occasional rain day. Also only a limited number of people can do the actual welding which is the main part of the structural construction process, this has resulted in a lack of productivity from many eager participants. After finally managing to coax Frederik in to answering a few questions he still seemed optimistic about being able to finish on time “ No...... yes yes yes, but there are a lot more hours to do, like a week and 3 days worth” but the participants are excited and seem eager to put in the late hours and get the work done. His enthusiasm for questions though was clear when he said “I don’t like to talk, just take a picture it speaks a thousand words”, very apt words coming from the man creating a giant photo booth.
Benchmarch
Tutors: Billy Mooney (IE) and Brian Sheehy (IE) Participants: 10 The idea behind the workshop was to build various structures using a modular system, to speed up and ease the process. When Umbrella caught up with the Irish lads they had a full complement of participants, testing out the shelter-cum-table-cum-seat-cum-benchcum-climing frame that is being pieced together behind the events tent. It may look a bit wobbly, but their hoping to crane in Sam Patterson to the observation level. We are confident that they know what they are doing. The workshop is a design and build affair, to fully engage all the participants. Many of them are buzzing around looking for chop saws, (like the rest of us!) to try and get the second element kick started. This is going to be a type of weave wall and domed roof, made up of an H shaped unit. It sounds ambitious but the tutors are confident they’ll be done with days to spare. Tutor Mr Asshole was keen to show off their ingenuity. “None of the wood they gave us was thick enough. So we commandeered the beer kegs to help us laminate the OSB.” The boys are also making the furniture for the Loggia workshop, with one unit being able to combine into a table or bench or armchair. Both structures will be kept permanently in the Terme in Darfo, so local residents will be able to interact with a bit of honest Irish construction. Perhaps they can learn a few lessons on speed and quality!
Vague Event (Thursday)
FestiTrash
Tutors: Francisco Rodriguez (ES), Filip Stekovic (HU) Participants: 10 Making functional objects from scrap crap might be the best way to sum up this workshop. And it has a good purpose too: EASA’s own chill out zone! The tutors, Francisco (ES) and Filip (HG), and their small but loyal group of 8 participants are working hard these days to get that ultimate BBQ experience going. After treating our event-tent with the cool disco ball del a cups. We now see a hammock from plastic bottle wraps, a bench out of doors, chairs out of cardboard and the barbecue itself rising at only 20 meters away from the Umbrella office. Almost every item includes a cup holder or a beer-cooler... so this just might work! After doing several similar workshops in Madrid, Francisco is very excited about working on EASA as he feels the interaction between different cultures and overall atmosphere have a positive effect on the products. Maria (GR) loves the fact that trash can be useful and therefor is very excited about the functional approach within the product line. Almost everything that is being produced is furniture giving the users from the product a direct experience with the design the moment they choose to actively take part. So do not be afraid to take that well deserved chill and if you are interested in more trash-design, checkout: superuse.org.
ArchExperience Tutor: Alexander Bitterman (IL) Participants: 10 Well the facts are not exactly in their favor: 1 tutor, 1 tutor-ass, 2 participants, a few materials. But they seem productive like ants on a red apple. Not only are they building a presentation cube that is detachable, but they are also making a big research model into why we like certain buildings and dislike others. Alexander (IL), who started this workshop as a single tutor, has big dreams for his presentation cube: ‘’We make it detachable and we make it so that the entrance can be from all sides’’. The cube will be white exterior vs black interior making sure daylight, entering from the roof, won’t interrupt important presentations. Maria (MC) started the workshop as a participant but has made a fast move up the career steps, being promoted to tutor. She does not see it as a big change in her daily routine though, but admits that the responsibility can be a bit scary at times. She basically focuses on the theoretical part of the workshop where they are investigating why we like certain building appose to others. The outcome is a model we’re they implemented the results from the study on a typical building block in Belgrade, hoping it will now be as appealing to people as the MIR space station.
Small Interventions Tutors: Arvid Wölfel (DE) Participants: 25 We shared a cigarette with Arvid today, and had a bit of a chat about the small interventions rocking Darfo this year. They had a bit of a tough time at the start, but then the surroundings clicked with the participants and there should be 10 interventions completed by the weekend. “The really interesting thing and the point of the workshop is to see what happens after we leave.” He recalls an observation tower from Greece which is apparently still there. A large amount of the projects are situated near water, either the lake or the river. They deal with surroundings directly, and there will be a swing over the river, attached to the railway bridge. I can see that getting a large amount of use on the last day. Arvid is also looking to the future, stressing the importance of the workshop, and how it will be interesting to explore the public/private polemic in an urban environment. Anyway, find a friend, go out and try to interact with these small interventions.
Commercial Tutors: Kata Fodor (HU) Luis Hilti (CH) Matilde Igual(ES) Carla Smith(UK) Leonard Gurtner(CH) Commercial has been one of the more successful workshops of this year getting off to a great start with their hard hitting tomato soup graphic. And sticker campaign So whats the workshop all about, well it aims to promote itself, EASA and Darfo. A commercial of sorts, but in various media types. The workshop started off with a general discussion of what is “image” and introduction to the concept of re branding. Since then it has spawned into a huge variety of different project and different media; from t-shirts, posters, stickers, clothes pegs, a video commercial, face book pages and even fake mirrors. The workshop re branding ideas has been developed into 4 different categories -real -possible -surreal -t-shirts (they tie it all together) While all the participants are doing their own work there is still a great sense of comradery over the entire workshop team, with all the participants helping each other out and having fun. Perhaps one of the keys of success of this workshop has been the above average 5 tutors, having this resource has really helped this workshop deal with so many types of projects. “Also the fact that all the tutors are from different countries means that there is always a fresh aspect or angle that can be added when required” - LEO. The UMBRELLA caught up with Monica Tusinean (romania) who has been having loads of fun working on the lake ssnake campaign. “I came up with the idea to counteract Dimitra(GR) and Yanns campagne about Lago Moro monster, the monsters image is quite negative and I wanted to introduce the idea of a friendly lake beast to promote the lake rather than a scary one” the lake ssnake has indeed become very popular especially since the development of his own brands of t-shirts, posters, and even his own face book page. To be his friend search for “lake ssnake” on facebook.
GET YOUR T-SHIRT >>>
One of the big events hitting off for Commercial will be their very own fashion show. The show kicks off tomorrow (THURSDAY) at 11.30 in the area near the Umbrella desk entrance. On show will be a selection of t-shirts the workshop has created, which will also be on sale during the show and then a special auction for the “unique� t-shirts. >>So bring your cash cause they will be selling out fast and they are way more exciting than the official EASA009 T-shirts !!!
assembly moment:
easa discussion - thursday 900pm @ events tent
Corrigendum:
Sangria Party is not happening...we could have to much FUN!
Easa Future 2n8 at 900pm@ events tent EASA010 UK, INCM009.li Sesam010 Istanbul
lost... found... our minds
vincenzo donadio (ORG) totally exhaustedyesterday @the Organizer-meeting:
Mobile Stairs
“the space lost/the space regained” Tutors: Michal Golanski (PL), Michal Kowalski (PL), Justyna Juchimiuk (PL) Participants: 8 The workshop is observing the advancing degradation of city landscape due to commercialisation, as well as modern lifestyle, erosion and transition of ties within society. The idea of the workshop comes from commercial escalators, but moving in horizontal way and not vertical. They want to reclaim the street’s movement. The beggining was to draw a square, and then divide it in 4 parts. Differents combinations, different shapes are expected to be used by people for sitting, chatting, climbing, etc... Square to snake and back again. They can be used separate as well as all together. Last night they had the first movement at the projection of the movie, was a great success! The final use for these mobile stairs will be in a Highschool around Darfo, but nothing is already clear about that.
Sticky Fingers
Tutors:Nikola Grabacic (SRB), Tatjana Vracar (SRB), Balsa Bajagic (SRB) These are the guys who you can see painting around the school, with their guerilla atitude. When we asked them what they‘ve been doing by now they were like “hmm..what we‘ve been doing..nothing..ok..maybe something.. we‘ve been painting..but we didn‘t get all the materials, we are still waiting..so we are doing nothing right now..”.They were really trying to do something but in the end they fell asleep on the grass while i was trying to find things out about their workshop..”But why are you doing this?.leave us alone..why do you need to know this things..who cares about this?”.Anyway,in the end i managed to force them into telling me the thing they wanted to do, and hopefully they will get to do it It was painting a wall so it would look like a real supermarket and then represent people who are stealing from the shelves.. That‘s what sticky fingers was about in case you were wondering.(i always thought they are rolling stone fans and it was related to that Sticky Fingers place in london,but it seems it‘s not that.. ). As i noticed some people from this workshop are very much of graffiti experts and extremely passionate about what they are doing.So let‘s all keep our fingers sticky (eeew,sounds weird, huh?) for them to get everything they need so we can see some awesome result in the end.