easa013 bulletin no. 1

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no.1 november 2012

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www.easa013.si

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intro Dear easians!

We present to you the monthly review of the project EASA 2013 Slovenia. The purpose of this one-way communication with the EASA network is of course to notify you of the project’s past and future events, to outline the organizational process and provide you with interesting facts about the host country.

The concept of such communication is not new as it has been used in past years. We intend to issue 6 or 7 newsletters, from the autumn INCM to the summer EASA. This way you can follow the project’s progress and keep future participants informed about some interesting developments.

The first issue is designed mostly for colleagues who could not make it to the last INCM in Vienna. We want to present our starting points and our motivation for organizing the 33rd European Architecture Students Assembly.

The EASA013 Bulletin is issued by the Association of Students of Architecture EASA Slovenia.

It contains event briefs and vital information concerning the EASA 2013 Slovenia project.

involved with problems, which are too specific, as a good experience. The fact that we started to think about the idea and starting points so early made it possible to eliminate the weaknesses and use the qualities to design a proposal suitable to everyone.

As a side fact let me mention that we carried out the initiative, despite the mentioned problem, in the form of a two-week-long architectural workshop with students from Ljubljana. Today we regret this did not happen as a SESAM, although due to the circumstances at the time that was not possible.

reaction

the initial idea of the project

The idea to organize the project EASA 2013 Slovenia was born as early as 2010, although it was hazy. The haze was also an exceptional challenge for individuals who have only attended the meeting once or twice, but want to give back to the network what it gave them. A few times there was even doubt if we are capable of executing this on a satisfactory level. We established that we would need sufficient experience and sensible and interesting starting points. The organization of such an event is after all not a piece of cake.

And so the idea kept developing in the minds of three colleagues, whose opinions are constantly in battle even today. I am convinced that to work well in a group it is important to have similar moral principles and most of all a critical, perhaps at

times even radical perspective on things. Different opinions create conflicts and sometimes these lead to great solutions. Like in nature, when certain conditions lead to evolution and new answers. Thus a team of three people, which humorously got the name Three wise men, met regularly in a small, stuffy student room and plotted how to conquer the world :)

Through deliberation on world trends, consumer society, virtual reality, market architecture and the disregard of public opinion, in connection to various civil initiatives which deal with these issues, we devised a theme that reacts to this state, a state that might be called passive activism. Do not just pretend you are doing something, do it with the goal to achieve something. We are confident that the present time, especially student years, is the most important time to think about the future.

We are confident that it is important to deliberate and incorporate public opinion into the process of designing space. We are confident that it is necessary to act locally and oriented towards renewing our living environment with regard to global changes. It is necessary to consider the cultural heritage and not just thoughtlessly invest in new.

What is new in the end?

Parallel to developing the theme we started looking for a suitable location to organize the event. The team set a few criteria for the final selection; these were forest, river and castle. The first two represent the green intact nature and the clean water streams of Slovenia; the third is a symbol of the history and development, of cultural heritage. Castles and mansions were built at strategic points, near important transport connections and in an environment with a high added value. Thus the castle is not only a symbol that attracts visually, but also culturally and historically.

Minimal dwellings The first idea arose from a specific problem of bigger cities (at least in Slovenia) - the shortage of accessible and decent apartments for young families and young couples. Although an interesting idea for a smaller workshop, it received negative feedback from mentors and ex-easians. We perceived We chose the town ŽuŞemberk in Suha krajina the unwillingness of an international network to get (Dry Land).

big thanks We are not writing this with the intent to rebuild the cheesiness of the moment just after the last debate, when everyone was happy and pleased the event turned out such a success. We just want to state it clearly and loudly: the people who choose to dedicate their time and knowledge to organize these meetings should have all the respect from us.

Cheers Austrian Team!

reaction of Žužemberk

Since the acquisition of the title of organizers at the bidding in Baku we have established close contacts with our hosts, the municipality, and immersed ourselves into studying the location. We got to know the town, its qualities and weaknesses, the potential and opportunities for development. Meanwhile we realized that we might have immersed into the notion of the local a bit too much as we were only thinking about what can be done in Žužemberk.

This is not bad in itself, but we need to consider what the network can gain from it.

opment of the project and will be accessible to all in the tutor-pack. The locals welcomed us warmly and offered us their help with the project’s execution. They were happy to give their opinions and help with the development of ideas for the future.

We wanted both the town and the network to gain as much as possible from the event. We want Žužemberk and EASA to coexist in harmony so that the whole town will become the home of EASA Community for two weeks. We want the upcoming EASA to trigger deliberation about the future of architecture, of smaller towns, of what is imporIn accordance with our perception of architecture, tant to the people. After all people make the EASA we tried to include the locals into the process, by network. organizing a conference and a short workshop this autumn. We acquired an enormous feedback. The Welcome to Žužemberk from the 4th to the 18th of results will prove to be very useful for further devel- August 2013.

meet the organizers

Get to know the organizing team if you have not met us before. The organizing team has eight members at the moment, five students of Architecture from Ljubljana, one from Maribor, one from Graz and a student of Sociology. We are very pleased to introduce to you the first two:

participate Country Flags:: We kindly ask the National Contacts to send us a flag approximately 90x150cm, with an additional chocolate to the following address: Marta Vrankar Sidol 8 SI-1219 Laze v Tuhinju For technical reasons we request the following countries to send us flags until May 1st 2013 at the latest: Armenia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Norway, Poland, Russia, Scotland, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, Wales, CLEA, International.

Matic Brdnik | 27 /19 by heart/

Aleš Kobe | 26

what is your role in the organizing team?

Officially I am responsible for the lectures and the theme; together with Andraž we are coordinating PR, parties and other fun activities :)

what is your role in the organizing team? paternal one :) theme and workshops

how many EASA? only one, Darfo 2009 why organize an EASA? cause it sounded a bloody good idea

how many EASA? two, Ireland and Finland why organize an EASA? three things: team, EASA Žužemberk community

community

and

what are you doing at the moment? studying psychoanalysis for fun

what are you doing at the moment? at the moment, anwsering the question, otherwise for EASA preparing tutorpack and competition pack

what is on the walls of your bedroom? nothing, I moved to a new place over a month ago and hadn’t had time to personalize it yet

what is on the walls of your bedroom? mainly Zen quotes

where do you sit on an empty bus? why should I go on an empty bus?

where do you sit on an empty bus? on the seat usually

architects or non-architects? don’t understand the question... if you mean girls, off course architects - they are skilled with their hands :P

architects or non-architects? i’m not a gay, if you mean that