what is your responsibility as an architect? stop working & start thinking. Another year of Easa has almost come to an end. Last Monday we saw amazing presentations showing what Easa is going to be about in the circle of the next year – inspiring pictures, ambitious topics, a lot of things to look forward to. As we are just as excited as all of you to see the upcoming editions and the future development of Easa and its community we decided to reflect on this years’ edition as well as on the development of the Easa idea: What are our responsibilities? What do we want Easa to be in the future? EASA is supposed to be a platform to share thoughts, ideas and methods across borders and cultures. Yearly, much effort is spent on the conception and bidding of a decidedly well-reflected theme — or, in fact, various ideas, if you take the entire bidding process into account. In the end, however, not much of the initial glow of the theme is left. It seems to be almost irrelevant, as focus shifts to mere construction and the publication of glossy photos of the final projects. Why do we pick a topic, when, in the end, it’s all about random construction? Why is it more important to get your personal project published as a tutor than to push the overall effort of the community? The Croatian proposal for next year’s Easa is aiming high. Starting with Slavoj Zizek in their video it looks as if theoretical discourse is coming back to Easa on a broader level – RE:Think they state. But why don’t they want to change anything about the basic structure of theoretic workshops? [reffering to their statements in the last umbrella issue] If you want to RE:Think [sic!] the building process in a more sustainable way, don’t we need to have as well theoretical discourse integrated into the construction pro-
cess? Why do we even separate the [theoretical] thinking part from the practical design and building part? Especially in a time of a highly complex global world, it needs more than a little effort to understand things in full circle. In times of global instabilities on a social, economic as well as political level it is just not enough to build something without reflecting on how, why, where and what – or better: whether there should be anything built at all. Posing all these questions – some might see them as an affront – we’d like to end with a quote from WAI’s lecture: “If you don’t question things, if you don’t understand the concept of things, you can’t change them.”
lisa marie hafner angelika hinterbrandner #makeyourselfa(t)home
Disclaimer: This is a personal opinion, sharply formulated & exaggerated at some points to initiate and push the discourse [not] taking place in the community – feel free to come by in person to have an ardent fight on the topic with us. We’d be more than happy.
the archives bláthmhac interview
So Bláthmhac, how did the idea of archive came to be? We have been thinking about the archive where is going to be in past EASAs, because all the material is all over the Europe. The old archive was in student´s union of the University of Copenhagen and they were about to throw it away. During the INCM in Madrid we decided that it is time to hit the archive and sort out the history of EASA. We had the idea of putting the archive in Tool Box (container), the only material thing EASA really owns. So, from then on the archive could go in the tool box from EASA to EASA, so Croatia is next stop, archive is on in’s way. We are going to gather a list of all the past NC:s all the way from 1981, and we´ll send contact information for them so they can send all the information they have to Croatia.
Because you are from Ireland it is contradictory but also in line with Irish bards. They were telling stories over and over again translating knowledge orally, and EASA is also telling stories from one generation to other. Can you comment on that? Well, maybe we have a story workshop as well. Something that keeps looking for stories, an oral history of EASA. Like a tribe, the elders gathered around a fire sharing stories of the days of youth. But the danger is that the history becomes mythological, and this is where we need the archive.
I think that the best thing about archives is that it is good for comparative analysis between past and the future. And there are also a lot of quality materials, like we found this one article from 1994 that questioned the ecology in a way that is still valid after all these years. Even EASA 92 was based on ecology, and as you were saying the great thing about archive is that you realize that the discussions we are having today are exactly the same discussions they were having twenty thirty years ago and nothing is really changed. Going trough archives you can see EASA growing like a tree, but the leaves always reamain the same size. We heard that there is a lot of materials from early EASAs but after 2000 there’s less and less material…
It is interesting that the internet age is the one we’re lacking the most of the information. You would expect everything to be online, but most of it is missing, the servers are down, domains have expired. We really need a good EASA with database, with all the events, we can go to online publishing… Everyone is very excited about the thing that you are doing. I didn’t expect it to be so glamorous! I’m an archivist.
But the history is interesting, you can go there and read some interesting stuff. Beautiful thing is that it doesn’t matter from witch country you come from you can always find a piece of your history there. EASA has been in form of SESAM, INCM of main EASA event in every single country in Europe. Last words…
Cicero said that a man that doesn’t know his past is walking blindly into the future, although walking blind can be fun, I tried it last night.
fragments of fredericia Exhibition opening inside and outside of the bubble 04.08. 2017 at 5 o’clock.
Lotte Luykx (task to draw with her left hand)
Lotte Luykx
Anne-Lien Vanenbrande (One-Line-Drawing from the harbour)
unknown participant c3-8 03082017 final thoughts Dear easian, i am writing this message from my small inflatable shelter, as a last warning. I hope it gets to you before its too late. Somebody keeps opening the window above me, trying to finish me off, but i endure. If only to leave this record of my hardships. In this place i am not alone but i feel so lonely. There are people around me, my ‘team’, smiling so i smile back. They don’t know what i’ve become. What this ‘thing’ has made me into. They are saying i’m supposed to go to workshop, but i’ve never ‘worked’ at a ‘shop’ before… I know it must be hard for you to imagine this kind of suffering in paradise - just last night I was still one of you. It seems so distant now. The hazy Balkan beats and countless gin and tonics.. It’s easy to blame it on the drinking, the smoking, thinking ‘i’ll just take it easy tomorrow and it will get better’. But I didn’t. And it didn’t. There is a real disease roaming the halls of this hospital. So here is the important part. ‘Remember to stay warm, dry, hidrate and masturbate.’ My mother told me something like this the last time we talked and I (what a fool) didn’t listen, but there is still time for you, Participant. Listen to Mother and remember: This plague takes no prisoners, only souls.
diy easa sangria I you ever want to make the EASA sangria here’s the recipe for cca 720 litres of sangria with the alcohol content of 10.9% 320 litres 160 litres 160 litres 40 bottles 40 bottles 40 bottles 40 kg 30 kg
red wine sprite fruit juice Geneva(0,7l) Vodka(0,7l) Rum(0,7l) fruit sugar
bubble- the art of pneumatic structure. When the Spanish team won the bidding for INCM 2016 and took the event to Madrid, they were faced with one tiny problem. They couldn’t find a suitable accommodation for the 200 odd people that were going to take part in the event.After a while of pondering they decided to do the accommodation themselves as a pneumatic structure. None of the team had ever done anything like this, but bravely they just grasped the bull by the horns and got to work. Pneumatic structures are Membrane Structures that are stabilized by pressure of compressed air. Pressure difference between the enclosed space and the exterior are responsible for giving the building its shape and its stability. The first project, espacio la nube, an accommodation and discussion venue for INCM Madrid, was a success. The form of the structure was beautiful and the absolute pure whiteness of the interior created an eerie space age feel. The easa bubble is the third pavilion of the collective, second being a pavilion for Copenhagen Made in Space festival, called cloud9. Pavilion designed for EASA 2017, the bubble, is an attempt to reach a form not natural for pneumatic structures, a cubic form. This amazing cushion looking pavilion with 20 openings and ability to change form according to use was finally finished and the opening ceremony was on Tuesday. Now the bubble has been moved to the main square of the town and will be opened to the public tomorrow, with an exhibition from Fragments of Fredericia hosted in it.
mi casa es tu casa
easa tv
If I had to guess the most irritating word for ´mi casa es tu casa´ workshop´s team it would be building permit. The idea of building a camera obscura up in the view tower by the harbour was already a plan B since the original design didn’t get the building permit. However, the ´mi casa es tu casa´ team had to rethink their design once again since the construction up in the tower was once again abandoned. The team has worked hard and now the final design is coming up by the harbour next to current pavilion. In the pavilion, there will be lounge next to camera obscura, big pinhole camera that you can enter and enjoy the projection of the sea.
The EASA TV crew gave us quite a laugh on Sunday so we went to their office to speak to them. For the record, the room does not smell like sex at all, and the cameras are not left on during the night, the rumors are totally false. We asked them a few questions:
the people´s collection `The people´s collection is working on street furniture for Fredericia. To begin with, all the participants in small groups created their own design of street furniture and built them to play with the technique they are working with. Now there is a bunch of furniture at the Depot Gården, but the cutting and sanding goes on: they are working on the final product, a six meter long bench for which they need to cut and sand over thousand pieces of wooden slat.
What were your expectations for the first episode?
We were afraid of Slava, but at the end he said it was one of the best EASA TV episodes ever.
What were people’s reactions to the episode?
People that we don’t know are yelling ‘good job’ to us, we are MVP-s now.
What was your favorite part of the episode?
The spicy chocolate challenge because we like to make other people feel pain.
What was the main theme of the episode?
Everything is so perfect, we are complaining because there is nothing to complain about and we are having trouble flirting, it’s hard to think of good pick up lines this way. Last year you could just walk to a girl and say ‘have you seen the spider in the toilet?’
Do you miss Lithuanian spiders?
Yes, but we keep in touch, facebook and stuff.
Why do you hate fire regulations?
We can’t have safe sex because of the fire regulations, they wont let us lock the doors!
What are you preparing for the next episode?
We will make it darker, this one was cute, the next one will have a sentimental part, but the rest will be weird and dark. note: next episode coming tomorrow around nine
superdraft ‘Superdraft’ is a workshop which derives from a theoretical and typological approach to finding alternative spatial solutions of “ arrival cities “ and is interested to contribute and apply the potential of new visionary strategies to architectural design. Moreover, this workshop encourages the integration of theory, research and practice, in order to imagine to develop a new critical “framework” in refugee integration and their architectural typologies. To do ‘Superdraft’ uses collage as a design tool to reflect and analyse the topic of hospitality. The main aims are to propose new housing and cohabitation concepts, which can be applied to new or existing realities. During EASA participants of this workshop are exploring the potential of spatial and social dynamics in each approach to architecture and urban planning.
babette’s feast - saturday, 5. August, 7 PM We are happy to invite you to Babette’s Feast, organized by the participants of the Babettes’s workshop. They are going to be using donated food to make a feast at Fredericia’s main square, Axeltorv to share with locals and other Easians. To get there you can join a spontaneous procession led by a Danish marching band and joined by the Colour workshop’s caravan. For more info on the workshop itself, check out our next issue!
‘stupidity and contradictions’ The exhibition on the third floor is a must see. Many people visited the opening Tuesday and enjoyed conceptual art along with wine, fake rakija and Belarus chips. Joke or not, some powerful messages were sent, tears, laughs and panic is what all the visitors were experiencing. Some of the hits were the ‘dirty laundry’ piece, showing clean laundry, and probably the most famous one the ‘no sleeping’ serial piece. The central piece though, and everyone’s favorite, was the painting of a crying girl, which facing a mirror was part of a composition called ‘The Reflection of Tears’ We are sad to announce that the Crying Girl was kidnapped two days ago. The organizing team was desperate they sent us this letter: ‘’The Crying Girl is now us. Our crying faces in the mirror ever since she has been taken. We beg you to contact us if anyone has any information about her. We are going to cry for one more day. If she is not back by the end of it, we will find the one who stole our precious and they will be punished. This is not a joke. Don’t underestimate our madness.‘’ Luckily for everyone The Crying Girl was found in the Estonian room in time. The team was brought to questioning to the Frederician police station. They told the police that they wanted to blackmail the owners for beer and lunch packs. Luckily, all violence has been avoided since the girl was found inside the one day deadline, so the Estonians can come out now.
easa hallway looks
leena, dino, EASA
channeling indenpendent russian oligarch
blue group, EASA
i’m blue da ba dee da ba die...
leena gets sick badly
ask teddy How much is the fish?
“I wish I wish I were a fish”
Do you believe in aliens? Not yet decided.
Why is there no techno? When will there be any techno? I think it would be nice. :) <3 EASA spirit is here… Techno – no longer needed!
immigration A group of food inspectors pulled over a first time EASA kitchen helper Chris aside and said, ‘Let’s see your papers.’ Turns out that Chris got here illegaly. He came here a week ago as an undocumented alien trying to settle in EASA environment because he said he was looking for real home. It just sucks what happened. When we interviewed Chris to see why he did this he told us that he felt like“we’re all a big family here in the kitchen and outside of it. We eat here good — Chef gives us three meals a day and food to go. And then I also can give out food for the poor to be just like as my childhood hero Robin Hood.” We heard that Chris is now going to rally across Europe demanding a path to EASA citizenship. Why don’t we already have a path to citizenship? It’s something we should consider. Chris worked lots in the kitchen which sometimes stretched to routinely 80 hours of work a week. He didn’t complain about workweeks a single bit. If we were to hand out an EASA citizenship it would definitely go to Chris.
gossip girl Some nights ago a couple got inspired by a workshop as the room of inter of course became the room to have intercourse in. I guess that’s what you get for naming your workshop like that. According to my informants EASA TV sofa in the next room is in hard use every night as well. Luckily as far as I know the umbrella room which is in the same cluster of workshop rooms stays untainted. Russian night rolled around and people got their glitz and vodka on. Strong white Russians and vodka shots got people started and by the time the Brüünske bar closed people were definitely feeling jolly. French were on a roll as one of them was seen rolling around the hospital with one of those hospital beds while trying to find a secluded enough place for him and his lady friend. And the reason for this hilarious quest is that his room was already occupied by a coalition of Italy and France. Good for you. Only thing I’m wondering at this point is that wouldn’t the floor be more comfortable for nightly activities than a hospital bed without a mattress. Despite all this hanky panky going on it is visible that people are getting a bit tired. People find innovative places to take naps, hiding under tables and in kitchens. Occasionally an exhausted party person just falls asleep before they manage to get to their room. Now that the event is actually rolling towards its end a lovely breakout of EASA flu has surfaced. Let see if this has any effect on the amount on nightly adventures.
what’s the weather like?
when it rains it pours
Do you want to write for Umbrella? Send us your piece to umbrella.easa@gmail.com Umbrella team, Leena, Luca, Marin, Vili, Laura, Papo and Sarunas
umbrella article in 1994 - archives bullshit is also ecological Some people on this EASA got a flash of let’s say green enlightenment. But apparently these semireligious experiences don’t necessarily stand for truthful information. Well you can’t get around the fact that everything green, biological and ecological is very much in fashion now. It has become a new attitude towards consumerism, a bit like advertisements in shoe repair shops “ready while you wait”. What else can you do but wait for your bloody shoes? The message holds an intellectual flaw. It’s just like all the new environmentally friendly products we see appearing in the shops. Phosphate free washing powder, recycled paper, recyclable plastic bags, eco-T-shirts, environment friendly cars. Have you ever thought about this? How can a car ever be environmentally friendly, do they really recycle plastic bags that are recyclable? Unfortunately the answer is no! All this green attitude is a mere marketing exercise. It has nothing to do with rethinking production processes, whit optimizing energy and raw material use, and that is what it really should be about. Ecology is system thinking, it’s considering a certain process and trying to understand how the process in itself fits in to larger scheme of things, what is the real cost for the environment, how much materials go in, how much useful output do we get in comparison to the input, what are the alternatives and what do they cist in the broadest sense, have you for instance ever wondered what the price of clean water and clean air could be? There is no sense whatsoever in advertising that a certain product is recyclable when there is no infrastructure to achieve this goal. Also this EASA we encounter this intellectual hypocrisy. The so called ecological workshops are not ecological at all. They are based on a scheme that runs a bit like this: step 1: first you mindlessly produce an enormous heap of rubbish, step 2: you come to conclusion that you have an enormous heap of rubbish, step 3: you say let’s do something ecological about that, step 4: you produce something semi-useful that looks less like a heap of rubbish, but still is. Instead of producing tons of empty cola cans wouldn’t it be much more ecological workshop trying to prevent this? This would be real systemthinking, how to alter a certain consumption pattern in such a way that everybody still gets his or her drinks without having to cope with all those empty cans? Once you have completed this challenge successfully, it can become very interesting to apply the systemthinking to architecture. How to make architecture ecological? Really to reconsider the process of building. I must admit I don’t know the answers nor the solutions, and that is why I consider this so very important, the exercise can only add to your vision as an architect. It also appears that one tutor just reinvented hot water. Yes, R.Doernach is going to build a biohouse, well I must say a very original idea. You just take an enormous amount of wood, build a basic structure with it, fill the gaps with whatever organic material you can find (it can be dung), let what you normally would consider to be you garden grow all over it, add a little touch of fungi and insects and there you have it: your own little biohouse. Well I am very sorry to say this but what do you think birds have been doing for the last 10.000 years. They beat you to the idea, so why not consider building nesting-boxes, perhaps with a little touch of Le Corbusier? Probably somebody is going to come up next with the claim that he has reinvented the umbrella by pulling a banana plant out of the ground. Yours ecologically, ZJACK