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no.2 january 2013
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intro The cold temperatures cannot defeat us! As you can see from the photographs in the two publications we have recently published, the low temperatures in Žužemberk have grabbed nature by the throat. The trees are without leaves and the square without people as they are hiding in their warm homes. The temperature outside has been around zero for the past month. In the meantime our team has found new headquarters somewhere in Ljubljana, where we are making plans for the future. For the last two months we have mainly been working on defining the theme and presenting the location, textually as well as visually. We have prepared an extensive publication to present the cultural and social background of Žužemberk. We have been working with the local community, the municipality and two mentors, both architects and professors, who have a special affinity for these kinds of small market towns. After publishing the tutor-pack we wanted to fulfill the second part of our plan and release the competition-pack, but we encountered a problem when making arrangements with the municipality as the competition depends greatly on the legislation. We
are striving to achieve that the built pavilion stays on the square permanently. After meeting with IPCH and the municipality’s officials and the mentors we finally managed to coordinate everything to the extent when we could release the competitionpack. What we were most afraid of was not having the proposal realized and having our efforts that we invested into coordinating and preparing the documentation go to waste. Turns out it hasn’t and we published the competition-pack mid-December. Let’s hope the proposals are as interesting and wacky as possible. Promote the competition and
in focus Be active! Hey boys and girls, the zombies are back! Well at least our Prime minister (PM) sees them in the protesting crowd outside the parliament. Some violence also occurred but this is rather unusual and was most probably ‘directed from above’. Slowly the changes are happening in our country – people are on the street demanding them. They are finally aware that democracy by itself is not a guarantee for prosperity if one is not actively involved in the process of decision making.
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.
And that’s where we come to our theme and one this plan hopefully the whole city centre will benefit. of the sub-topics - public participation. We encour- And with it the pavilion of course. aged you to address it during the EASA event in Žužemberk. We see it vital for EASA to connect with the local community and address some of the social questions that pop up in society. The latest events in the country confirm that the selection of the theme was a bit visionary as REACTION is exactly what is happening now. You would be right if you said that we can see reaction everywhere but Slovenes usually don’t go to the streets and dea before Christmas love story mand their rights. The last time a self-organized strike happened was in late 1980s when workers It was a cold and foggy Thursday morning, so typijust couldn’t stand the old socialist system anymore. cal for winters in Ljubljana. The holiday spirit had already wrapped its glistening smile around peoThis whole situation reminds us of the lecture at the ple’s faces. On that faithful day our EASA dinner INCM 2009 in Liechtenstein given by the first or- was planned to happen in the evening and I rushed ganizer of EASA (Liverpool 1981) Geoff Haslam to the store to buy the ingredients for the main dish. who said: “Liverpool literally burned when EASA arrived in the city”. The scale of the riots that hap- In a chaos of crashing people doing their last pened back then in England cannot be compared minute shopping, I carefully maneuvered my slento ours but the reasons can. We believe that the der body through the masses and quickly obtained organizers of each EASA see the opportunity that all the components except the turkey. After a quick students of architecture from all over Europe can dash to the cold of the refrigerators, I saw her. It contribute to resolving some of the open questions was love at first sight. A beautiful 3.7kg pale skin in the region. We also recognise this potential and poult, with a little bit of fat on her thighs, just the that is why we are bringing EASA to such a small way I like it. When I looked at her all covered up town as Žužemberk. Expanding the population by in translucent plastic, lying there with her naked 100% will definitely make an impact. friends in the pink freezing light, I couldn’t stop With the preparation of the competition we have already made some progress. The municipality has assured us that the city council will adopt a spatial plan for the entire historic city centre so that the pavilion will be built legally. This plan has been debated for years and the only thing it needed was some pure initiative to make it happen. With
myself from dropping a tear. So unbelievably ravishing she was.
Hours before the dinner I prepared the stuffing which consisted of zucchini, walnuts, almonds, apples, raisins, dried apricots and white wine. A sweet fill for a much more sweeter turkey. Once the stuffing was in place, I sewed her up. Gentle but at the same time firm so that nothing would fall out. Finished, it looked as if she was wearing a delightful red corset with a big ribbon on top. Soon it was time for the oven. Three and a half hours in 200 degrees inferno with occasional turning and bathing in a mix of white wine, oil and spices. In the meantime the company gathered and the dinner started. Our taste buds were greeted with a contrast of crisp and tender canapés with salmon and cheese, complemented by white wine. Our Slovenian drinking nature wanted more and we quickly fell into abuse of mulled wine and apple whiskey punch. Good spirited and already quite intoxicated we proceeded to the main course. My love had been turned into a golden crisp one wants to immediately bite into. For a moment I hes-
itated to make the first cut, but it had to be done. There was no other option. My heart tore as I tore through her flesh and bones. The meat was so tender one could rip it away easily. We were like wild animals tearing a hopeless victim apart. A dreadful sight, which vanished at the moment a part of her was in my mouth. So soft, sweet and juicy. A heavenly flavor spread in my mouth. The physical sensation erased every feeling for the now unfamiliar stack of meat and bones. We ate as kings. The table was full of baked potatoes, zucchini and carrots, Greek salad and of course the traditional French salad. Not many words were spoken as we were busy chewing. An hour later everyone of us was already leaning back on their chairs and gently caressing our full bellies.
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: meet the organizers
The fest was not over yet. To finish up we had a delicious tiramisu even Italians can’t make as good. The creamy coffee flavour rounded up the wonderful tasting experience. Instead of going out to drink and party, we settled for a quiet night on the couch. The food was just too much. Our bodies felt as if we weighed two times more than we actually did. In the late night it was time for the second round. What we couldn’t eat was divided into small lunch packages for the next day, although there wasn’t much left. In the end only a small skeleton, ripped of all the beauty, reminded me of my love. With saddened hearts we said goodbye and parted into the slowly ending night. As I lazily walked home, brokenhearted, I remembered the first time we met by the fridge. That I shall not forget. In loving memory of our 10th team member
Andraž Lečnik | 25
Aljoša Merljak | 23
what is your role in the organizing team? Providing day&night parties and food made of meat!
what is your role in the organizing team? > I’m one of the initiators, pushing it on.
how many EASA? Last three, but sometimes feels like a lot more than just three. :) why organize an EASA? I enjoy meeting new people and tackling new challenges, organizing EASA will give me more experience and help me put my skills to good use. Where would you like to be at the moment? In the past, building Neuschwanstein. What are you hiding in your closet? It depends in which one? :) What do you order in a pub? Always like to try something new, or drinking standard JackCoke. How big? Not how big, but how strong is the spirit!
how many EASA? > Depends on who you ask. Someone would say enough, I wouldn’t. why organize an EASA? > Because I need action in life, things to go wrong so I can fix them and things to be happy about when you succeed at them. Where would you like to be at the moment? > In the future, exactly on the 4th of August 2013. What are you hiding in your closet? > Old models and material for making models. What do you order in a pub? > Laško beer. How big? > Never wanted to be.
IMPORTANT FOR FUTURE TUTORS questions and answers Is it possible to apply for the workshops proposal as an international team? For example, me from Macedonia and two other students from another country? > Of course it is possible, we encourage international collaboration. How deep is the river during August as well as what is the temperature of water? Possible to hang out in water for long? > The depth of the river varies very much, from 0,5m to more than 3m. The temperatures in the summer months are around 15 to 20 degrees Celsius. It is possible to swim and hang out in the water for a long time. What is this place on the river west of Žužemberk, which in google earth looks like broken bridge or road across the river and is marked as Trske Njive? Do you have any photos? > The village is Prapreče and that is the so called Tomažev most (bridge of Thomas), named after a miller who had it built at his own expense at the beginning of the 20th century. Already in a very poor state, it was completely destroyed during the floods in September 2010. The municipality has already produced a project to restore the mill, but it was brought to a standstill due to lack of funding. Is it possible to get plenty of empty plastic bottles? PET recycling system in Slovenia? > Plenty is not a number we can work with :) There are some companies that deal with processing recycled packaging in Slovenia so there is a possibility we could arrange a sponsorship in the form of donating a certain amount of plastic bottles, although these are usually compressed after use so it might be hard to get intact plastic bottles. In any case such cooperation will be established after the selection of workshop proposals. We have an idea of using the river, do you think the river is deep enough to let a boat float on it, maybe even to connect the nearby villages?
> On most parts the river is deep enough for small boats. Because of its specific geography, as written in the tutor-pack, the river Krka has many waterfalls, which make it impossible for boats to run on its entire length (except maybe a kayak , but even then some walking would be necessary). These waterfalls made it possible for villages to develop in the valley as they powered the mills which gave food to people. Thus the river already is somehow connecting the villages Do we contact the local craftsmen directly, how do we get the contact or are you as the organizers the linking part? > The connection with the local craftsmen is made through the local tourist association so please do not contact them directly. Collaboration with them will be discussed after the selection of proposals. Is there a juridical problem in producing and possibly distilling your own alcoholic beverages? The alcohol will not (necessarily) be for sale, and would thereby fall under the definition of domestic use. > The distillation of alcohol is permitted for individuals and is covered by two laws: the Law on restricting the use of alcohol and the Excise duty act. Excise duty must be payed for domestic production of alcoholic beverages, which amounts to 12,5 eur for a cauldron with a capacity of 40 to 100 liters and 25 eur for a cauldron with a capacity over 100 liters. The limit for domestic production of alcoholic beverages per year is 500 liters of spirits - beverages with more than 15 % v/v. Is there a moral problem in producing alcohol and having a workshop doing it in an event like EASA, where the main aspect of the whole get-together is to attend workshops and learn new skill-sets as a student of architecture? > If the main aspect of the workshop is to learn new skill-sets as a student of architecture and if you stay within the legal boundaries, it is not a problem. After all, half of our national anthem is completely dedicated to alcohol (wine). What would need to be taken into accord in a workshop where foodstuff is handled, ie. will there be any regulations for an event like this to show where the food and drink comes from, or are the contents of a workshop of its own responsibility? > As we do not have experience with food regulations, we’ll try to stick to the obvious. If you are planning a workshop which will handle food, ie. the almost traditional EASA Kitchen, we recom-
mend that the tutor has experience with preparing food. As far as selling the products publicly goes, this certainly cannot be done without a certificate. All of this, along with the site/venue (refrigerators, cookware etc.) and other specifics, will be discussed after the selection of workshops. Fun fact Slovenia has two indigenous alcoholic beverages that are prohibited by law. The first is called ‘močeradovec’ - a spirit mixed with secretions of a salamander, which has hallucinogenic effects. It is prohibited because the production process is cruel for the animal. The second is a wine called ‘šmarnica’, produced from a self-sown vine of the same name. Drinking it can be extremely harmful as it contains methyl alcohol, which causes blindness and mental disorders. Therefore selling it is legally prohibited.
the event is supported by