Lucas Koleits 297120 Studio D
Embassy for the Fourth World Studio Terra Incognita Semester 2, 2014
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Mao Zedong divided the earth into three parts; the first world, the super powers, the second world, the lesser powers, and the third world, the exploited. Across the globe, there are people who feel like they don’t belong in the existing political structure. They feel the desire to seize their own future. There are many different motivations for this; to antagonise existing government, to capitalise on financial situations, to fight for liberties denied by others, to create a personal utopia, or to simply withdraw from the world. These people form micronations. These micronations form the fourth world. The Embassy for the Fourth World is a representation of political ideas that don’t belong. The interaction between ideas and power shape the architecture of the embassy. Monumental yet pragmatic, the embassy as a collection of towers distributed across a sparse site engages with space uniquely. Ideologies condense into towers, creating concentrations
of
politically
charged
program.
This
embassy for the Fourth World demonstrates an architectural consequential of political and ideological chaos; and in doing so demonstrates the powerful role politics have in architecture.
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Micronation Atlas
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1950
1960
1970
1980
never mont saint michel
R Reclusive
Monasteries
la tourette
Religious
Saint hill Scientology Centre
baldonia
Nort islan
neft daslari
D M
Akhzivland
rose island Sea steading
Touristic Island platforms
sealand
Aggressive
Republic of Minerva
Utopian
k UN headquarters
christiania Festival
elleore Sovereignty
Sovereignty
hutt river
seborga 1950
1960
1970
1980
1990
2000 woomera detention centre
rland
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2010 villawood detention centre
Exclusive Australian
Reclusive
harmondsworth immigration removal Centre
Mount Carmel Centre
nauru detention centre
Touristic
th dumpling nd
navassa island Antagonistic
dotcom mansion
Dominion of Melchizedek
mona scammers Antagonistic
Art projects
enen-kio
State of sabotage ladonia
spratly island
Ecuadorian embassy Antagonistic
krugelmugel
Black rock city
Festival
cato island
Molossia Limited territory
Seeking Sovereignty
lagoan isles
1990
forvik
2000
2010
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L I B E R T A R I A N
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Akhzivland
Located on the west coast of Israel, between Nahariya and the Lebanese border, Akhzivland is in a particularly volatile part of the world. However, this micronation is marketed as a touristic destination, both by Akhzivland itself and the Israeli tourist board. Akhzivland is acknowledged as a national park by the Israeli government, even though the owner and president, Eli Avivi declared the area an independent nation in 1970. Marketed online though sites such as trip advisor, the micronation makes a modest living for Avivi and his wife, now in their 80s. Features of the attraction include camping areas, and small beach, and a museum of items found along the coast by Avivi. Reviews online for this nation are mixed, with some exclaiming about the country “Nothing much to do here, other than laugh at the old hippy�. Nevertheless, Akhzivland still successfully operates and a country completely reliant on tourism.
L I B E R T A R I A N
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U T O P I A
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Black Rock City
Black rock city is the temporary settlement that is constructed to support the Burning Man festival held each year in the Black Rock desert of Nevada. The festival has origins in enormous bonfire rituals held on the summer solstice in 1986. It was 1990 that saw the first organised community of Black Rock City. The 2013 population was recorded at 69,613. The festival itself is dedicated to radical inclusion, decommodification and self expression. Many describe it as a temporary utopia, a cashless society free of many of the rules and regulations of everyday living. Drug use, heavy drinking and public nudity are common amongst the residents of Black Rock City. Burning man runs over a week and concludes with the burning of elaborate wooden effigies. The city itself consists mostly of tents, temporary structures or camper vans. However over recent years there has been exclusive enclaves being set up by wealthy individuals, bringing servants and attendants. This is seen by many as offending the Burning Man ideologies of inclusion and de-commodification.
U T O P I A
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L I B E R T A R I A N
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Cato Island
Cato Island is the main inhabited island of the Gay and Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands, off the coast of south east Australia. The island itself is not recognised or claimed officially by any other nation in the region, and is unoccupied except for a unused weather station. The Kingdom was founded in 2004 by a group of gay activists, led by Dale Anderson, who would later proclaim himself emperor of the islands. The move was triggered by the refusal of the Australian government to recognise same sex marriages. Anderson and the demonstrators exclaimed that they had been unable to properly integrate themselves into society, due to the social barriers that were present. They decided to create a Utopian nation in protest. All homosexual people around the world have the right to be instantly granted citizenship, and access to the kingdom is reserved for homosexual people only. The island itself has a small economic production coming mainly from stamps, with the first set being printed in 2006, with several issues since then.
L I B E R T A R I A N
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A N T A G O N I S T E N T R E P R E N E U R
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Dominion of Melchizedek
A micronation formed purely to facilitate major fraud, the Dominion of Melchizedek (DoM) holds no actual
A N T A G O N I S T
territory, although is argues claims to parts of the Marshall Islands, other islands in the Pacific, and parts of Antarctica. Ruled by Marshall Island national Pearlasia Gamboa, the dominion was founded by Mark Pedely in 1986. Pedely was well known in the US for committing multiple counts of major financial crimes, including stock fraud. The DoM claims to be a monotheistic nation, embracing one god, but in reality is nothing more than a creation to facilitate the operation of financial scams. It claim to have recognition from international states, and has produced a letter from the Central African government formally recognising the nation. There are also claims of DoM passports being stamped and accepted in countries around the world, including the United States. Financial fraud is facilitated through false banks such as the Banco de Asia, Guardian Savings and Guaranty Express Banks, all allegedly based in Taogi, in the Marshall Islands, although throughout the 2000 the DoM maintained a PO box in Canberra, Australia.
E N T R E P R E N E U R
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A N T A G O N I S T
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Elleore
The island of Elleore, located off the Danish island of Zealand, was purchased in 1944 by a group of school teachers with the intention of using it as a school camp. Over the years, the island was declared independent initially as a joke. The tongue in cheek approach to independence was evident in the ban on the book Robinson Crusoe, and the conversion to Elleore standard time, which is twelve minutes behind Danish time. Elleore has had several Kings and queens since the declaration of independence in 1944, and is currently ruled by King Leo III. Currently Elleore is uninhabited throughout the year with the exception of one week, where citizens gather on the island for large celebration. Generally the independent status of the nation is tolerated by the Danish government, while they are fully aware of the lack of conviction behind the declaration.
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A N T A G O N I S T E N T R E P R E N E U R
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Enen-Kio
Founded by a group of separatist Marshall Islanders, Enen-Kio claims sovereignty over the Wake Island atoll.
A N T A G O N I S T
The 6.5 square km atoll consists of three islands, and is also claimed as a satellite territory by the US government. The right to claim is based on first usage land right of the native population there, despite the lack of evidence of any historical permanent inhabitation of the atoll. Enen-kio maintained close relations with the micronation the Dominion of Melchizedek, which also claims part of the Marshall islands. This relationship, along with the requests of fees of up to $10,000 for a Enen-kio passport, have led to claims that the nation exists only to facilitate financial fraud. This led to the government of the Marshall Islands and the US state department to outwardly dispute the existence and legitimacy of the claim of this nation. A key player in the fraudulent operations was US national Robert Moore, who declared himself minister of plenipotentiary (full representation of the country). Moore attempted to sue the US government for unlawful occupation of Enen-kio land in his own, nonexistent court in the 1990s. Needless to say, this was not successful.
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L I B E R T A R I A N
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For vik
In 2001, Stuart ‘Captain Calamity’ Hill was shipwrecked on the island of Forewick Holm, in the Shetland Isles after failing to circumnavigate the British Isles. He returned in 2008, pitched a small one man tent, and declared the island to be the new nation of Forvik, which was intended to be a dependency of the British crown. Hill believes that the Shetlands are constitutionally the property of Norway, due to an arrangement made in 1469. While Hill has invited oil companies to explore in his small territorial waters, he insists that the project has grander visions: “this is not just a whim, something I am doing to amuse myself. This is a serious endeavor to change things here in Shetland, to have a better democracy which will ripple out to the rest of the world, because it is sorely needed. There has been absolutely no response from the authorities so far. It has to come to a confrontation at some point, whether that be physical or in the courts. I am ready when they are.”
http://www.forvik.com/
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Freetown Christiania
One of the few micronations with a substantial permanent population, Christiania is home to around 850 people. Located close to the center of Copenhagen, Denmark, it is less of an aspiring independent state than a spatiallegal anomaly. In 1971, an abandoned military area was occupied by homeless, which over time developed a community which grew into the Christiania of today. Protected somewhat by the special Christiania Law of 1989, certain illicit activities are legalised in the Chrisitiania’s territory. Most notable of these is the legalisation of cannabis use. As as result Chrisitiania attracts large number of tourists. It also contains meditation and yoga facilities, and an center for gay activism. Chrisitiania has attracted various forms of violence over the years. Riots, police raids, and protests have been common over its history. In 2007 a council incursion intending to demolish a structure was met with violent resistance, and in 2009 a grenade was detonated in a Christiania cafe, severely injuring several people.
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Hutt River
One of the oldest and most successful micronations in Australia, and indeed the world, Hutt River is located in Western Australia, north of Perth. It is also on of the largest micronations, claiming over 4000 hectares of wheat farms. Succession developed from a dispute over wheat quotas in 1970, restricting the owner, Leonard George Casley, to sell only 99 hectares of wheat each year. This initiated a long legal dispute with the state government, federal government, postal service, tax office and the governor general. In 1977 the Australian Tax Office confronted Casley asking him to pay back taxes, to which Casley’s response was to declare war on Australia. The war lasted less than a week, and saw no actual aggression from either government. Later, he attempted to use the Geneva convention to solidify the sovereignty of Hutt River. “Sovereignty is automatic to a country undefeated in a state of war... and if the state of war is not recognised by the other party, once the notice is given the conventions apply to their relations.” While this application is of questionable legality, the issue moved up to the governor general, who stated that it would not be constitutional for the commonwealth to directly intervene in the succession.
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A N T A G O N I S T L I B E R T A R I A N
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Kugelmugel
From the German ‘Kugel’ (Sphere) and ‘Mugel’ (Bump or Hill), this micronation is comprised of a spherical house built in 1970 in Vienna, Austria. The artist Edwin Lipburger built the house, which is 7.82 meters in diameter, in exploration of possible alternative to building, living and creating art. While this is a bold architectural statement, the house itself has not received much attention from artistic or architectural critics. Lipburger declared the house an independent nation in 1984, declaring it a ‘fascist free zone’, although this statement does not seem to have been made in reference to any particular individual or group. Refusing to pay taxes, Kugelmugel attracted the attention of the authorities. Eventually Lipburger gave in to the authorities and paid what was owed, and moved out of the structure. Despite violating multiple building codes, the structure was not demolished, and still stands today. The tentative unrecognised sovereignty of this minuscule nation still stands, making it a minor tourist attraction in the city. To protect those who may want to explore the structure, the Vienna council has erected barbed wire and warning signs around the structure.
A N T A G O N I S T L I B E R T A R I A N
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L I B E R T A R I A N A N T A G O N I S T
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Ladonia
With the motto “Proud, Free and Interactive�, the nation of Ladonia has been born out of bureaucratic conflict
L I B E R T A R I A N
and grown through interaction through the internet. The original conflict, over the wooden sculptures of the artist Lars Viks, culminated in a court case in 1996. After the negative outcome of the court battle, the small area of national park, close to Kullaberg, Sweden, was declared as an independent nation. An online campaign to gather support for the nation grew the number of citizens to over 15,000 in 2011, although few of them had ever stepped on Ladonian soil. It has since become a tourist attraction, and is jointly ruled by a Queen and a President. The artist Lars Viks, who serves as secretary of state for the nation, continues to build these labyrinthine sculptures constructed out of salvaged driftwood.
http://www.ladonia.org/
A N T A G O N I S T
S
E E Z
1 2 5 0
O
1 0 0 0
U
7 5 0
5 0 0
T
2 5 0
1 0 0
H
M
N
I
1982
E E Z
N
1971
O
1 5 0 0
R
T
E
H
R
V
1 0 0
2 5 0
5 0 0
7 5 0
1 0 0 0
1 2 5 0
A
M
I
1 0 0
R
2 5 0 5 0 0
V
A
2 5 0
1 km
1 0 0
E E Z
2 5 0
F
R
1980
5 0 0
E
E
7 5 0
E
N
1992
3km
5 0 0
7 5 0
1 2 5 0
5 km
1 0 0 0
R
5 0 0
E
7 5 0
E
1 2 5 0
E E Z
1 0 0 0
F
1 2 5 0
1 2 5 0
1 5 0 0
A N T A G O N I S T 1 5 0 0
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Minerva
Founded in 1971 by eccentric American millionaire Micheal Oliver, with the intention of creating a libertarian society. Oliver arranged for dredging vessels from Australia and New Zealand to sail to the remote Minerva Reefs, south of Fiji and south west of Tonga. As the reefs laid beneath the mean tide level, they did not allow for a claim to nationhood. The dredged sand from was piled and reinforced with concrete resulting in a small island. A government was formed, coins were minted and the flag was raised over the island. Minerva had a population of 16, yet very few inhabitants actually spent any time on the island, preferring to spend time on yachts moored at the reefs. Plans were made to greatly expand the above tide land mass, and construct a sea wall to protect from storm surges. These plans were not realised due to the annexation of Minerva by the Tongan government in 1973. A small military force led by a Minervan citizen, John Travers, was sent to free the unoccupied island from Tongan rule in 1982. This was successful for only two weeks, where under overwhelming military pressure from Tonga, the small force abandoned the nation.
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L I B E R T A R I A N
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Molossia
Molossia is an example of a ‘backyard’ micronation, which claims a small parcel of private land situated in an urban setting. These are common, not taken particularly seriously and treated as hobbies more then serious endeavors. However Molossia stands out due to the convictions of its leader, Kevin Braugh, who has been running Molossia since he was a teenager in 1977. The nation occupies his acre block in Dayton Nevada, and produced coins, stamps and passports and a minor tourist industry. But it is the level of diplomatic engagement that truly sets Braugh apart from other ‘Backyard’ micronations. He has organised summits with other micronational leaders from around the world. Upon the head of state’s arrival, Braugh dons his customised military uniform, and greets his visitors on the front lawn of his country. Despite these diplomatic efforts, Molossia also has a claim to be fighting a very long war with East Germany. Even though East Germany became defunct with the fall of the Berlin wall, Braugh argues that a small island gifted to East Germany by Cuba in the 60’s is the last remaining territory, and therefore, the war still valid.
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MONA
The largest privately funded museum in the Southern Hemisphere, MONA (the Museum of Old and New Art) is the private collection of David Walsh. Walsh made his fortune from quantitative gambling methods, using his winnings to gather an extensive collection of contemporary and historical artworks. In 2011, MONA was opened on the shores of the Derwent river, not far from Walsh’s hometown of Glenorchy, in Hobart, Tasmania. The complex is mostly hidden, with much of the gallery space located in the rock face of the small peninsula. The museum also has a brewery and winery on site. Walsh ran into a conflict with the Australian Tax Office in 2012, who were demanding $37 million of tax revenue from Walsh’s gambling activities. This sum would’ve resulted in the closure of MONA, however the tax issue was resolved under unknown circumstances later the same year, and MONA continued to operate. MONA is now the top tourist attraction in Tasmania, and one of the most highly acclaimed in Australia. It has even received international praise, with some comparisons being made with museums such as the Guggenheim in Bilbao.
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Neft Daslari
Neft Daslari (“Oil Rocks� in Azijerbani) is a detailed network of shale oil platforms that extend out into the Caspian Sea. Construction began in 1949, when oil was first discovered in the area. The structure consisted of a singular pathway built on the back of sunken ships. By 1958 Neft Daslari had grown into a city unto itself, with a population of over 2000 people, hostels, bakeries, bars, restaurants, hotels, nightclubs, even a lemonade factory. Hundreds of oil platforms were constructed in the area, some connected to the main network of pipelines and walkways, some remaining islands just off the main infrastructure. As of 2009, Neft Daslari had extracted around 170m tons of oil. Estimations place the amount of oil remaining at around 30 million tons. The city is still operating, but most of the platforms have now been abandoned as the oil yield has dropped over the last few years.
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R E C L U S I V E
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Neverland Ranch
R E C L U
Formerly known as Sycamore Valley Ranch, it was renamed Neverland by the entertainer Micheal Jackson, when he occupied the estate between 1988 and 2005. A highly secured estate, Jackson created a personal amusement park behind the walls, with two railroads, a zoo, multiple ferris wheels and rides and many statues of children. Jackson would regularly invite groups of children to enjoy the facilities at the site. Police searched the property in 2003 after Jackson was accused of molesting a child. After the searches, Jackson refused to return to the estate, expressing that he felt that the officers had violated his privacy in the act of searching his home.
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L I B E R T A R I A N
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Nowhereisland
Nowhereisland is an art project organised by Alex Hartley, and sponsored by the British government. It began with the melting of a Svalbard glacier revealing an undiscovered small island. This island was excavated, and rafted to England, where it remained for a year after being declared an independent nation. A marketing campaign was launched in England and online to attract citizens. A mobile embassy was created, spreading the message and ideas behind the project, and allowing the new citizens to contribute to a crowdsourced constitution. The result was a constitution that is nothing more than the collective desires and beliefs of its citizens, with some notable examples: “The right to arm bears” “Everyone has the right to adequate sex” “Imaginary friends have the same rights and obligations as “real” people. After a year as an independent nation, the island was broken up and distributed amongst the 23,000 citizens. A small sample was even dispersed in the stratosphere, where it will remain for years to come.
http://nowhereisland.org/
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Rose Island
The Republic of Rose Island constituted a small platform located approximately 11km offshore from the coastal town of Rimini, Italy. Funded by the engineer Giorgio Rosa, at its peak the platform contained a restaurant, a bar, nightclub, radio station, souvenir shop and post office. It became a successful tourist destination. It was initially constructed in 1967, and Rosa declared the platform independent in 1968. This act was interpreted by the Italian government as an effort of tax evasion, and within three days, police officers had occupied the structure. Despite the Rose Island government’s protests and claims of violation of sovereignty, the platform remained occupied until February 1969, when explosive charges we detonated and the structure destroyed. For a short time after, a government in exile was maintained, even issuing a series of stamps commemorating the destruction of the platform. The government was soon dissolved, but this example set a strong precedent for other similar micronations in the future.
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Sealand
Sealand is arguably the most well known micronation in the world. A old maunsell sea fort located off the coast of Suffolk, England, it was occupied by Paddy Roy Bates in 1967 with the intention of creating his own nation. This action went unnoticed until in 1968 when a boat carrying British workmen entered what Bates considered to be his territory. Bates responded by firing warning shots at the boat. The incident resulted in a court case that ultimately ruled that the British government had no jurisdiction over the territory. This was a monumental ruling for aspiring micronations. The official declaration of independence came in 1975, but three years later the platform was stormed by armed Dutch and German mercenaries, led by German lawyer Alexander Achenbach. Upon taking the fort, they held Bates’ son Michael hostage, until Michael, using stashed weapons on the fort turned the tide, repelled the mercenaries and captured Achenbach himself. The German government petitioned the British government for the release of Achenbach, but the British cited the 1968 court decision. This resulted in Germany sending a diplomat to Sealand. Legally, this could be claimed to constitute ‘de facto’ recognition of Sealand as a sovereign nation in international law. However this has not been formally recognised by any other nation.
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L I B E R T A R I A N
Account Name: SoS Bank Company: BAWAG PSK IBAN: AT311400001210852740 BIC: BAWAATWW
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State of Sabotage
Sabotage of mainstream approaches to art and society is the concept explored by artist Robert Jelinek in his ‘Sabotage’ project, initiated in 1992. This involves redefining and re-exploring the interface between performance, conceptual, fine and public art. The intention is to transgress positions without presenting a new social order. This expanded to the foundation of a record label, Sabotage records in 1994. But eleven years after the initial inception the project took political form with the foundation of the State of Sabotage in 2003. This event was marked with a sculpture of boots placed on the uninhabited island of Harakka, Finland. The boot referenced the French root of the word sabotage - sabot meaning to trample with wooden shoes. The State of Sabotage has become one of the most successful micronations, in that they have been recognised to some degree by the United Nations. The Finnish government keeps a close eye on the nation, but is tolerant of most activities occurring on the island. The nation was only intended to last for ten years, and the State was declared defunct in 2013.
More information can be found at: www.sabotage.at
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R E C L U S I V E
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Woomera Detention Center
R E C L U
detention center, located just outside the township of
S I V
Woomera in arid South Australia. The original capacity of
E
Opened as a detention center in 1999, the Woomera
the center was 400 people, but due to the high number of illegal arrivals to Australian shores, the actual number of detainees soon exceeded this. By 2000, the numbers at the center had exceeded 1,500, more then three times the actual capacity. Conditions inside the camp were deplorable, with workers at the center repeatedly raising awareness of the lack of adequate sanitary and health services for this number of people. In August 2000, unrest inside the camp reached its climax, with violent protests, fires and riots leading to a breakout resulting in the escape of 480 refugees into the Woomera township. Due to the isolation of the site, they were easily rounded up after the event. More protests and demonstration continued after this date, including hunger strikes and lip sewing by detainees. In 2003 the center was closed after intense pressure from the general public, and the detainees themselves. While there was no outward declaration of independence, this is an example of a government effectively creating a micronation within their own borders, a place where the laws and constitution can be interpreted differently.
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Political Isolation
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Jeremy Geia
How does one remove themselves from a country? A recent example of this is illustrated by Jeremy Geia, a renowned aboriginal journalist who decided that he did not what to be part of the political structure of Australia. He felt a stronger connection to the laws and structures set out by his ancestors that had existed for thousands of years than the laws of the current government. So he mailed his passport and Medicare card to Canberra, with a note explaining his reason to do so. He has given up most of his possessions, owning just a few articles of clothing and his car, which he still drives despite no longer having a license. He has removed himself from the political, bureaucratic fabric of Australia, while still remaining in Australia. What would an embassy for people like Jeremy Geia look like?
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H o w t o S t a r t Yo u r Own Country
The political, economic and legal conditions surrounding the act of succeeding, claiming or starting your own country can be incredibly difficult to navigate. Most micronations choose not to engage with these aspects, but for those serious micronationals that do, Erwin S. Strauss, a self promoted ‘consultant’ to new country projects, has written a guide. ‘How to start you own Country’ navigates the aspiring micronational through the multitude of political and economic challenges that one may face in the course of starting a new country. He investigates different methods of establishing a population, a territory, and political dialogue with already established nations. His ideas are aspirational, questionable, and at times scary. “...atomic bombs and thermonuclear explosives, radioactive dust, germ warfare and poison gases... by promising to inflict grievous injury in the process of being crushed, the can gave the larger units incentive to make detours around the smaller ones; to pursue their interests somewhere else.” Strauss’ ideas, attempted by micronations in the past, lean dangerously towards favoring the antagonistic rogue state, almost to the point of absurdity.
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Collages
To investigate some of the political conditions surrounding micronations and the people who build them, a series of collages was produced. The first, an image of a bare island in the center of Hilberseimer’s Vertical City. The city is monotonous and infinite, with no regional differentiation. Ultimately, this is what micronations are fighting against. They seek the island, the oasis in the middle of homogeneous urbanism. The wall, in a political sense, can be the people who lead the countries themselves. They are the judge of who enters, and who doesn’t. They are walls, they are filters. This is especially true for micronations, that empower themselves as the filter of their own space. But it could also be true of our prime minister, filtering the international community to create a particular idea of utopia. The final collage begins to ground these ideas in a site. Woomera, South Australia, is one of the most heavily administered spaces in Australia, yet it is at the same time one of the furthest points from any of our borders. The wall as filter manifests physically, on an alien landscape, the slat lake. Micronational refugees, Australians who wish to leave Australia, queue up under the gaze of governmental authority...
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Oasis in the Vertical City
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Micronation leaders as a filter
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Tony Abbot as the filter
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Australian refugees in Woomera
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Site
Lake Hart, South Australia
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S I T E
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Woomera District
S I T E
The district of Woomera is mostly consumed by the Woomera protected area, but the small town of Woomera, open to the public, is located around 20 km to the east. The Woomera protected area was created to facilitate the Woomera missile testing range in 1946, and while is had reduced in size since then it still covers approximately one seventh of the state of South Australia. The town ship of Woomera is located close the base of operations for the range, and in the sixties there were high hopes that the township was going to blossom into a thriving community off the back of the defense investments in the region. Schools, housing, infrastructure and even golf courses were built in Woomera anticipating the population to swell to 5000 people. However this was never achieved, and today the population languishes at 200. Located in a particularly desolate part of Australia, surrounded by a system of salt lakes and red desert, much over the land around Woomera had scraps of military machinery strewn across it. There is recent speculation that Woomera begin to grow again in the near future, with the possibility of mining operations to commence in select parts of the Woomera protected zone.
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Wo o m e r a Te s t Range
S I T E
The Woomera test range is operated by the Royal Australian Air Force for use of weapons trials and testing. The was established in 1946, in a joint program between the British and Australian governments. Covering 124000 km2, (thats about one and a half times the size of Scotland) the Woomera test range facilitates the testing of a variety of rockets, missiles, bombs, drones and other weaponry. Originally created in response to the German V1 and V2 rocket trials during the Second World War, the site also saw the detonation of 7 nuclear bombs, belonging to the British government, between 1955 and 1963. The bombs were detonated at the most isolated parts of the range, in an area named Maralinga. However, the Woomera launch site was base of operations for the detonations. Key developments in weapons technology, such as the Blue Steel nuclear stand off missile, have been developed at Woomera. The test range is still in operation today, and its position as the largest land based weapons range gives it a high degree of popularity. The range is leased to military representatives from other countries around the world. The frequency at which this occurs leads to more than 10 launches on average from the launch site each day.
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Lake Hart
S I T E
The Woomera rocket range stands overlooking Lake Hart, a relatively small slat lake for the region. There are no settlement around the perimeter, however there are remains of salt mines long abandoned. The Ghan railway and the Sturt highway, two tourist avenues, skirt the southernmost point of the lake for approximately 15 kilometers. This forms the border for the Woomera protected area in the south, where in the north it is defined by latitude. Being part of the Lake Eyre basin, the lake itself is subject to flooding. This can have the effect of redistributing salt sediment, which is around 500mm deep on average. The rocket launch site stands on top of the cliff overlooking the lake to the north. The entire lake is closed off to civilians because the range was used for short range tests, and there is a high probability of the presence of undetonated ordinance located just under the lake surface.
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F L O O D
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Flood
F L O O D
Part of the Eyre drainage basin, Lake Hart is subject to flooding throughout the year. Any amount of floodwater is quickly dissipates, but the sudden flow of water shifts around the sediment and salt of the lake floor. This results in the lake becoming a constantly changing, inconsistent geography, with subsequent flood events creating and destroying islands, creating lakes within lakes and redepositing slat throughout the space. Aerial photography reveals the extent of the shifts in the lake’s geography over the past decade. Countless flood events have radically altered the surface of the lake, but can have a more profound impact in some areas over others. The most common tributary to the lake is located in the north east corner, and it is here where the environment is most variable. However even here small islands can form that persist over several flood cycles. Flood waters typically engulf the northern half of the lake first, resulting in the distinction between a relatively stable southern part of the site and the variable northern half. This has been illustrated by mapping and overlying the salt depositions after each major flood event over the past 10 years.
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F L O O D
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F L O O D
Sediment movements over the period between 2004 and 2014. Intermittent flooding redistributes the salt sediment over time. This results in a varied distribution of water, mud and salt. The salt pans can reach a depth of around 500mm, depending on the consistency of the flooding in that area. The space is constantly changing visually, as well as geologically.
All images were obtained from the US geological survey.
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Design
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S Y S T E M
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System Diagrams
S Y S T E
The first step in the design process for this project was to tackle the political interactions across the site, and attempt to translate them spatially. The examples in the micronation atlas shows that there is a variety of motivations for removing oneself from Australia, but all constitute political statements in some form. So the project was always going to be designed in a political space. Antagonism is a key trait shown by many micronations, so the first iteration of the embassy was one for political antagonists. The choice of the site is itself antagonistic, but what of the programs and functions within the space? Taking a page from Erwin Strauss’ book How to Start Your Own Country, a condition of mutually assured disaster was established with the use of a nuclear reactor. Not only an antagonistic presence to the laws of the surrounding country, this also served as a kind of insurance against military intervention of the Australian government. Governmental agencies would have to closely monitor the activities inside the embassy, creating a platform for protest. A key part of this system is the ability to broadcast occurrence at the site to the internet, keeping the Australian government accountable.
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S Y S T E M
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S Y S T E M
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C O M P O S I T I O N
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Compositional Sketches
C O M P
Translating an abstract concept to a tangible space is not a simple task. To investigate the potential of architectural and compositional gestures for the embassy, a study of John Hejduk’s sketches and buildings led to a series of my own inspired sketches. Forms that have some relationship with ‘antagonism’. This may be a clear connection, with geometric forms being violated by other forms, or less straightforward, with subtle hints of an antagonist. This led to a further series of sketches using a square box as the starting point. The box represented a 1km2 designated site for the embassy in the middle of Lake Hart. Using some of the investigations of Hejduk’s work as a starting point, the compositions are an investigation and experimentation of the violation of a wall or boundary. Form this, interesting internal conditions arose as a result of the actions taken at the edge of the square.
O S I T I O N
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C O M P O S I T I O N
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C O M P O S I T I O N
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C O M P O S I T I O N
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C O M P O S I T I O N
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O C C U P A T I O N
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Site Occupation
O C C U P A
By combining the unique aspects of the site, such as the presence of undetonated ordinance, and some of the most fruitful compositional gestures discovered in the previous investigations, an initial proposal for occupation of the site was developed. By imagining the movement around a site with deadly explosives scattered around the space, a pattern of intersecting lines was drawn across the site. These were imagined as dredging trails, where the salt has been gathered and deposited into islands. These island could be high enough to ensure a consistent occupation of
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the site. The embassy is no longer restricted to 1 square km, it is now an archipelago occupation within a sea of ordinance.
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Particular axes are chosen to represent each of the 5 main ideologies of micronations: Antagonism, Reclusiveness, Entrepreneurial skill, Libertarianism and Utopian
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aspirations. These were positioned carefully so particular ideologies intersected, creating sites of interaction. This reflects the ideological hybridisation actually observed in many micronations.
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Antagonistic
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Philanthropic
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Reclusive
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T I O N
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O C C U P A T I O N
Undetonated Ordinance
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O C C U P A T I O N
Salt Dredging
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O C C U P A T I O N
Salt Islands
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O C C U P A
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T I O N
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Antagonistic
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Philanthropic
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Reclusive
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Civil Liberties
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Utopian
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Administrative
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Ideological Axes
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O C C U P A T I O N
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4 3
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Antagonistic/ Reclusive / Utopian
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Antagonisitc / Philanthropic
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Ideological Intersections
Utopian / Philanthropic
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Philanthropic / Reclusive
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Utopian / Civil Liberites
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O C C U P A T I O
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N
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Conference Hall
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Nuclear Power Plant
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Security Centre
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Reception Hall
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Border Crossing
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Administrative Facilities
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O C C U P A T I O N
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Te r r i t o r i a l i t y
O C C U P A
Instead of occupying defined axes, a more fluid type of territoriality was explored for the site. A system of interaction was developed for each of the ideologies, which were played out over each flood that occurred on the site. The result was a set of territories with constantly changing boundaries and interactions between ideologies. Antagonists would move the most distance between each flood, while Utopians would move the least. Recluses would move as far away from other ideologies as possible. Entrepreneurs tried to keep a minimum distance away from each other and Libertarians attempted to keep an equal distance away from each ideology, no matter how far that distance was. Each of these rules was based on the ideologies themselves; Antagonists initiating movement, Utopians building in one place, Entrepreneurs making money off other ideologies, Libertarians maintaining a fair unbiased relationship and Recluses desired to be on their own. This system produced the territory diagram, which was no precise enough to be itself a driver of design, but a useful exercise all the same. These territories represent the temporal development on occupation to the site. But there needed to be an architecture to anchor these territories.
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Early Architectural Designs
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D E S I G N
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Piers in the Desert
D E S I G
The first architectural proposition was referencing some of the earliest micronations investigated: Neft Daslari and the Republic of Minerva. The architectural language of each of these was re-appropriated in the middle of a salt lake in the Australian desert. The piers of Neft Daslari created a network of inhabitable platforms lifted above the salt. In the center of the network is a large island of salt, dredged from its surroundings, in the same way Minerva was formed. This island represented the ideological center, the true embassy. The piers and platforms surrounding it were a kind of inhabitable wall, a maze that had to be navigated before reaching the center embassy. To prevent people from walking directly up to the edge of the island, a large trench was dug to create a border. The wall in this case was a hole, while one had to enter the embassy from above. This was a good spatialising experiment, however it only really addressed some unique features of the two micronations in question. It was apparent that the political conditions within the embassy needed to be explored further.
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D E S I G
Perimeter Tower
Protest Stage
Comms Centre
N Residences
Surveillence Towers
Bank
Drone Hanger
Conference Centre
Administration Security Tower
Public Square Archive Building
Reception Centre
Cooling Tower #1
Containment Building Well
Transaction Current Inverter
Perimeter Tower Border Crossing
Cooling Tower #2
Perimeter Tower
Nuclear Power Plant
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The Square Kilometer
D E S I G
After picking the site, Lake Hart, South Australia, and determining the program of the embassy, the first attempt to spatialisation the political space was made in a 1 km 2 square on the lake, under the gaze of the missile launch facility. The 1 km2 site was chosen as a bureaucratic allotment of land in an homogeneous environment. In that, if the government were to sell parts of land in the middle of a salt lake, what shape and size would they be? Bureaucratic logic suggests a 1km2 square. A a first attempt at creating an architecture out of a political situation, this design did not bring about any particularly interesting developments. It did however, start to establish some interdependencies and connections between programs within the embassy. Conference centers next to protest stages could be potentially antagonistic, as could the presence of a nuclear reactor within sight of the main administration building. This design was another step in the development of a politically manifested architecture.
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Final Design
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T O W E R
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F i v e To w e r s
T O W E R
The final iteration of design was five different towers, one for each ideology. These towers stand as monuments to the beliefs of the people who removed themsleves from Australia. They act as beacons and anchors for people of the same ideological following to come from around Australia. Each achieves this in a way unique to the ideology. The reclusive tower is not a tower at all, rather a long hall suspended above a chasm. It would be counter productive for a reclusive tower to be visible from a long distance away, instead they prefer to stay close to ground. Ultimately, each tower is a product of it’s program, which is a product of its politics. The antagonistic tower, for example, provokes the government politically through the use of nuclear power, and the program unfolds as an open, vertical, suspended nuclear reactor. This is the approach for each of the towers. They are each architectural manifestations of political and programmatic context.
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Border Crossing
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B O R D E R
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Border Crossing
B O R D
The off shoot road leading from the Sturt highway leads you to a large car park, leaving you just short of a wall, three meters high and stretching as far as you can see. Ahead you can see a large building, and next to it, a relatively small opening next to a sign declaring ‘you are now leaving AUSTRALIA’. As one walks through the border, unhindered, unmolested, the brightness is almost overwhelming. Suddenly the entire landscape is while, where a monument earlier you were surrounded by a dirty orange. The patch leads you to a small square, an information booth and platforms for the monorail. Upon returning from your visit to the embassy, you are directed by walls and corridors into the large shed you saw earlier. You pass boom gates, wind around to find more corridors, get stamped, checked, photographed, questioned and searched as you pass through the Australian government’s border control policies. Finally, as you leave the processing room, you are greeted with a sister sign to the one you saw upon entry ‘welcome to AUSTRALIA”.
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Libertarian
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L I B E R T A R I A N
Executive Suites
Television Studio
Television Studio
Radio Station
Radio Station
Online Sales Center
Public Internet Access
Public Internet Access
Server Hosting
Server Hosting
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Conduit
The Libertarian tower is a conduit. It facilitates the exchange of information between the world and the embassy. However its main function is to serve as a platform for the free expression of opinions and ideas. This is done through internet, radio, television and visual media. The main building of the tower contains a variety of functions for individuals and groups to use in the embassy. The top floor hold executive suites for those who maintain a persistent presence in the media. Below this, we have two television studios. One can be rented out for special productions, event or occasions, while the other has five smaller stages dedicated to each of the five ideologies. Below the television stations are two levels of radio booths. These contain four studios in total which can be rented out by groups or individuals from the embassy. Beneath that is an online sales center, a place for entrepreneurs to photograph and post salvaged or crafted goods and post them to the online stores. Two levels of public internet access is also provided, above two more levels of hosting servers, which can be purchased to facilitate otherwise illicit online activities such as file sharing, pornography or piracy.
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L I B E R T A R I A N
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Transmitting Opinion
The top of the tower hold long range radio broadcasting antennae. They are at a height of approximately 200m, which extends their range out to the City of Adelaide on a good day. This is used through the hiring of radio booths in the main complex, for individuals from all ideological backgrounds to express their opinions to the public in Australia.
To reach a broader media, satellite dishes at a lower altitude connect to satellite internet. While this is the most effective means of communication available today, it access can be tampered with through the reliance of satellites, which are generally owned by large countries. Until the embassy can afford to launch its own satellite, the analogue radio and television broadcasting equipment serves as a necessary backup for the expression of opinion.
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Expressing Opinion
Encircling the main building at the base of the tower are three large video screens, that can be programmed to display information to the immediate area. This means the tower effectively allows the expression of opinion on three different scales; internationally (internet), locally (radio) and immediately (screens). The three methods are essential in case government organisations begin to tamper with these operations.
There are extra towers surrounding the main building that are space for the application of upgrades or modifications to the equipment. The requirements of future developments of technology are not known, and it is essential for the libertarians that occupy this tower to be prepared to ensure the massages coming from here are accessible as possible to people around the world.
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Antagonist
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A N T A G O N I S T
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Nuclear Power
The antagonistic tower is dominated by the spherical reactor casing suspended between two monolithic concrete structures. Water pipes, coolant tanks and waste removal cutes are suspended from this sphere, leading to a somewhat fragile images of an incredibly dangerous machine. Attached to one side of the tower is a uranium enrichment facility. Constituting of hundreds of enrichment rods, the enrichment facility can take local yellow cake uranium and create a reactor, or weapons grade product. The use of nuclear power is a physically and politically antagonistic act towards the government. Physically, as it acts a deterrent to military action through a concept of mutually assured disaster; where if artillery were to be fired on the embassy, the danger of a nuclear meltdown the magnitude of Chernobyl would be high. This tower stands in defiance to the Woomera missile launch site, towering over the lake on the cliffs to the north. While Australia may have a military, the embassy has nuclear capabilities.
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A N T A G O N I S T
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(EST ) Embassy Standard Time
The enriched nuclear material is also used to power the embassy clock, which is set to Embassy standard time, which incidentally is 17 minutes ahead of the south Australian time zone. The unconventional difference serves as no nuisance to the everyday occupant of the embassy, but a subtly antagonistic act to all those from outside them embassy that have any dealings. At the base of the tower, beneath the suspended nuclear reactor is an open space set aside for protests. There is a booth with television cameras ready to transfer the images to the entrepreneurial tower for distribution across various media. This space is not just for hardline antagonist protesters, for all protest is an act of antagonism. So groups or individuals from all across them embassy are welcome to protest in this space. Images of a protest with a nuclear reactor suspend above your heads also tend to weave a sense of strength into the message.
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Entrepreneur
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Steel Far mers Market
The entrepreneurial tower is a monument to the opportunistic ability to make money. To capitalise on opportunities afforded to you by your situation. The main central structure is a metal recycling plant, where scrap salvages from the numerous missile launches and weapons tests are recycled and resold for a profit. Around the base of the tower there are smaller entrepreneurial projects taking hold. A small market place sells all manner of goods salvaged from the scrap piles, or crafted items made in the small workshop adjacent to the market. Marketplace stalls are just set up on the salt flats, and will be washed away as the first sign of flooding. While some of these items are sold on location, some are also taken to the libertarian tower where they will be posed online. Other facilities, such as the steel distribution plant and a car showroom, filled with vehicles pieced together with salvaged parts, are more solidly attached to the main structure and may survive a moderate flood.
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Recycling Plant
The steel recycling plant itself is constantly operating, with trucks bringing salvaged scrap from a variety of locations through the marketplace, beneath the tower and dumped towards the back. Any scrap that can be immediately recycled is placed into a vertical conveyor, taking it to the very top of the tower. Here it is sorted, treated, cleaned, primed and melted in a furnace around the mid point of the tower. At this point the molten metal is transfered to large buckets known as ladles, and deposited into the grid of continuous casting equipment at the base of the tower. The produce is collected and deposited at the new steel distribution facility. While the amount of scrap collected just from weapons tests may fall short over time, as the embassy itself grows, it will begins to produce more scrap metal. The industry will become more inward looking, and ultimately move towards a self sustaining process.
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Utopian
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U T O P I A
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Unique Utopias
Utopia is unique to each person - one man’s utopia is another mans dystopia. Almost all micronations are seeking some kind of Utopian vision, some more than others. But even amongst the hardcore Utopian driven micronations, the designed utopias look very different. So the Utopian tower of the embassy is really not much more than a temporary space. It is available for rent for people to enact their own version of utopia for a limited amount of time. This might mean a massive music festival for a week, or it might mean complete isolation from other humans for a month. This tower is designed to accommodate all utopias, just not at the same time. The uppermost platform is the occupyable space. As depicted, there is currently a festival similar to Burning Man occurring. At the base of the tower, next to the monorail station are helicopter and hot air balloon tours, both facilitating a birds eye view of the temporary utopia you (or you and your friends) have built. To access the top level, you need to walk into the middle of the structure, where a windowless lift will take you straight to the top.
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U T O P I A
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What Lies Beneath
Directly beneath the main arena are the mechanical infrastructure that facilitates your basic wants and needs while you hire the space above. Food storage, fuel and power supplies, water, hot and cold pumped directly to your creations. This all come free of charge with your rental of the grand space. This tower plays between the expectations and the realities of utopian visions. It is all well and good to have ambitious visions of a perfect world, but it is going to cost a lot, and require a great deal of support to make most of those visions work. This tower provides this, but at a cost. So while it is the Utopian tower of the embassy, it also has a certain attraction to entrepreneurs as well, that may see profits in periphery activities such as helicopter tours or balloon rides.
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Recluse
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R E C L U S I V E
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Literary Labyrinth
R E C L U
The final tower, most far removed from Australia, is the reclusive tower. Instead of protruding upward into the sky, becoming a kind of beacon, the reclusive tower approaches the typology differently. A long vertical hall, suspended over a 100m deep pit reservoir for flood water. This tower contains a library, documenting all the past attempts and histories of micronations lost, as the interests that are inherent to their ideologies. The library is differentiated into five sections, with the reclusive section located right at the back, furthest from the entrance. The shelves are not organized or spatialised to any sort of logic, resulting in a kind of maze to navigate through. First, the libertarian section, holding a variety of law books and histories of past micronations. Next, the antagonistic section with a variety of crime novels, pornographic movies and hidden computer terminals for internet access. Towards the center of the hall is the entrepreneurial section, where all patents from items invented from the scrap salvaged are filed, as well as self help and get rich quick books. The Utopian section follows, with an extensive collection of science fiction. Finally, the reclusive section, the most inaccessible space in the entire embassy. A large selection of fantasy books are kept here, and in the very back corner, a single chair for you to enjoy them.
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R E C L U S I V E
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Isolated Entrance
R E C L U
The hall is suspended over the void using large concrete beams, secured to a structure secured either side of the chasm. The only entrance to the library is from below, after descending the long staircase partway into the chasm. Soon one reaches the downward extrusion containing an upward staircase that will allow you admittance into the library. As a result of this large chasm, when the lake is flooded, water cascades down the stairwell and across the entrance, making it unusable. The forces of nature ultimately determine how cut off this library is from the rest of the world. It is possible for an unprecedented flood to fill the chasm and seal all the occupants into the library with no way out. This would require a flood three time the size of the largest recorded, yet the possibility still looms.
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S I T E
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Final Site Plan
S I T E
Tourism is a key feature of most micronations, and it is through the eyes of a tourist that the experience of the site is defined. One controlled border crossing in both the entrance and exit to the site. The monorail moves in a straight line to each of the 5 ideological towers that make up the embassy. As you travel on the monorail, the further you move from the border, the deeper you move away from Australia ideologically; politically. The Libertarian tower is first, as it effectively serve as the link between the embassy and Australian society. Next the Antagonistic tower. While they may take a contrary position to those in Australia, they are still fundamentally interacting with the outside world. Third, entrepreneurial. There is still an element of interaction with the outside world here, but the occupants are starting to remove themselves further. Entrepreneurs will seek out success, whether or not that requires them to interact with the outside world is somewhat irrelevant. Fourth are the Utopians. Removing themselves from society to create their own ideal world, these temporary utopias that take place here are fundamentally removed from Australia. Finally, the Reclusive tower lies at the end of the line. Here the whole intention of the individual is the isolation of self from country. So they occupy the ultimate position of ideological separation.
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Reclusive
Utopian
Entrepreneurial
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Woomera Missile Launch Facility
Antagonistic
Libertarian
To Sturt Highway
Border Crossing
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