III.Votanikos in action
114
“It was made from an existing building, it intervened in a way that disabled the usual function of the structure. It achieved an outsize effect from improvised, at-hand elements; ..... and it could not last very long� (Thomas Crow on a Cornell intervention of Gordon Matta-Clark)
Votanikos
Stepping out of progress - a moment of pause
116
“I don’t think things go in cycles. I think things just change from one situation to the next.” (Robert Smithson)
This is not a project about the current Greek economic crisis. Votanikos is a neighborhood that has not functioned either socially or economically according to the usual urban logic. While the rest of the city is struggling with the effects and conflicts caused by the current economic crisis, here everything is calm. The problems of being different have passed a long time ago. Votanikos works as a postwar territory where things are not working and haven’t been working for a long time. Votanikos is a neighborhood that responds only to its own logic, where the conflicts are not about global economic issues but about the clashes of its inhabitants’ ideas. Votanikos is over the crisis, and the traumas. It got into a moment of pause where the crisis has been already assumed, and people are managing their lives accordingly. No one is expecting any help from anyone else anymore; they assumed that their lives are in their own hands. Also, they do not seem to expect much of it. “Greece nothing. Nothing. Greece Nothing” are the kinds of statements one can hear from Votanikos people and their problems and desires remain on a personal scale. I call the state of Votanikos a moment of pause because it responds to a post-traumatic logic of being, where the lack of the conventional function of things has been assumed but no solution has been made yet. It is a pause in progress; a sign of the trendlessness of the universal tendency. This moment of pause is what interested me in Votanikos; it is this reset. The moments of disfunction are the moments when new functions and ways of interactions can be lived, altered. And that is something very much human. Sometimes it feels like there is even a desire for disasters to happen, so we can re-evaluate. Wastelands, places like Votanikos, places where nothing is defined are places where the interactions are of a different nature and they let us place ourselves in our present time and context. The lack of definition of everything that happens in these locations - spatially, on a mental level - are the ones that enable us to interact differently. These are the places that have no authors, are no personal monuments, are not built up in an ahistorical way; instead carrying in them all the entropy of the place, all its nature, all of its past acts and consequences. In my project, Votanikosness, this area of Athens becomes an active “monument” of this moment of tranquility of the post-trauma, where people are interacting with each other in a way they would not do it in times of progress, in times of abundance of resources.
Other moments of pause
118
Dresden in February 1945.
Chernobyl 1988
Dresden in February 1945.
Votanikos with the route from Academia Platonos on to North, through the village, the main road, the factory site, the shopping mall construction site, the roma street and the prostitution street.
120
The route 120
A dog -or a bunch of dogs- can appear and disappear in matter of seconds and change their environment completely. This animtaion I wanted to present the “random� and fast pace of appearance and disappearance of dogs, as a force of power.
122
Animations
124
A public living room changing aspect in matter of days, weeks. Fast changes, elements appearing, disappering. Exchanges of elements within subsites, exchanges of people. Public living rooms, kitchens, thinking spaces.
126
The shopping mall is a place of memory; the memory of the never happened future. A ruin in reverse, where the only movement that is happening is the steady growth of the nature.
128
128
130
Every morning when the sun comes up they start to emit steam which covers all the sourrounding creating a virtual layer of clouds in the air. When the day finishes and the factories close the steam dissappears as if it would have never been there. This dynamic shows how time could be understood as a day, and how changes and loops are happening during a day.
The Matrix
132
MENTAL where the reality is more related to the mental functions DAY where the true face of the area comes out during the day OPEN SPACES where the physical scope of the site is related to openness THOUGHTS where the physical changes of the sire are slow just as the mental state changes
ACADEMIA PLATONOS
ELEONAS - THE VILLAGE
PLAYING WASHING RAISING KIDS LIVING
IERA ODOS
FACTORY WORKERS
LIFE DEDICATED TO THE CONCEPT OF ANOTHER WORKING CREATING RESTING
SHOPPING MALL CONSTRUCTION SITE
ROMA COMMUNITIES
DOGS
PROSTITUTION
LACK OF RATIONALITY PHISIOLOGICAL NEEDS
THE PURE BODY FORGOTTEN MIND
PHYSICAL where the reality is more related to the material functions NIGHT where the true face of the area comes out during the night DEAD END STREETS where the physical scope of the site is related to boundries MOOD where the physical changes of the sire are fast just as the mental state changes
SEX DRUGS DESTRUCTION
STATIC LIFE SLOW CHANGES
ABANDONED THINKING PARK LISTENING TO RADIO KISSING STALKING
HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY MENTAL CONSTRUCTION
NATURE GROWING NO PHYSICAL CHANGES
MENTALITY OF SHARING PUBLIC LIVING ROOMS BLURRY BOARDERS BETWEEN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SELF-EXPOSURE
FAST COMMUTING DISCONNECTION MISCOMMUNICATION
APPARENT CHANGES OF THE MOVEMENT ABOVE NO REAL PHYSICAL CHANGES
STREET LIFE
ROUTINE HABITS SLOW CHANGES IN LONG TIME
A PLACE OF HOPE HAS NO PAST, NO FUTURE -CAN BE NAYTHING
SLOW CHANGES DEFINED BY NATURE NO HUMAN INTERACTION
INTENSE LIFE FEAR FROM “THE OTHER” DOMINATION OF THE FIELD EXCLUSIVE COMMUNITY POWER OF NATURE ATTACKS DEFENSE
FAST CHANGES WITH NO TRACE
VULNERABILITY
FAST CHANGES WITHOUT TRACES THIS IS “NOT HAPPENING”
FAST CHANGES EFFECTING THE ENVIRONMENT RECYCLING COLLECTING LIVING WASHING RAISING KIDS LOOKING FOR THINGS
Votanikosness Incisions, cuts, relocations
134
The original state
134
“How to find the way out of this situation? It seems that, today utilizing the large output of the closed form, with the support of new ways of visual education, and with the new organisation of resources - right now we are able to begin the creation of a new organic art of our time, the art that is compositionally based on the open form.� (Oskar Hansen)
136
138
140
140
“If existing boundaries are taken for granted, experience will be restricted to, and determined by, only that which has gone before.� (Gordon Matta-Clark)
142
Animations
Transformations
After setting up the matrix of the different spaces in Votanikos the design process starts. Every area had a building that had been already abandoned for more than 10 years, which means it is opened to anyone’s intervention, action, occupation. The interventions are designed to alter the mental states in each and every area separately, to open up and connect buildings, to blur their borders. During every intervention the tools, the people, and the spaces are used. Pieces of buildings are cut, taken apart, taken away, transported to other parts of the site - if there is a need elsewhere. As a final stage, all the remnant pieces are transported and reconstructed in its entropic version, without pretending to be a faithful reproduction, on the site of the shopping mall construction; this space will become the conclusion of the project. The Post Mall. The spaces that are created in the first year with their interventions applied:
A place of thinking. People would gather below the trees, the benches. People would kiss, others would stalk them.
Plato’s living rooms
A wall appears. People gather below it, draw on it, put ideas into it. They sit below it, and every day finds different angles to it.
Cooking, eating, discussing. A moment of calm. You could hear the silent sounds of nature. Birds, dogs, bees.
Wash room, living room, stage
144
Village people are gathering on a square. A building explodes, gets cleaned. A piece of a fence from another part gets attached to it. A wash room is created. People are coming to wash their clothes here. Meanwhile, they are sitting down, having a coffee together. Discussing the day.
A screen appears of the reconstructed part of the wash room. People get a projector. A living room is created. One night the campfire take over; smells strongly. Next night the football game is on.
It is not always easy to decide what is going to happen. A building is has fallen apart; people can go up, jump down, reverse the stairs. See the environment from the top. They can be seen from the ground level.
146
A place of passing by. Going through somewhere where before closed spaces had to be faced. People would stop and look around what is inside of the space that they never could see. People stop by and talk. They would not know how to act.
They would go further and take a piece of rubble from the ground. They would rearrange it and sit on it. A conversation starts to flow. And it keeps on flowing. They disagree.
Corridor
Room
Room
148
“The city will have special places. Many of these will be incomprehensible to many.� (Michael Sorkin)
The watchtower
150
Getting out of the routines. Moving towards verticality. Seeing a different perspective of Votanikos. One would go up the watchtower and be silent watching the site. Votanikos is huge. Athens is so small. The Acropolis is so close.
Dogs are not coming up here. People would see and would be seen. A different perspective of Votanikos.
The building is just growing and growing. Pieces of cranes are attached to it, people would climb on it. The higher they are, the more they can see.
The palace
152
A boarded building that wants to blow up and show what it has inside. Romas are going up the roof through the attached crane. They are having celebrations on the roof. Someone else appears; they will protect their way from him.
A big collection of object starting to gather on the roof. On the roof of the palace the things would be arranged differently every day. Everyone would add his piece to it and take away another. Pieces of metal construction start to build up.
A whole is made on the roof. They would descend to the building and open it up. A big explosion of objects would find itself on the street. These object would get farther and farther until there is still something. A party, a birthday, a night, and a place for nightmares. A place for fortification, control over the site.
154
The shower
Steam is all around. Light is lit up around it. Weird sounds can be heard, dogs are barking. Water is splashing all around. Some chairs are put together and occasionally people occupy them. Prostitutes are cleaning their bodies. And they forget about it for some moments. Loud music can be heard from a truck. He just came to have a little fun tonight. From behind a wall three people appear and go directly under the water. After they would sit down on a concrete block and they light a cigarette.
156
After the incisions
156
The Matrix II. - after the interventions
158
ACADEMIA PLATONOS
ELEONAS - THE VILLAGE
PUBLIC LIVING ROOMS SCREEN PUBLIC WASH ROOMS STAGE
STOPPING THE TRAFFIC DISLOCATED ROADS CORRIDORS
IERA ODOS
FACTORY WORKERS
MENTALITY OF SHARING SELF EXPOSURE
CORRIDORS KITCHENS ROOMS WATCHTOWERS
INCLUSIVE COMMUNITY SENSE OF FREEDOM
SHOPPING MALL CONSTRUCTION SITE
ROMA COMMUNITIES
DOGS
PROSTITUTION
HIDING SPOTS SHADES ROOFS SURFACES
CONTROL OVER THE BODY USE OF THE BODY
SEX DRUGS CLEANSING GATHERING
PLATO’S LIVING ROOMS
THINKING THOUGHTS DISCUSSION THE EXPOSED MIND MENTAL CONSTRUCTION
KISSING STALKING CAMPFIRE GATHERINGS NATURE
CROSSING THE SITE STREET LIFE
BLURRY BOARDERS BETWEEN ROADS AND FIELDS
WORKING CREATING LIVING BEING SELF-DEDICATION
SHADES CAMPFIRE PLATO’S LIVING ROOMS BATH SHOWRS ROOMS HIDING SPOTS
FAST CHANGES NO TRACES LACK OF RATIONALITY
VISIBLE CHANGES CONSTANT MOVEMENT
COMMUTING WITH STOPS SHADES ROOMS
CHANGES OF ENVIRONMENTS USE OF SKILLS
THE COMMON GROUND EVERYBODY ACT AS THEY ACT ON THEIR OWN FIELD THINGS APPEARING AND DISAPEARING IN A LOOP
FAST CHANGES PALACE OCCUPATION OF THE COMMON GROUND TRACES IN THE ENVIRONMENT GETTING MORE MATERIALS FROM OTHER PARTS OF THE SITE CREATION OF NEW REALITIES
SHOWERS HIDING SPOTS LIVING ROOMS GATHERING PLACES
The Post Mall
160
Conclusion
In its original state
162
The Post Mall An image explaining the dynamics of the post mall of a moment in time
The Post Mall
164
In the post mall pieces of everyone would be gathering. It is a place of common use. Is a place of peace, a place for thinking. Other times it is a place of debate and discussions. In the post mall people who are not thinking alike are meeting. The Post mall is a place of disagreements. A place of arguments.
The post mall is an open place for everyone. Romas, prostitutes, villagers, factory workers, dogs, Athenians and strangers would come and see it for themselves. Use it for themselves.
There is a river exploding in the middle of the post mall. A place where everyone would merge in the same physical volume. In that water people would wash cloth, would ease the heat of summer.
The materiality of the post mall is dynamic. Pieces would come and go, people would bring and take.
166
Dogs would live in the post mall. No one would know what are they actually doing there but they never would go away. They would go in the water, jump on concrete surfaces, play with nature. They would hide from the sun and from the rain. If a stranger comes they would look and be suspicious.
In the post mall the factory workers would have late night talks. They would have barbecues, lunches, dinners and meanwhile work. They would climb up the watch spots and see what is around them. They would eat and drink and talk. Kantinas are going to be built on a Monday, and destructed on a Wednesday.
The prostitutes would have showers in the post mall. They would sleep with the light. They would merge in the water and clean themselves. They would forget about their body. The prostitutes would gather and fight over the space. They would work here and hide behind the pieces of walls.
Kids from the village would bring papers and draw in the post mall. They would draw on the walls, and would splash the water. They would look at the prostitutes with curiosity. They would find company in the Roma children. They would fight, they would not agree how to paint the wall. They would take away each other’s watercolors and run away. The Roma would come and clean their clothes here. They would hang their colorful skirts in the post mall. The cloth would be drying, their owners would be watching the dogs sleeping. They would be yawning fearless.
168
The villagers would come to the post mall to have a barbecue. The meat would remain raw and they would put it back on the fire. The greasy hairdryer would make the flames bigger. In the post mall at night lights would always show where there are things happening. Romas and villagers would meet. They would argue; one would want the space of the other. They would get to know each other. In the post mall people from Athens would come and do one-day events, exhibiting their works. The next day everything would disappear. In the post mall nothing is permanent. Meanwhile, in the post mall the nature is growing. The grass is getting taller and is a haven for animals. Slugs, snails, bugs, flowers would cover part of the ground. In the post mall there would be a constant noise of construction. And of destruction. Something would always be appearing or disappearing.
The post mall is a collection of kitchens, shades, living rooms, showers, washrooms, campfires, stages, watch spots, palaces, hiding rooms. In the post mall everyone can find or create spaces for himself, but has to fight for it occasionally.
Even after the crisis the post mall would stay for a while. The post mall is like the Cathedral of Coventry. Like the Kaiser Wilhelm Church. It would remain as a memento of pauses. A memory of crisis.
Post mall is a space of the crisis, of a pause. It is a space of a fragment of the pause of progress. The post mall is a place that would remain as a monument afterwards. The post mall is built up on the ruins of a shopping mall. The goods are not material here. The good are the ideas.
170
172
174
Andi Schmied, 2012, London