# Snowtunnel

The Snowtunnel allows people to use their snowboard all year long... This project is still at an prototyping state and waiting for investments but can be probably imagined as a generic object findable within cities...

# Balkis-Island

This piece is one of Yona friedman's most recent work created with the Photographer Jean-Baptiste Decavèle, It have been created as a memorial for Friedman's dog and it have been presented with some spacial installations at the great Art and Landscape center in Vassiviere (FR). Before that a smaller show took place at the gallerie Anne Barrault.

What is amazing in this series of drawing on pictures is how friedman can make dream about landscape and city with only few lines !

Memorial for a Dog Balkis-Island started as a joke. A friend of mine who participated in an exploration trip to the North Pole gave the name of my late dog Balkis, known for her literary activities, to an island at 78° latitude and 11° longitude. Slowly the joke was turning more serious: My friend got an idea, that of ‘art at the Poles’. He gave me a lot of photographs of the island, and I thought to make photomontages of a ‘ville spatiale’ at the polar region. But photomontages show only what can be visualized. So I got to think over an explanation of those pictures: how would work a city in the polar region? It presents a socio-ecological problem. I would think about a city inhabited only 6 months per year the time span of the polar day. Sociologically a ‘summer-city’ is not as absurd; many vacation cities are crowded the summer and practically abandoned the winter. A half-year city has interesting ecological properties. In this case, 6 months there is daylight. No artificial light is necessary; photo batteries could furnish electricity: many short-lived crops can be grown; protected in hot-houses (summer temperature at the poles does not exceed that of early spring in our latitudes). Tower buildings could be reasonable because of the heat circulation: hot air rising toward the top, the lowest floors keeping cool: Probably hot-houses could be as well multi-level. There must be protected communication between towers, protected against storms. Communicating bridges have to form a net, for security (as any of them can be damaged, a multiplicity of passages would be necessary. If the towers are interconnected by bridges, they serve as well as bracing, increasing the wind resistance of the towers. Extended flat buildings are not suited to the conditions, as both the roof and the ground are the major heat-loss surfaces. The towers themselves can act as captors of sunlight, better than roofs, as the incidence angle is near to horizontal. Portable wind-motors can be used to generate electricity too, but they can be easily damaged in harsh conditions. The economic role of Balkis Island can become important with global warming: through the melting the polar shipping route becomes practicable, at least in summer. This fact increases the logics of a 6 months city: it could become a naval hub. I agree that the idea of a Balkis-Port is a playful one. But it shows the realizability of a form of periodically inhabited habitat. As a larger part of our energy consumption comes from temperature conditioning of inhabited volumes, the period transport of residence from climate regions to other ones, could become the source of the most important energy saving programs we can already imagine. Form follows function was an architect's slogan in the 20th century. Towns follow seasons might be that of the 21st. It is a technique many animals (for example birds) practice. Why not humans? Written the shortest day of 2007, in Paris. Yona Friedman

Former posts about Yona Friedman: here, here and here.
More here & here

# Fear as a political weapon is winning

Believe it or not but on November 29th, Switzerland is holding a national referendum to know whether or not they should forbid minarets within the country...It is interesting to see that the exact same people who wanted globalization as a system of free trade and circulation of goods are now not accepting the fact that this system allowed people to move from a country to another. Recently a survey in French newspaper Le Figaro (most of its readers are supporting the current government) was asking whether people were favorable to the construction of a new big mosque in Marseilles. Asking this question is already shocking but the result was even more. 75% of people were against this construction...
This poster comes from the right wing Swiss party UDC (Union Democratique du Centre) and says "yes to the Minaret forbidding". As you can see, systematic association of Islam with terrorism (those minarets are meant to look like rockets) and woman oppression is still working as an argument on people's paranoia... Architecture for its symbolic value is here in the center of the conservative target who refuse the hybridization of cultures and ethnic groups (another poster also shows colored hands grabbing Swiss passports followed by a title calling for the end of what people names "massive naturalization").
Xenophobia and racism have became delicate weapons confusing on purpose culture and social status that a lot of politician learned to use more or less subtly in order to suggest to people what fear produces in them.

# Edouard Glissant vs Neil Smith

That is what we could call a New York dilemma...two very interesting lectures tonight at approximately the same time.

The first one is called Roots & Imaginary Offshoots: Ecstatic Difference in NYU by the great and wise Edouard Glissant (see former post)
location: Cantor Film Center, 36 East 8th Street, NY at 6:30PM

The second one is called Territory as a Means of Struggle within the conference Towards Post-Capitalist Space (see former post) by geographer from City University Neil Smith
location: Gair Building No6, 81 Front Street, Brooklyn, NY at 7:00PM

In any case, Edouard Glissant will be giving one more lecture (tonight is the third one for NYU) on November 30th and Towards Post-Capitalist Space still has two other lectures planned on Friday and Saturday...

# Make Me A Mountain! by Liam Young

Make Me A Mountain ! is a project developed by Liam Young from Tomorrow Thoughts Today (see former post) for the Natural System D3 Competition (the winners of this competition Lorene Faure and Kenny Tsui should be published soon on boiteaoutils).
Make Me A Mountain proposes to uses New York City's urban cracks to insert a folded zoo trying to expand vertically on existing buildings' facades. The specificity of animals (bats) is bringing wildness in the city in a non-naive trendy sustainability but rather in a more interesting renouncement to a certain degree of control. The zoo is no longer a animal exhibitionist cage but rather an animal dwelling within the city.

I am also particularly interested by the process of construction of this mountain (see picture above):

1_MOULDED GRP PANELS
Structural shells are prefabricated from injection moulded 80% recycled Glass Reinforced Plastic (GRP). The entire Bathouse is made from an arrangement of just 5 modular GRP panels.
2_PUBLIC OCCUPIED VOLUMES
Prefabricated shells are assembled on site with minimal foundations forming the core public
spaces. These volumes form a closed public circulation route independant of the bat occupied spaces. This intertwining provides complex and intricate bat viewing possibilities without ever
intruding directly into habitat. Set into the GRP shells are clear acrylic windows arranged at points where the bat caves intersect.
3_WATER PIPE AND MESH REINFORCEMENT
Steel piping acts as both concrete reinforcement bars and conduits channelling water from the lagoon through the building around the public and Bat spaces. The water is heated and pumped using solar power to regulate internal temperature for the bats. Some pipes also seep water into the porous material feeding plant species growing in, over and around the Bathouse. The steel mesh surrounds of the bat caves are tied to this structure.
4_COMPOSITE PEAT-MOSS SHOTCRETE APPLICATION
The Bathouse form emerges from the liberal spray application of a Peat-moss and Shotcrete mix. The material, a variation on the “Hypertufa’ commonly used by home gardeners, is lightweight and highly porous. It binds the other elements together, the whole structure performing with the same properties as reinforced concrete.
5_PLANT AND ANIMAL LIFE GROWS
The material functions as an organic water reservoir which over time, like an artificial reef, develops its own micro ecology on the building’s surface. It permits airflow to root structures and
supports the growth of plant and insect life providing a key food source for the bats. The structure can be added to indefinitely using the same application method so as to adapt to the occupation preferences of the bats.
6_ORGANIC BREAKDOWN OF MATERIALS
At the end of its useful life the composite Shotcrete mix can be broken down and used as a soil conditioner closing the ecosystem loop. The injection-moulded shells can be re-used in other locations and for other programmes.


boards are high resolution so you can click on them and explore the project

The D3 Competition Exhibition will be visible (after a very poor situation in NY City College) in Cleveland in fews days. See here for more information...

“Make Me A Mountain!” By Liam Young of Tomorrows Thoughts Today.
Project team: Andrew D’Occhio and James Pierre Du-Plessis.

# Nicolas Moulin, sélection Prix Marcel Duchamp 2009

Following few pictures of Nicalos Moulin 's intsallation at the FIAC 2009.
The work of Nicolas Moulin is all about architectural landscape, by using different architecture archetypes, he's creating a world that you can not define, date or locate.





See more works of Nicolas Moulin on this former post.

Nicolas Moulin is represented by the gallery chez Valentin (Paris).

# Metaphors in/on Architecture

Next week will take place in Paris a pretty big event about architecture: Metaphors in/on architecture is a three days long (26 - 27 - 28 NOVEMBER 2009) symposium about architecture and urbanism theory and practice. It have been organised by Andri GERBER at the Ecole Speciale d'Architecture who managed to invite more than twenty speakers from many backgrounds and country of origin like Ingeborg Rocker, Georges Teyssot, or Marcelyn Gow .

The main topics are :
-METAPHORS AS INSTRUMENTS OF KNOWLEDGE
-METAPHORS IN PROJECTS
-METAPHORS IN DISCOURSE





Following youl find the precise program:

Thursday 26.11.2009, Ecole Spéciale d’architecture de Paris

Metaphors as instruments of knowledge

Amphi Cinéma

13:00 – 13:30 Registration

13:30 – 14:30 Welcome by Odile Decq, Dean Ecole Spéciale d’architecture de Paris

Introduction, Andri Gerber, Ecole Spéciale d’architecture de Paris

14:30 – 15:00 Richard Coyne (The University of Edinburgh)

Calibrating Metaphors and Tuning Places

15:00 – 15:30 Holger Schurk (Zürcher Hochschule für angewandte Wissenschaften, Winterthur)

Diagram, Plan, Metaphor

15:30 – 16:00 Coffee break

16:00 – 16:30 Benedikte Zitouni (Vrije Universiteit Brussel)

Causality in urbanism : a new take on development or vital processes

16:30 – 17:00 Didier Fiuza Faustino (Bureau des Mesarchitectures, Paris)

"Only fiction can change the world"

¨

17:00 – 17:30 Coffee break

Amphi D

17:30 – 18:30 Round table

Chair: Andri Gerber, Chris Younés

Friday 27.11.2009, Ecole Spéciale d’architecture de Paris

Metaphors in projects

Amphi Cinéma

09:30 – 10:00 Résumé, Andri Gerber

10:00 – 10:30 Gernot Böhme (Darmstadt)

Metaphors in architecture – a metaphor?

10:30 – 11:00 Johannes Binotto (Universität Zürich)

My Home Is My Symptom. On the advantages of a disadvantaged architecture.

11:00 – 11:30 Coffee break

11:30 – 12:00 Bernardo Secchi (Università Iauv di Venezia)

A new urban question

12:00 – 12:30 Stephan Günzel (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin/Universität Potsdam)

Video Games Spaces as Architectural Metaphors

12:30 – 14:00 Lunch break

14:00 – 14:30 François Roche (R&sie((N)) Paris)

Pour que la verité soit vertigineuse, elle doit choisir... d'avoir infiniment tort

14:30 – 15:00 Marcelyn Gow (S-E-R-V-O / KTH-ABE Stockholm)

Soft Monstrosities

15:00 – 15:30 Coffee break

Presentation in French:

15:30 – 16:00 Chris Younés (Ecole d'Architecture de Paris la Villette, Ecole Spéciale d’architecture de Paris)

Ambiguïtés métaphoriques

16:00 – 16:30 Philippe Boudon (École d'Architecture de Paris la Villette)

16:30 – 17:00 Coffee break

Amphi D

17:00 – 18:00 Round table (French/English)

Chair : Andri Gerber, Brent Patterson

18:00 Reception

Saturday 28.11.2009, Centre Allemand d'Histoire de l'Art

Metaphors in discourse

10:00 – 10:30 Welcome, by Andreas Beyer, Director Centre Allemand d'Histoire de l'Art

Résumé, Andri Gerber

10:30 – 11:00 Matteo Burioni (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München)

Terminology, theory of metaphors and theory of language, from Alberti to Vignola

11:00 – 11:30 Coffee break

12:00 – 12:30 Susanne Hauser (Universität der Künste Berlin)

Skin: a sensitive shell, an interface

12:30 – 13:00 Caroline Van Eck, (Universiteit Leiden)

The metaphor of the living building

13:00 – 14:00 Lunch break

14:30 – 15:00 Elisabeth Bronfen, (Universität Zürich)

Remains of War: Battlefields, Ruins, and the Trick of Commemoration

15:00 – 15:30 Georges Teyssot (Université Laval, Québec, QC, Ca.)

Crystal, Dust, Grass. Metaphors for an Entropic Landscape

15:30 – 16:00 Coffee break

16:00 – 16:30 Ingeborg Rocker (Graduate School of Design, Harvard University)

Similarity and Dissimilars: Metaphors Informing Architecture

16:30 – 17:00 Jelle Feringa (TU Delft)

The Promotion of the Architectural Model

17:00 – 17:30 Coffee break

17:30 – 18:30 Round table

Chair : Andri Gerber, Andreas Beyer, Johannes Binotto

Contact registration : Amina Chady / achady@esa-paris.fr / T : 00 33 1 40 47 40 24 / F : 0033 1 43 22 81 16

École spéciale d’architecture 254 boulevard Raspail 75014 PARIS T: 01 40 47 40 47
www.esa-paris.fr info@esa-paris.fr M° Raspail lignes 4 et 6 RER Denfert-Rochereau ligne B

# Beyond no.2 Values and Symptoms

Pedro Gadanho (read his boiteaoutils manifesto here) just sent me an email to say that the Beyond no.2 will be released this week. After an excellent Scenarios and Speculations (see former post), the second issue owns a very promising title, Values and Symptoms.

Contributors to Beyond no. 2:
Douglas Coupland, Roemer van Toorn, Sam Jacob, Andrés Jaque, Francois Roche, Triin Ojari, Markus Miessen, Iassen Markov, Ole W. Fischer, Lieven de Cauter, Emiliano Gandolfi, Rui Zink, Nuno Coelho & Adam Kershaw and Marc Schuilenburg.

The book will be launched this Thursday in Rotterdam for the Open City program where the text Feast in A War Zone, A Palestinian Diary will be read by its author, the philosopher and writer Lieven de Cauter.
I recommend this event for a second reason, Eyal Weizman (see numerous former posts) will be also presenting a lecture called Forensic Architecture. I guess it is going to be pretty much the same he gave two months ago for Saskia Sassen's Columbia conference called Cities and the new wars (see former post), and for having be there, I can tell that Weizman's lectures are as interesting as his books.

# Michael Wesely's (very) long exposure photographs

Since yesterday, I was convinced I did post an article of Michael Wesely's work, however, after searching it in the huge mess boiteaoutils represents from now on, I did not find any; therefore here is one...

Michael Wesely uses pinholes cameras to record the light during periods of time of several years. He thus represents the city's evolution during this same period of time, particularly evocative when it is the reconstruction of the Potzdamer Platz (which used to be a no-man's land due to the wall) in Berlin or the MOMA renovation by Yoshio Taniguchi.
Architecture is appearing on those pictures like ghost that can only be recorded by the photographic film. Two or three years of time is being imprisoned into those pieces of paper proving that photography is not about static...

# AADRL

The DRL is a Master Program proposed by the Architectural Association (see former posts) "organised as an open-source design studio dedicated to a systematic exploration of new design tools, systems and discourses, targeted towards design innovations in architecture and urbanism".
The Program is directed by Yusuke Obuchi, Patrik Schumacher, Theodore Spyropoulos and Tom Verebes. The course master is Alissa Andrasek (see former post).
The AADRL website is very generous as far as the amount of information and project is concerned...

For those who understand French or who are able to hear the English voice behind this stupid overlapping French translation, you can watch the Pompidou Centre lecture of Theo Spyropoulos and Yusuke Obuchi for L'Enjeu Capital (post to be coming about this conference...)

# Graphic novels' imaginary cities (II)

Following a reader's suggestion, here would be my European (French and Belgian) graphic novel list developing an interesting and beautiful vision of the city. (You can obviously add Moebius who was already in yesterday list). For people not knowing Marc-Antoine Mathieu I definitely recommend to read his graphic novels which create an incredibly brilliant Kafkaian atmosphere.
Here is the list:

- Marc Antoine Mathieu: Memoire morte (Delcourt 2004)
- Enki Bilal: Le Monstre: 32 Decembre (Casterman 2006)
- Jean-Claude Mézières: Mon cinquieme element (Dargaux 1998)
- Nesmo & Morvan: Ronces: Racines electriques (Les Humanoides associes 2005)
- Francois Schuiten & Benoit Peeters: Les Cites obscures: La fievre d'Urbicande (Casterman 1993)

# Graphic novels and Comics' imaginary cities

I just found this video (the one below) which tries to elaborate a "ranking" of the cities vision developed through graphic novels and comics. Obviously a lot of others could have been quoted here but the final list is already pretty good...
(starting from above)
- Moebius & Jodorowsky: L'Incal
- Various authors: Gotham City (Batman)
- Eddie Campbell: London (From Hell)
- Chris Ware: Chicago (Jimmy Corrigan: the smartest kid on Earth)
- Pat Mills, John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra: Mega City One (Judge Dredd)

found on AMNP and AJ

AJ Top Five: Comic Book Cities from The Architects' Journal on Vimeo.