The Portable Museum KIt @ in action

SOUVENIRS DE VOYAGE : ROME 2004 The Portable Museum Kit © in action

Daniele Mancini

© interaction design institute ivrea 27 may 2004

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SOUVENIRS DE VOYAGE: ROME 2004 The Portable Museum Kit © in action

Thesis Committee Daniele Mancini Interaction Design Institute Ivrea 30 May 2004

Stefano Mirti Associate Professor Primary advisor

Britta Boland Associate Professor, Art Director Secondary advisor

Gillian Crampton Smith Director

Andrew Davidson Chair of the Academic Programme

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A C K N OWL EDG EM EN T S

Thanks to Davide, Hernando, Dario, Gaurav, Mathias, Tal, Karmen, Eyal, Ivar, Belmer, Valentina, Giorgio, Søren, Aparna, Tarun, Michal, Luther, Peggy, Helma, Steven,Jennifer,Giovanni, Andreea, Benjamin, Bernd, Dessislava, Erez, Ruth, Maya, Ethan, Patray, Myriel, Öznur, Christian, Noel, Simone, Matty, Anurag, Thomas, Akemi, Haraldur, Nathan, Simona, Mario, Line, Rajesh, Shyama, Ryan,Francis Dianna, Chris, Deepak, Sergio, Jan, Francesca, Rikako, Oscar, Natasha, Livia Jason, Magnus.

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AB ST R AC T The Portable Museum Kit ® is an inflatable interactive system for collecting, documenting and presenting in an exhibition the experience of travel through particularly meaningful objects.

The kit is a set of instruments packed in a custom designed white travel bag.

Radio Frequency Identification tags (RFID tags) allow each object to store and release upon demand selected visual or acoustic memories.

“Souvenirs de Voyage: ROME 2004” is an exhibition of 20 souvenirs documenting a 15 days exploration in Roma, through the Portable Museum Kit ®

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CONTENT

1. CHAPTER ZERO 8. thesis structure 9. overview

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2. THE PORTABLE MUSEUM KIT ®

3. INFLATEGOS

4. HORIZON OF SENSES

5.

WHAT TO SAY AT THE END

18. concept

62. the simbolic house

84. work in progress

105. technology

24. museum bag

68. plato’s cave

86. areolandia

30. museum kit ®

70. trento proposal

90. radical insights into the utopia

34. RFID_TAG_SYS®

72. nuit blanche 2003 paris

94. everyday life and critical design

40. INFLATEGO_KIT®

74. europan 7

99. easy pieces: what I like mostly

56. exploring IDII 52. souvenir de voyage: rome 2004

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1.CHAPTER ZERO

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T H E SI S ST R U C T U R ES This thesis report is structured around three main chapters: the Portable Museum Kit, where I document the final steps of my thesis process; the Inflategos, where numbers of early projects are detailed described; the Horizon of Senses where I take care to present through commented books, pieces of art, movies, projects and architectures, the universe of conceptual and visual references, I’ve been watching at during the thesis preparation. Also, this last chapter should clarify the implicit issues and motivations that moved my interest towards the travel as moment of growing (the souvenirs de voyage); the selection as tool to built an identity (the kit); the narration as moment of necessary communication ad seduction (the kitsch collection)

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O VE RVIE W The thesis experience goes from September 2003 to June 2004.

of the dirty but live material that tells the story of my thesis is stored there.

Nevertheless I’ve included some relevant projects completed before the

As usual the thesis process is not

official beginning of the second year.

linear: do a project, do it again, do

Among them the most important is the

mistakes, change a little bit, refine

entry for the Europan 7 competition

details, change directions, go back to

about an innovative dwelling unit.

the previous decisions, do again and

I participated a team of six people:

again etc. It’s not my intention to

Stefano Mirti, Walter Aprile, Eyal Fried,

report these facts here. The Wiki does

Dario Buzzini, Line Ulrika Christiansee

it in an excellent way ! I’d rather prefer

e Karmen Franinovic. Togheter we

to give a unified picture of the whole

built up the first prototype of an

process through a dry and schematic

inflatable cylindrical structure called

presentation of my design experiences.

CICCIO (Curiously Inflatable Controlled Interactive Object). This object has

Since the beginning, the design

been used as platform to develop many

strategy of my thesis has been based

interactive installations and projects,

on an episodic approach BUT NOT

included some of my thesis explorations

methodological. Stratification and accumulation of meanings and critical

By a methodological point of view, all

points of views emerge. Sometimes, the

the activities of documentation and

explorative nature of my experiments

formalization (description, evaluation,

makes them closer to the field of art

critic) of the projects, has been done

than to any other orthodox and rigorous

along the year on the Inflatego Wiki, an

design process. Anyway, a “sustainable”

on-line collaborative Content Manager

vision of the problem (reducing the set

System set up and managed by Walter

of rules to get the biggest benefit in the

Aprile to support the students work. In

case of the Portable Museum Kit) and a

that context the thesis has growth. Most

subversive/critical point of view about

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the everyday life environment (the

The Souvenir de Voyage: ROME 2004

kitsch in the Roman Souvenirs) short the

is the conclusive experiments, where

distances.

fragments of a journey memory turn out to be stored behind the astonishing

Projects here are presented in inverse

beauty of the ugliest and kitsch-est

order: first the latest, then the earliest

souvenirs of Roma.

in order to go back to the seminal ideas and verify the assumptions or the incoherence.

Three are the main constant concepts that come along all the thesis process: the idea of traveling as moment of knowing and awareness; the approach to objects as condensers of memories and relationships; the faith in the soustainable discipline of do-it-yourself (let’s find the resources around us).

The Symbolic House, released as interactive installation at the end of the winter term in december 2004, explored the main issue of memory and space.

The Exploring IDII project explored the idea of a transportable technology.

The Portable Museum Kit is a big and concise synthesis.

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2 . T H E P O R TA B L E M U S E U M K I T 速

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C ON C EPT Imagine you’re an explorer or a

WHAT: The Portable Museum’s Kit ® is

findings and the proper contents; for

traveler. You are planning a new

packed up into the foldable, modular

the final exhibition, the explorer set up

journey. In order to watch, to study,

and flexible white Museum Bag ®

an installation where selected findings

to analyze, to describe, to document

PortableMuseumBag. The Kit is made

are displayed. On the other side there

and to communicate all the findings

up of: the Inflat Ego Kit® InflatEgoKit,

is the visitors’ experience: during the

that trigger your curiosity or your

providing an inflatable surface to be

exhibition, they are asked to pick up

scientific interests, you need the most

used either as Base Camp BaseCamp

findings (objects, Polaroid like pictures,

appropriate tools and “sensors”. And

or as display surface; the RFID Tags Sys

labels) and watch/hear the multimedia

of course you need adequate space

Kit® providing a radio frequency system

contents, triggered by the tags read by

either to set up locally your tools,

based on small tags; a 12 inches laptop;

an antenna.

metaphorically a Base Camp, or to

a digital camera and a video camera

display an exhibition at the end of your

for video shooting; the Explorer Sack®

VALUE: This open-ended system can

mission. Objects of your exploration

to collect findings; power suppliers;

be used for many different purposes:

could be many different: you could be

rechargeable batteries; The Portable

to carry out a user testing research;

interested either in human artifacts

Museum’s OS® on Cd-Rom; a Do-It-

to track a traveling experience;

as condensers of relationships and

Yourself Handbook®; and numbers of

to document a material culture

memory; or you could be fascinated by

usefull tools.

environment (tangible collection);

the ephemeral beauty of the natural

to make more playful a teaching

environment; or you might need

HOW: On one side there is the traveler’s

experience; to support the usual

simply to collect sounds; or to record

experience: findings of the daily

museum activities.

interviews. What kind of “probes” will

exploration are documented through

you need in all the situations? How are

pictures and videos (or audio tracks),

you going to catch, gather, to collect,

shot moment by moment on the sites

to archive both the transient and the

visited; an RFID Tag is attached to each

tangible reality? How then you can

finding; a database associates tags,

display all this in a very suggestive way?

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01_

This is the Portable Museum ‘s Bag ® a custom designed white travel bag where all the kit is packed in

02_

This is the Portable Museum KIT ® , a set of tools to document and to present in an exhibition the experience of travel

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03_

This is the The RFID Tag Sys KIT 速 to store and release upon demand selected visual or acoustic memories

04_

Traveller Experience: this is the Inflatable Base Camp 速 where the traveller documents specimens found time by time

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05_

The Traveller Experience : Inflatego Explorations 速 are based on documentation through video camera and digital camera

06_

The User / Visitor Experience: the Portable Exhibition 速 allow to display quickly the findings, and set an interactive exhibition

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07_

The User / Visitor Experience: video and audio content can be display through the RFID Tags technology

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T H E MU SEU M B AG

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01_

This is the Portable Museum ‘s Bag ® a custom designed white travel bag where all the kit is packed in

02_

It provides two detachable parts, to be carryed separately

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03_

The Inflatego Traveller can use the Bag in many different ways thanks to the ergonomic dimensions

04_

The Bag is modular and flexible and can be used as a very light sac

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05_

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07_

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M U SEU M KIT

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01_

This is the Inflatego Kit ® . It provides the tools to build up different light inflatable structures in polyethilene

02_

This subset is composed by a 12’’ laptop, a digital camera and a stero video camera

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03_

This package provides power, storage, communication and the RFID technology

04_

This package contains essentially paper based tools

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05_

This is the Explorer_Sack 速 that allows the Inflatego Traveller to gather all the findings along the exploration

06_

This transparent slice of the Bag, contains the RFID Tags

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R F ID_TAG _SY S速

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01_

The Inflatego Traveller, go out for his explorations and document the findings in the most appropriate way

02_

The Inflatego Traveller goes back to the Base Camp 速 with all the findings in the Explorer_Sack 速

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03_

Using the RFID Tag Sys KIT 速 and other tools, the Inlfatego Traveller go throught the database process

04_

A database associates tags, findings and the proper contents

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05_

During the exhibition visitors are asked to pick up findings (objects, labels)

06_

Visitors put the tag on the RFID antenna and trigger the content associated

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07_

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I N FL AT EG O_K IT 速

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00_

The Bag is modular and flexible and can be used as a very light sac

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01_

The 33 x 22 x 29 cm portable case contains the whole Inflatego Kit 速 (The fan and all rest to blow inflatable structures)

02_

The Inflatego Traveller finds a place, opens the case, take all the Inflatego Kit 速 out, and starts with the fan

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03_

The Inflatego Traveller unfolds the transparent surface already prepared

04_

The Traveller fixes the fan to the surface throught the extension and the two white clips

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05_

He switches on the fan, checks the surface inflating slowly, makes some adjustements

06_

He keeps the fan on, brings up the surface, curves it just to make it stable

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07_

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E X PL OR IN G IDII

The technological core of the second year students’ thesis projects

This is the first experiments where

“the soul” of his own project . I also

the RFID Tags system has been tested.

ask an object, and artifact, hopefully

On porpuse I wrote some routines in

a technological one, which at the best

ACHIEVEMENTS: This experience proves

python, embedded into the core code

represents the core of the project. I

that the RFID System (hardware +

written by Walter Aprile and Massimo

shoot a 30’’ video to document the short

software) I’ve conceived, works in a

Banzi, to make possible the system

talk. Then, I prepare the exhibition

very robust and easy way: I was able

working according to my needs.There

packaging the “findings” gathered, into

in fact to set up the whole exhibition

was also at this stage,the seminal

trasparent balls. Each ball is provided

in less than 45 minutes, which is an

idea of the Portable Museum Kit. This

with an RFID Labels. A database

important achievement.

explorantion has been presented in

associates the tags, the spheres and

January as end of the term presentation

the proper content. Visitors of the

ATTEMPTS: About the installation in

at IDII

exhibition are asked to trigger the

itself, it was an attempt to put togheter

content of each sphere/object, reading

the many aspects of the my thesis:

Second year students exhibit their

the tagged label on the RFID antenna

the idea of portability and lighness of

installations for the Public Thesis Review

set up on purpose.

the system, the idea of traveling and

on 25 05 2004 . It is also an Open Day

aspect of the thesis projects.

documenting the environment, the idea

where public is coming from outside .

TOPIC: The focus/topic of this

of collecting data and display an amount

I ask each student to tell me which is

exploration was on the technological

of information in a soustainable way.

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The “findings” of the exploration are packed into a transparent bubble . To each bubble is attached a folded descriptive label . Embedded to the Label there’s an RFID Tag

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AUTHORS : Aparna Rao and Mathias Dahlström

AUTHORS : Giorgio Olivero & Peggy Thoeni

AUTHORS : Dario Buzzini

FINDINGS : Lettera 22 Typewriter keys

FINDINGS : A miniaturized videocamera

FINDINGS : Piece of termosensible Fabric

PROJECT TITLE : 22 Pop

PROJECT TITLE : Teleportation

PROJECT TITLE : Not-So-White Walls

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AUTHORS : Luther Thie

AUTHORS : Gaurav Chadha

AUTHORS : Michal Rinott

AUTHORS : Davide Agnelli,Tal Drori, Dario Buzzini

FINDINGS : A silicon made thumb

FINDINGS : An accelerometer

FINDINGS : A small joystick

PROJECT TITLE : Superthumb

PROJECT TITLE : Gestures in Mobile Communication

PROJECT TITLE : Audio-Tactile

FINDINGS : Device reacting to the electromagnetic field produced by a mobile receiving a call PROJECT TITLE : Fashion Victims

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S ou v en i r s d e Voy a ge: R om a Imagine you’re a tourist. You come The kith, the ugly, the common, the quotidian, the trash, the usual, the banal

What do the turist buy mostly ? Where

At the end of the exploration, my

to Roma. You spend few days. You

do they buy ? Who sell the souvenis ?

collection of souvenirs was made of

go sightseeing around hundreeds of

Who produce them ? Who distribute

about 20 pieces. Each of them with its

churches, monuments, archeological

them ? How do they do those bad

own fragments of memory.

sites then, the last day, you run and buy

copies of Michelangelo ? Why don’t

souvenirs for you or your relatives and

they do better? How many levels

Then I decided to prepare an exhibition

friends. It could be you find someting

of verisimilitude ? How big is this

called Souvenir de Voyage: ROME 2004

very special because of an unespected

market ? Why tourist buy this instead

and nice situation. Then, you go back,

of something else nicer ? What do

In this exhibition ther will be objects,

you have a lot of tickets, invoices,

they want ? Which i sthe relationships

their description and evokative material

pockets and postacards. When you

between this world and the world of

in the shape of sounds or Audio.

invite your friend for a dinner, just after

design ?

your small holiday, you show them your souvenirs, what you have bought and

Going around I discovered that Roma

The exhibition will be set up inside

you start evoking the memory hidden

has, according to the cliche’, four souls:

a CICCIO provided with an RFID Tags

into these objects speaking, with

Roma spiritual, Roma profane, Rome of

system, a projector and an audio system

rethoric formulas. And you guests will

dialect, Rome of art and museum.

imagine the situation.

Visitor of the exhibition will be asked to Each one, produces different typology

explore the fragments of memory inside

Fragments of memory are often hidden

of souvenirs sold to different typology of

each object

behinde the ugliest souvenir or the most

visitors with different expectations

common and quotidian objects.

Then I uderstood that souvenirs are not bought because of a mechanism of I decided to use the Portable Museum

seduction as many other products.

Kit for 20 days, pretending to be a tourist going around observing other

And also souvenirs are given most of the

tourists, sometimes doing interviews,

time to friends and seldom are bought

buying souvenir and shooting videos.

to remind the visit to a place.

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The “findings” of the exploration are packed into a transparent bubble . To each bubble is attached a folded descriptive label . Embedded to the Label there’s an RFID Tag

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To this souvenir has been associated the

Again another link to a Movie: the last

Fontana di Trevi. You express your

“Morto un papa se ne fa un altro” .

famous sequence of La Dolce Vita. Anita

sequence of Roma Citta’ Aperta by

desire. You launch a coin into the

From a romanesque dialect a way of

Ekberg jump into the fountain and call

Rossellino. The priest is killed. Kids go

fountain. You’ll never say to nobody this

saying interpreted by Alberto Sordi

Marcello to follow her.

back home sad, the director make us

secret desire ..

rememebre the responsibilities of the vatican during the II world war

LA DOLCE VITA Fontana di Trevi, May 17th 2004

RESPONSIBILITIES San Pietro May 18th 2004

PEOPLE DESIRE Fontana di Trevi, May 19th 2004

WAY OF SAYING San Giovanni, May 20th 2004

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Rita works in one of the biggest

Luigi has a small foldable desk to sell

Is it true that at the Vatican Museum

souvenirs shop in Roma. She explained

on the street souvenirs. He shows me

the quality of the souvenir is higher ?

me everything about what turist buy,

how to sell and gives me important

Does the object have the same price

why and who produces this souvenirs in

information about the souvenir market

comparing to other places in Roma ?

Italy

in Roma

RITA’s KNOLEDGE Santa Maria Maggiore, May 16th 2004

LUIGI’s KNOWLEDGE Piazza di Spagna, May 18th 2004

HIG LEVEL Vatican Museum, May 20th 2004

A short intervie to two american tourist

AMERICAN TOURSIT Campidoglio, May 22th 2004

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Gladiators on the feeth of Colosseo ...

How many times a monument, a statue,

Link to a movie. It is called Il Marchese

Totti and soccer ! Lando Fiorini sings the

a church, is shooted ?

Del Grillo. A priest is killed on the

offical Roma football team song

guillotine and loose ... his head !

GLADIATORS Colosseo, May 17th 2004

TAKING PICTURES Roma, May 2004

MIND YOUR HEAD !

Fori Imperiali, May 23th 2004

TOTTIGOL Via del Corso, May 18th 2004

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Two people, a man and a woman sell

How do you compare the real with the

How do you compare the real with the

A short interview to zia Evelina. She

paintings. They are false. They cheat.

false ? Which grade of similitude ? A

false ? Which grade of similitude ? A

explains how to use a rosary.

Double cheat. Double kitsch !

moralist judgment ..

moralist judgment ...

TOTALLY FALSE Piazza Risorgimento, May 20th 2004

PIETA’...

San Pietro, May 22th 2004

ALMOST THE SAME Cappella Sistina, May 20th 2004

INSTRUCTION Zia Evelina, May 28th 2004

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A short video presentation of the

Free analogies ...

installation in 12 postcards sent from

Almost all the souvenir the Roma. The

Switch a candle in church and you’ll

best of the best in a two minutes video

have your soul save

PHENOMENOLOGY Roma, May 29th 2004

SAVE MY SOUL Roma 2004

the Vatican Museum

THESIS IN 12 POSTCARDS Vatican Museum, May 24th 2004

PROSTITUTES Roma, May 27th 2004

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Pasquino is an antique marble statue

Colosseo by night

Bells

COLOSSEO Colosseo, May 29th 2004

MADONNA Roma 2004

where traditionally small sheets of paper are attached on. They are anonymous comments often related to italian politic situation ...

PASQUINO Historical Center, May 25th 2004

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3 . I N F L AT E G O S

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T H E SY MB OL IC HOU SE

CICCIO Symbolic House : Reducing the

DESCRIPTION: Symbolic House is an

language, Augmenting the reality

exploration in using the Ciccio as a

(Daniele Mancini, Luther Thie)

platform for interactive reactive sound and video space, authenticity issues

It’s an installation presented as first

related to mental projections of the

term thesis project (11th December

self onto the other, the everyday home

2003), called “It Sounds Strangely

objects invested with memory that

Familiar” . The concept of memory

evoke emotions associated with our use

embedded into an object, and the

of domestic space. The user enters,

interactive strategies to evoke its

triggers and adjusts a series of sounds

memory, has been the main constant of

associated with the home environment.

the next explorations.

Some of the interactions of the objects use variable feedback to slow down the sounds to zero and accelerate to normal speed. Other objects are simple switches and pressure sensors.

The ambient sound of bells slowed to 10% gives an ominous and impending doom to the capsule-like white glow of the interior. The video is triggered by opening the window and reveals an aerial view of a large urban city that slowly falls away into the distance as if the space is leaving Earth.

KEYWORDS: Reactive space, sound installation, domestic objects and situations, the other, authenticity, the strangely familiar

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CONCEPT: Idealized domestic space

not a design brief and never a clearly

the final installation incorporates the

becomes strangely familiar through

defined meaning, although we did agree

fallen, broken sink and disrepair of

the evocation of memories associated

on the strangely familiar as a common

the house: there is always a gap in the

with domestic situations such as

theme and goal to turn an everyday

system of the symbolic where the realm

being reminded to take out the trash,

domestic situation into a David Lynch-

of the unexpected haunts the defining

updating one’s bank account, washing

like terror of the strangely familiar.

language. The punctuated scream,

one’s face, reading a book, eating, and

In this context, the final result is an

aspetta (wait) shows our desire to pull

relieving one’s self. But the relentless

interesting success in its illustration

back from the inclusion in the symbolic,

monotony of these activities are broken

of several ideas I have been wrestling

our terror in the face of being sucked

by sound exclamations that open us

with that Slavoj Zizek writes about. We

into language, diced by the coding

to the real experience of shattered

sort of backed into the Zizek theory

process.

dreams, unsettling memories and no

(following Lacan) of fantasy masking

traces of comfort.

the inconsistency of the Big Other. The body enters the space and is castrated

EQUIPMENT: Two Channel Audio, one

by the inclusion in signification. As

Channel video installation triggered

we are pulled into the symbolic, we

by sensors controlled by MAX/MSP/

lose our bodily selves. The process

Jitter through the Making Things

of signification into the symbolic, in

microcontroller. 4 incandescent lights,

Zizek terms, creates an enjoyment

4 potentiometers embedded in objects,

vacuum, and this is why, for the viewer,

simple touch and pressure sensors

the piece falls flat in its interactive nature, although as a symbolic house it

FURTHER THOUGHTS

is actually perfect. We do not want to enter a symbolic house that sucks out

This project is an exploration in the

our enjoyment and leaves us castrated

design process coming from two

(powerless) and submissive in the

different directions: one from art,

language of the Big Other. Therefore,

the other from architecture, with not

this work illustrates the process of

completely successful results. There was

symbolic conversion to the point where

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PL ATO’S C AVE

It is a project devloped in december

these objects and spaces. The sounds

2004 as proposal for the Salone del

and projections will span the entire

Mobile IDII event togheter with Luther

length of the Ciccio on opposite sides,

Thie

allowing the projections to scale and travel in time and space. A continuous

Using the Ciccio as a domestic

encirclement (video and sound loops)

environment, the user will enter the

of the Ciccio interior will be possible by

darkened space and interact with 7

using 2 projectors and 2 speakers. One

objects and 3 living zones that pertain

projector is first triggered, a scene is

to everyday living. Moving the objects

played to one end of Ciccio, then the

within the zones triggers shadows

other projector is triggered and the

projected onto the 2 long sides of the

video plays from that end of Ciccio back

Ciccio, as well as associated sounds,

to the beginning of the loop. Spatial

symbolizing concepts associated with

sound is achieved by using 2 stereo

speakers and panning from one end to the other.

KEYWORDS: Everyday Living, Domesticity, Intimacy, Staging of the Self, Authenticity, Mediation, Communication, Translation, Telepresence, Memory, Preconception, Shadows CONCEPT: The authenticity of human communication is open to multiple interpretations especially if it is technologically mediated. We are

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exploring interactions between people, objects, and space and the mental silhouettes associated with these interactions. Shadows are used as the symbolic JALLanguagethat? makes (and distorts) meaning.

We are using the allegory of Plato’s cave

questioned by conjuring the notion that we can never communicate the real--our communication is always representative shadow-play that is open to multiple readings. The Ciccio serves as the membrane of mediation that translates the real into signification. Shadowplay = appearance = masked reality.

because of the shape and conceptual framework of the questioning of the real where the shadows and sounds represent the mental constructs associated with things--in this case, everyday living. Authenticity is

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T R E NTO IN STAL L AT ION

It is a proposal for an installation to be

Two are the main parts of the

be either switched on or off. The man

set up for the Galleria Civica di Arte

installation: an inflatable capsule (5m

who lives inside a bubble, can hear the

Contemporanea di Trento in december

long, 2.5m diameter), where an actor

visitors in the remote locations, through

2004. The project, called *CICCIO goes

(one of the author) will act a one day

loudspeakers. In one or more remote

to Trento : a 24h interactive living

performance, and one or more remote

locations, ideally some hotel rooms,

machine” wasm’t built up. (Daniele

locations, visually separated from the

visitors will be allowed to interact

Mancini and Luther Thies)

capsule, where visitors can interact with

with man who lives inside a bubble, by

the man who lives inside a bubble .

using a normal telephone. Screen will show prerecorded videoclips exploring

The skin opaque and impenetrable of an

basic human needs in the everyday life:

inflatable capsule is provided with holes

feeding, resting, evacuating, socializing,

whom visitors watch through. The result

communicating, well being activities,

is a blu neon like bubble (ipotetically

intellectual activities. In particular, the

it will be installed in the hotel lobby).

vidoclips are supposed to belong to the

A soft polyuretanic foam made carpet,

specifi memory of the man who lives

is the stage of the man who lives inside

inside a bubble.

a bubble. This surface is provided with some touch sensors. Some elio

KEYWORDS: Everyday Living,

inflated balloons fill the ceiling. Few

Domesticity, Intimacy, Staging of

Lights hanging from the ballons, can

the Self, Authenticity, Mediation,

P O RTA B LE M U S E U M KIT ® 70

Communication, Translation,

to his past memory as a reference point

understanding of any idea. The Ciccio

Hotel Lobby:

Telepresence, Memory, Preconception

for the communication of his ideas. It is

space is divided into seven living areas:

- 1 Ciccio (inflated membrane 5m long, 2.5m

these past memories and preconceptions

feeding, resting, intellectual activities,

diameter, blue Wood light, 21 sensors)

CONCEPTS: Ciccio represents the

that get in the way of his creative

evacuating, socializing, communicating,

- 1 ciccio subject performing inside the ciccio

mind of the subject who grapples with

breakthrough. He attempts to go

well being activities. There are two

- 2 loudspeakers located in the ciccio

the problems of everyday living and

beyond the past, yet is always bound

audience situations. One is around the

- 1 phone with multiple lines, whose audio is

attempts to communicate through

by it. He is an electronic reader of a

Ciccio in the lobby. The other is in the

connected to the speakers

mediated systems. The subject/actor

computer hard disk with a conscious-

hotel room(s). The lobby audience can

communicates through a set of 21

-a machine with human qualities. The

see the live actor in the Ciccio and

Hotel Room(s) - Each room is outfitted with:

prerecorded actions. These prerecorded

audience experiences this humanized

hear the questions asked by the hotel

- 1 television monitor

actions represent his ideas and are

machine from a distance determined by

room audience. Therefore, to get the

- 1 phone to call the ciccio

conveyed to a live audience that views

technological mediation--an experience

full picture/message of this work, the

and addresses the subject/actor from

of the design mind filtered through

audience must go to both locations,

Other equipment:

a remote location--a hotel room.

technology. The separation of the two

travel a distance to connect the ideas.

- 1 Computer (actor input, audio/video ouput)

The prerecorded actions (or memes)

viewing areas that each display only

symbolize the subject’s preconceptions

a part of the whole picture further

EQUIPMENT: This interactive installation

that center around the design problems

exemplifies how our understanding of

is located inside the hotel in 2 or more

of everyday living. The fact that the

ideas is always connected to a memory

locations (the hotel lobby and hotel

subject speaks through a history/

and past experience that affects the

room(s). The setup includes:

memory illustrates his necessary referral

present, is indeed necessary for our

- 1 network connecting computer output to 1 channel of the hotel television system

P O RTA B LE M U S E U M KIT ÂŽ 71

NU I T B L AN C HE 2003

This project, a pure Urban Capsule

House Future Present. Presented in

behind a shop window concerning the

the departement store window of

relationships between the private space

printemps, paris for the Nuit Blanche,

in public place, has been developed

2003. This project was concieved to last

with Brendan Macfarlane and Dominique

just 24 hours. It is imagined as a living-

Jakob, principals of the office where

working space sometime in the present

I spent my summer internship in Paris

or future. Using digital technology from

2003.

conception through to fabrication.

We can imagine a space that is connected and ultimately fabricated By each inhabitant at their own whim.

For example as the lady sleeps she dreams, her ideas are translated numerically from images into fabricated form; we see in the LCD screen above her head, the material of her present space being cut and prepared. In this future present we are each our own creater and realisator. Ideas thoughts are maybe more direct, less transformed, more personal and richer?

Dominique Jakob e Brendan MacFarlane with Daniele Mancini

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P O RTA B LE M U S E U M KIT 速 73

EU R OPAN 7

This project is the submission entry

The Story: In terms of conceptual

They are equally important. I don’t

for a competition in June 2003 about

approach to the competition we have

think results and idealism are really

an innovative and radical living

to refer to our beloved Dutch guru,

opposite. They turn out not to be. I’ve

environment for the future

Johan Cruyff. In his seminal book:

said that from start. I am a bit strange.

“Ajax, Barcelona, Cruyff. The Abc

An idealistic professional, that’s how

of an obstinate maestro”, he was

you have to see it”. This is our point.

ableto frame the main conceptual

How to keep the poetry, without

issues developed in our competittion

forgetting the competition brief. To put

entry. What to say? We just quote him

together the masterplan requirements

directly: “...and that means you really

and our spatial explorations. It looks

were a bit of a strange if you look

quite difficult, but actually the difficult

In girum imus nocte et consumimur

at idealism in professional football.

challenges are more reasonable than

igni, Pescara, Italy 2003

Professional football means money.

the simple ones. Because (and here we

It means achievement. Idealism, of

go with the second quote): “I never

(Daniele Mancini, Stefano Mirti with

course, means loving beautiful football.

practice tricks. I play very simply. That’s

Walter Aprile, Dario Buzzini, Eyal Fried,

And it means never in your life making

what it’s all about. Playing simple

Line Ulrike Christiansenn, Karmen

concessions about one or the other.

football is the hardest thing. That’s the

Franinovic)

P O RTA B LE M U S E U M KIT ® 74

problem of all trainers. Like a penalty.

You want a summary of the problems

dreams a deadline, to force ourselves to

on the theme of housing diversity. If

That’s not a problem. The thing is that

tackled, the conceptual problems...

face reality, taking the constraints as a

Nicholas Grimshaw is able to make an

a penalty seems to be very easy, which

oh my God... Problem number one is

main trigger to push ourselves more and

inflatable skyscraper, why couldn’t

is why it’s very difficult”. (thankyou

this fact that only 17% of prize winners

more. We chose Pescara as case-study

we address the housing theme looking

maestro...)

actually get to build what they dreamt

because it perfectly fits our vision. An

to some very intriguing experiments

in their mind. This fact lead us to take

Italian city on the Riviera, tourism,

of the sixties? In terms of strategic

a different approach. The joker and the

seasonal activities. What happens

reflection, we agree on the assumptions

stripped of time and matter, of all

thief (with some other friends) actually

during the long winter, when the city

as described in the brief. We live in

thieves but one. what are you doing

built their dream. Several protototypes,

goes asleep? What about a winter park,

a society where the sprawl rules, the

in my dream, he asked the thief. it is

try, error, try again, improve, refine,

glowing bubbles, termporary use,

car is everywhere, impossible to stop,

not your dream anymore, for I am the

take a picture, take two, go back and

sustainability, young people coming

but with quite lovely trunks. All around

thief the thief dreamt he was in a place

fix the fan... We believe in the value

from all over Europe? Not forgetting the

ourselves we can see this desire for new

stripped of time and matter, of all

of an architecture made of emotions.

dogs (as required from thebrief), the

spatial innovations, demands for new

jokers but one. what are you doing in

Architecture is in fact the simplest

masterplan and all the rest. To give life,

lifestyles. In our understandig, the real

my dream, he asked the joker this is a

medium to articulate time and space, to

excitement, desire, all year around...

challenge is the urban sustainability.

dream you will not steal away, for I am

model reality, to make people dream. To

the joker.

use the competition in order to give our

the joker dreamt he was in a place

Four keywords for our project: We started from some shared thought

individual autonomy, diversity of social

P O RTA B LE M U S E U M KIT ® 75

interaction, professional mobility, speed

cluster ready to host differentiated

in order to see if it is possible to foster

long accumulation (without much logic),

of communication. With our proposal we

needs upon the strategic thinking of the

new dynamism, to favour the spatial

a variety of disparate intervention

try to addres the strong demand for a

local master-plan...

intensification of the social life that can

without much though for urban ecology.

take place within our bubbly worlds.

We can’t fix it the overall mess, but

Bubbly worlds conceived as new home/

we can suggest an idea of possible

new neighborood social life, as well as suggesting new possible sets of values.

the thief turned his back on the

We believe in a sprawl city completely

joker and made the place his own. he

work interface, technologically high

conceptual re-organization of the

transformed into a sustainable one, with

sat and he stood, he held his breath and

performance units. Another keyword is:

overall. In this strategic plot of disused

ecological and urban foundation. In a

filled his body with black air. he ate and

Simpletech.

and underused land, we add a very light

case like Pescara (given its nature of

he drank, he killed and devoured, he

tourist-based economy), our proposal

spread his arms and felt the warmth of

could be also seen as a strategic tool

the blood.

to put together economical value

layer of possibilities. Inflatable ones. We The first one will do Just passing

are working on the historical principles

thru The second one needs more I’ve

of town planning and traditional urban

been here before I’ve been here before

composition. The relevant thing is that

and desire. In terms of executable

In the brief we found: “...we now want

Wanna make me weak while you cry

upon our understanding, out ot the

architectural project, we used the

to work from, or nearby, to where

Not such a thing, till you die Gotta go

XXth? century we consider our masters

competition constraints in order to

we live, to invent new ways of social

I get high Gotta go I get high Deceiver

people like Constant, we cried when we

build a series of real prototypes,

interaction, and to fill our free time

deceived us And I deceived them Carry

read about New Babylon, Superstudio,

enabling ourselves to understand better

with sporting and cultural activities

my troubles home Married with the

Archigram and the design metaphors

the potentiality and the limits of our

without being obliged to trave great

humble

by Ettore Sottsass. Our mental (and

starting hypothesis. A new city for

distances from our homes...” Isn’t it our

tourists and mobile professionals, using

proposal perfectly fit to answer to your

The case-study area in Pescara is a

while offering urban coherence and

a radical typological approach. A housing

intriguing questions? It is an experiment

classical example of urban sprawl. A

environmental quality (liberating and

physical) landscape enable mobility,

P O RTA B LE M U S E U M KIT ® 76

integrating natural space). With an

In our proposal we define a new concept

incredibly simple network grid we are

of river park, using our inflatable

joker said and put his hand against the

If you also count general works (park

able to imagine a rational management

network throughout the space. The

wall. with you I don’t need to reach the

cleaning, road access, support buildings)

of natural resources (water, energy).

waste is managed in an indirect way

moon. with you I am on the moon with

we would then reach 750.000 Euro.

In terms of spatio-temporal strategy, a

(the bubble network overlap on the

you I can reach the moon, the thief

Obviously, the system can start with a

system like ours, works on a step-by-

different parts, without modifying

shouted and shouted and slammed his

symple bubble, connected to the world

step process. Experimental prototypes,

them directly). The river park gets the

hand against the wall. with you I can

in a much simpler way. In this case,

temporary events, camping like

network support (antenna + water &

make people believe they ARE on the

the overall cost would be contained in

situations, all the way to the housing

electricity box). Then, upon necessities,

moon, he screamed and said no more.

10.000 Euro.

frame.

desires, events, the bubble-city can

with you I can reach the moon, the

Euro each (altogether 72.000 Euro).

freely grow. The buildings in the area

The old incineretor building and the

aren’t restored or demolished, simply

space around are the best areas where

woke up from the dream that they have

were in love, a smile on their faces. I

kept as they are, in order to become

to start our bubble-city experiment. In

dreamt. I want to tell you about my

am the joker, said the joker, welcome

the perfect environment for our new

terms of cost the overall system (a first

dream. will you listen? I want to tell

to my home. isn’t it the most beautiful

world. With the same system, could be

series of 24 bubbles) would be quite

you about my dream too. I will listen.

place you have ever seen? and the thief

located the requested activities (the

cheap. The overall networking (internet

I dreamt I was in place so free I could

dreamt that a man and a woman came.

music town, the botanic garden, the

connection, television antennas,

not destroy. it was a dreadful dream.

they were in love, a smile on their

kennels park). In few words: a “house in

broadband, water, electricity) would

now tell me your dream. I dreamt I was

faces. I am the thief, said the thief,

the park”, with different typologies of

cost about 500.000 Euro. 24 bubbles

in a place so free even you could not

this is MY home. it is the most beatiful

inhabitants.

(each bubble has a main cylinder +

destroy. it was a wonderful dream.

then a man and a woman came. they

place you have ever seen.

that night the joker and the thief

3 smaller spheres) would cost 3000

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4. HORIZON OF SENSES

P O RTA B LE M U S E U M KIT 速 83

P O RTA B LE M U S E U M KIT 速 84

W OR K IN PR OG R ESS

My thesis project, a real scale fullworking prototype of an interactive, inflatable (and portable), modular, sustainable and individual house, takes inspiration mostly from the research activities I was involved in during the summer, within the CICCIO (Curiously Inflatable Computer Controlled Interactive Object) Research Group this site is the result of. My thesis research share formerly the idea of the interactive, inflatable and flexible platform for experimentation and fast iteration of design and spatial ideas (the teaching platform ClassTeaching), latterly it is oriented to the more specific realm of the inflatable living environment, radical, nomadic, portable, light, etc. Moreover, to a more abstract and theoretical level, it deals with the Critique of the

Everyday Life (Lefebvre, de Certau, Perec, Venturi) This section formally constitutes the first draft organization of my thesis’ background research chapter. It mainly draws on the resources (books and links) already present on the book section of the main CICCIO’s site. Of course this chapter, as well the rest of the thesis will be improved, modified, refined coherently to the directions taken time by time.

I consider fundamental inspiration of my design approach to the thesis project. Each of these pieces has been stimulating my research for long time, therefore I consider the material posted as sort of debating platform everybody can join.

There are four sections. Three of them contain a very short presentation and list of relevant books whose I’ve prepared a specific and focused abstract. The forth section is dedicated to design projects, buildings, books, paintings, movies

P O RTA B LE M U S E U M KIT ® 85

AR EOL AN DIA At the beginning there were just air castles and soap bubbles, then hot air balloons invaded the sky. A bit later, pneumatics invaded the ground. Now our society is full of inflated egos.

This section mainly makes the point of the contemporary inflatable realm, investigating the field of art, fashion, design and architecture

Topham, S. (Edited by) (2002), “Blowup - Inflatable Art, Architecture and Design”, Prestel Verlag, Munich, Berlin, London, New York.

[BlowUpInflatableArt]?

Architects are the most inferior people of our epoch”, asserted a merciless Jean Renoir, the film director, in response to the modernized cityscape of Paris in the 1960s. His hostile criticism captured a popular feeling that the whole architecture profession could be held to blame for the unsightly buildings imposed upon Europe’s urban districts.(..) Radical architecture groups emerged all over Europe in reaction to the monotony of the new buildings. May of these collectives embraced inflatable forms as the perfect tool with wich to subvert traditional notions of architecture. They conceived inflatable entertainement complexes, housing projects, and whole expandable cities in an effort to draw

P O RTA B LE M U S E U M KIT ® 86

attention to the value of impermanent structures

buildings, furniture, and environments, all heavily

The most exhaustive and updated critical overview on pneumatic technology and a philosophical history of the inflatable, containing the whole inflatable universe’s bibliography and links.

influenced by American military structures and

Dessauce, M. (ed.by) (1999), “The Inflatable Moment: Pneumatics and Protest in ‘68”, Princeton Architectural Press, New York. InflatableMoment To a group of architecture students at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris in the turbulent year 1968, the idea of the inflatable held a promise of mobility, movement, energy, and escape.

Seeking to overturn the inertia and oppression that they believed characterized mainstream architecture, the Utopie group (as they called themselves) designed a series of pneumatic

Maxfield Parrish, Air Castles (1904)

comic books as well as by the work of Buckminster Fuller, Henri Lefebvre, Jean Baudrillard, and

Jurgman, J.P., Stinco, A., and Utopie (ed.by) (1968), “Structures Gonflables”, Musee d’art modern de la Ville de Paris, Paris. StructuresGonflables

Archigram. Though Utopie architects Jean Aubert, Jean-Paul Jungmann, and Antoine Stinco were

Exposition internationale de structures gonflables:

unable to realize their dream of a society literally

vehicules et engins terrestres, marines, aeriens et

built on air, their fanciful, exuberant, witty, and

spatiaux; dispositifs, appareils et outils; travaux

highly detailed drawings remain some of the most

d’art; constructions, architecture; meubles;

extraordinary in modern architecture.

jouets et accessoires de plage; oevres d’artistes; objets publicitaires; arrangements our jeux et

The Inflatable Moment documents this fascinating intersection of architectural, social, and political history, as it presents a complete, annotated catalog of the designs of the Utopie architects alongside similar structures from the period. This book is also the catalog of the homonym exhibition presented at the Architectural League of New York in the summer of 1998.

fetes. Realisee par - Utopie - revue de sociologie de l’urbain

This book is the catalog of the exhibition “Structures Gonflables” which is meant to be the date of birth of the inflatable architecture, as we like to think about.

homonym exhibition Paradoxically, this exibition organized

by Willoughby Sharp, opened just few days later the “Structures Gonflables” in Paris (Arts Council in Philadelphia on march 13, 1968).It exhibited the works of the Architectural Association Group (London), Hans Haacke, Akira Kanayama, Les Levine, Preston McClanahan?, David Medalla, Robert Morris, Marcello Salvadori, Graham Stevens, John Van Saun and Andy Warhol. In this catalog the curator already mentions the Structures Gonflables catalog by the Utopie group as the publication of reference.

Different culture, different approach, different results ..

Sharp, W. (1968), “Air Art”, Kineticism Press, Philadelphia. Catalog of the

First crossing of the Channel by J.-P. Blanchard and J. Jeffries.

Engraving. January 7, 1785

Air Art (1968)

P O RTA B LE M U S E U M KIT ® 87

AA.VV. (ed.by) (2001), “Air-Air: Celebrating Inflatables”, Le 27e Stratagème Inflate Unit Research, Grimaldi Forum, Monaco. AirAir Air-Air is also the generic term for aerial combat rockets; missil, from the Latin missilis meaning “to throw”, suggests the attack and/or defence of an area or a territory. The exploration and observation of recent history and current

at Grimaldi Forum in Monaco, held in 2000 to celebrate the 30 years of the first heroic exhibition about pneumatic structures and object in 1968, Paris by the Group Utopie. This exhibition in Monaco has been the last, most comprehensive and beautifull exhibition on inflatables. A complete on line catalogs of the pieces exhibited is also available in Air Air

events via inflatable structures in their various applications (architecture, fine arts, design, engineering) seems, with hte different media of the projects, to open up one or two trails,

AA.VV. (2000), “Blow-Up - Shaped Air In Design, Architecture, Fashion & Art”, Vitra Design Stiftung, Berlin.

frontiers, that form both a critical area and a nevertheless joyfull style of construction that

The transitory nature of air-based objects and

have a certain affinity with the Pothlatch.

the optimism radiated by their generous lines and soft contours ensured they were exemplary items

This catalog documents the exhibition

of a Pop culture which reached its initial peak

in the 1960s and 1970s. At the time, technical developments in the field of plastics gave rise to a flood of innovative objects and visions propagating an anti-conservative lifestyle. These items included objects for the living room or the swimming pool, as well as futuristic designs for

Clausen, B., Kuoni, C., Eames, R. (Illustrator), and Manzoni, P. (illustrator) (2002), “Thin Skin: The Fickle Nature of Bubbles, Spheres, and Inflatable Structures”, Indipendent Curators. New York. Soap Bubbles

light, mobile, transparent buildings, or even the giant female breast that pursued Woody Allen

The current popularity of works involving

through Central Park. Today, one of the reasons

malleable, inflatable materials, is identified as

for the enthusiasm for inflatable structures is the

a function of two contemporary conditions: a

current interest in giving high-tech a more human

new awareness of “in-between” spaces, spaces

face, a phenomenon characterized by the new

neither real nor completely virtual, situations

term “high-touch”. The JalIntroduction of new

neither entirely in our control nor totally beyond

materials and recycling methods has provoked a

it; and a new understanding of our own bodies as

plastics renaissance, causing artists, designers and

permeable sensors in constant osmotic exchange

engineers redirect their attention to the potential

as they move through these spaces. Thinness and

of pneumatic objects, which is still vast. A

transparency are indeed the symbolic, and maybe

minimum of materials is required, and the items

even the real, skin that encase contemporary

themselves are light, plastic and transparent.

spaces and bodies.

Andy Warhol, Silver Clouds (1966)

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Also this book is conceived as catalog of an exhibition. The point of view on inflatables is very original and fascinating. The essays offer the most stimulating critics on inflatable-bubbleskin realm Ant Farm (1970), “Inflatocookbook. A Pneu-age Techs Book”, Sausalito (San Francisco CA) InflatoCookBook Hexapillow: Make up this star figure. It is based on equilateral triangles. Cut off lengths from roll.

Fold the points over to the center. Tape togheter & Inflate. Another Sapre Tire: Make up 2 star figures (above) only differnce being not taping the center seams 1/2 way in (or 2/3). Position one Star above another as shown. Fold top flaps

between these two. Continue around sliding the stars around for the best position to work from ...

“In 1970 Ant Farm published two thousand copies of its Inflatocookbook.

Sold by mail-order for $3 each, these plastic-wrapped “recipe cards” explained how to erect a Do-It-Yourself inflatable structures. Having already installed several structures, Ant Farm went on to share technical know-how and usefull addresses. Technology is no longer the exclusive playground of a few specialists: anyone can join it. Each recipe card featured explanatory diagrams and hand-written instructions.” (Caroline Maniaque, in AirAir, 2000).

back. Pull 2 botton flaps just above gets taped in

De Pas, D’Urbino, Lomazzi, Scolari, Blow Chair (1967)

Risa Sata, Working now (2000) at Grimaldi Forum Monaco

Nihon Bankoku Hakuraukai Kyaikai (Edited by)(1970), “EXPO ‘70 Official Guide”, The Japan Association for the 1970 World Exposition “Expo ‘70 in Osaka elicited a great concentration of inflatable structures - projected or realized - for both national and commercial pavilions.

It signaled the integration and institutionalization of the inflatable spectacular. This phenomenon of enthronement also manifested itself through the publications of anthologies on the experimental groups and the consolidation of their position in the culture industry.” (Marc Dessauce in The Inflatable Moment,1999) Link to EXPO’70

Yayoi Kusama, Dots obsession (2000), Grimaldi Forum Monaco

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R AD I C A L I N SIG HT S IN TO T HE U TOPIA Keywords: Intimacy, the Staging of the Self, The Skin, Miniaturization, Microarchitecture, Mobility, Transporatability, Nomadism, SelfConstruction, Technology, Selfhanging Structures, Innovative Materials, Ephemeral, Floating Architecture, Vernacolo, Anthropology, Toyo Ito, Paul Virilio.

Brayer, M-A. and Simonot, B. (Edited by) (2002), Archilab’s Futurehouse: Radical Experiments in Living Space, Thames & Hudson, London.

Digital technology and the Internet may have changed our lifestyles over the last decade, but so far they have had very little impact on our dwellings. Advanced residential design has tended to concentrate on “embedded technologies”—

Radical dwellings, extreme living spaces and experimental monofamiliar housings are expression of the ancestral need of the human beeing to freely and intimatly adapt himself to the environment around both a natural or a urban one.

using technology for existing needs—rather than on the more fundamental issues of how we make use of domestic environments in an age when more of us work at home, travel extensively, and have access to huge amounts of information, goods, and services. Looking to the most innovative talents from around the world, ArchiLab?’s FutureHouse? presents ninety private community housing projects that challenge

We are all architects ! We are not architects.

Nor have we ever studied architecture proper.

We have, however, spent pretty much all of our lives living in some sort of house and have shaped those houses to better suit our need, which we guess makes us architects along with everyone else who has made a decision about the place they call home .. - Smith,C. , Topham, S.,

Nomadic House in Anatolia: the topakeve

“Xtreme Houses”, Prestel, 2002 P O RTA B LE M U S E U M KIT ® 90

Portable Architecture, Architectural Design Profile, Academy Editions, London

created by Mark Fisher, known for his designs for

accepted norms and offer ingenious solutions

This study explores the design of portable,

to meet the widely changing needs and desires

transportable, demountable and temporary

of today’s society. Against the background of

buildings. Using numerous examples - indigenous

globalization and urbanization, these designers

tents, Buckminster Fuller’s Whichita House

confront issues such as how to individualize

and Nicholas Grimshaw’s British Pavilion for

This issue of “Architectural Design” presents a

collective housing, radically reimagining how we

Expo 92 - the author looks at the development

compilation of essays and projects by leading

could live. Essays by international critics such

of these buildings from prehistoric to present

practitioners in the field of tensile and related

as Frédéric Migayrou (France), Bart Lootsma

day. He investigates the current design criteria

structures. As land prices increase and building

(Netherlands), Andreas Ruby (Germany), Manuel

for effective, economic portable buildings and

budgets are cut, there is an ever-increasing

This book explores aspects of the historical

Gausa (Spain), Kyong Park (USA), and Christian

examines the ecological advantages of this

need for buildings which can be moved from

and theoretical basis for portable architecture

Girard (France) complement the work of avant-

recyclable genre. He then compares the current

one site to another. This book provides

and provides an insight into the wide range of

garde and experimental architects and address

commercially available products with the work

examples of residential, leisure, business and

functions that it is used for today, the varied

a rich spectrum of local and international issues

of innovative designers such as Nick Grimshaw,

industrial portable structures, which are being

forms that it takes and the concerns and ideas

and conditions.

Richard Hordem, Jan Kaplicky and Renzo Piano

developed to overcome challenges which static

for its future development. Written by a team of

and examines the philosophical and technological

structures cannot cope with. Developed from an

international commentators, this volume provides

issues raised by these designers’ work and other

International Symposium and exhibition held at

a state-of-the-art survey of this specialist area

more experimental and futuristic prototypes.

the RIBA in May 1997, it features projects from

and should be of interest to a wide range of

Lorenzo Apicella, Richard Horden, Buro Happold

professionals across the construction and design

and FTL architects. In addition to the stage sets

industries.

Robert Kronenburg (1995), The Genesis, History, and Development of the Portable Building, Academy Editions,Wiley-Academy, London

Robert Kronenburg (Editor)(1998),

U2, the Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd.

Robert Kronenburg (Editor) (1999), Transportable Environments: Theory, Context, Design and Technology, E&FN Spon, Routledge, New York

Michael Rakowitz, Parasites, Boston, Massachusetts, 1998 and New York City, USA, 1999 and ongoing

P O RTA B LE M U S E U M KIT ® 91

Richardson, P. and Dietrich, L. (Edited by) (2001), Xs: Big Ideas, Small Buildings, Universe Publishing, New York.

This book is the celebration of small buildings, those unexpected structures that make us momentarily pause to ponder their meaning, or our own meaning, or simply to appreciate the elegance of their creation. From the spectrum of functions and styles of these structures, it is clear that size imposes no limits on creativity, and utility is no constraint to beauty. Thinking small is a wonderfully constructive exercise.

Siegal, J., Cordescu, A. and Kronenburg, R. (Edited by) (2002), Mobile: The Art of Portable Architecture, Princeton Architectural

Vito Acconci, Adaptable Wall Bra, 1990

Press, New York.

Wall stage set. All of the designs celebrate the

This collection of photographs, drawings, plans,

lightness, transience, and practicality that mobile

and essays features exciting, newly designed

The allure of mobile, portable architecture is

architecture makes possible. Mobile includes work

and built dwelling spaces by architects, artists,

worldwide and centuries old, from the desert

by Office of Mobile Design, LOT/EK, Vito Acconci,

and individuals that respond to our increasing

tents of the bedouin to the silvery capsules

Doug Jackson/LARGE, Mark Fisher, Michael Fox,

awareness of architecture’s ability to shape the

of the Airstream trailer. Mobile explores the

FTL Happold, Festo, and Lawrence Scarpa. In

way we live. Whether they are floating on top

ever-growing range of possibilities of portable,

beautiful color images, detailed drawings, and

of water or nestled underground, seemingly

demountable, and mobile structures. Jennifer

thoughtful text, the contributors reveal their

transparent or apparently invisible, these homes

Siegal brings together the work of the most

working methods.

push the envelope of what’s considered “normal” in domestic architecture. Yet each was designed

interesting contemporary designers of dynamic, active structures, whose work ranges from the microenvironment of a house that literally attaches to your body to the city-scaled

Smith, C., Topham, S. (Edited by) (2002), Xtreme Houses, Prestel Verlag, Munich.

in response to a very real and immediate concern, be it economic, spatial, resource-related, or aesthetic. Innovative, bold, and sometimes shocking, these homes, like their Modern

macroenvironment of London’s Millennium Dome, from the interior of a Boeing jet to an entire

The computer age, environmental concerns,

predecessors, signal a new way of thinking about

mobile community whose living units plug into

overpopulation, suburban sprawl, economic

what our homes can be. They will no doubt set

a framework of flexible communal space, and

boom and bust have all conspired to bring about

the standard for where and how we live, now and

from the practical design of transportable office

enormous change in our everyday lives, and

in the future.

space to the whimsical design of Pink Floyd’s The

perhaps nowhere more so than in our homes.

Toyo Ito, Pao: dwelling of Tokyo Nomad Woman, Seibu Store, Tokyo, 1985

Monica Förster (Snowcrash, Sweden), Cloud, 2002

P O RTA B LE M U S E U M KIT ® 92

Tolla, A., Lignano,G. and Nobel, P. (2002), LOT/EK: Urban Scan, Princeton Architectural Press, New York.

the InspiroTrainer? (created for the Museum of

cold and storms in the stopping-places on the long

Modern Art), Mixer (a cement mixer-cum-video

journey of our existence. The survival clothing

immersion unit), the Meltzer Gallery, the Boon

designed by Lucy Orta is the expression of a

boutique, the MDU (Mobule Dwelling Unit), and

relational aesthetic that becomes a tool for the

The New York-based architectural firm LOT/EK

the Goree Memorial and Museum. It also includes

struggle against exclusion

(pronounced “low-tech”) has made a distinctive

more than 1,000 photographs of infrastructural

mark on the architectural landscape through

objects--everything from air conditioners to

a series of seemingly whimsical projects that

water tanks--that serve as the raw material and

make a point of using prefabricated industrial

inspiration for this creative practice.

materials in unexpected ways. In their hands, a shipping container can be transformed into a mobile working unit, a museum, or a restaurant.

In the process, they question our relation to the industrial environment and the artificiality of the

Restany,P., Sanders, M., Morozzi,C., Budney, J. (1998), Process of Transformation - LUCY ORTA, Editions J. M. Place, Paris.

urban landscape. Lot/Ek: Urban Scan, the first and only monograph on the firm, is organized

Since to inhabit a space means to consider it part

categorically and alphabetically. Twenty-three

of one’s body, Lucy Orta maintains, clothes are

projects are presented in detail, including

fully entitled to become architectural dwellings,

American Diner (a restaurant in a container),

temporary shelters affording protection against

Atelier Van Lieshout, Sportopia, no fixed address, 2002

Lucy Orta, Studio Orta, Refuge Wear, no fixed address, 1992 and ongoing

P O RTA B LE M U S E U M KIT ® 93

E V E RY DAY L IFE AN D C R IT IC AL DESIG N The Ordinary, the banal, the quotidian and then the infra-ordinary, the ugly, the common and the usual: the critic to the everyday life teaches us to reconsider the seemingly hidden aspects of our daily experience as a starting point for a renovated creative process

Blauvelt, A. (Curated by) (2003), Strangely Familiar: Design and Everyday Life, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota US. Design is a paradox in our life, both anonymous and conspicuous, familiar and strange. It surrounds us while fading from view, becoming second nature yet standing apart from the world in which it exist, an alien presence against the grain of everyday life. A light that responds to silence? A table that knows where it is? A pig farm the size of a skyscraper?

Strangely Familiar: Design and Everyday Life brings together more than 40 such innovative projects, drawn internationally from the fields of architectural, product, furniture, fashion, and graphic design, that range from the sublime to the uncanny. Through works that question the

P O RTA B LE M U S E U M KIT 速 94

habitual, transform the commonplace, alter our

common man for reclaiming his own autonomy

rarely used to praise architecture, but in fact

Peggy Deamer, Deborah Fausch, Ben Gianni and

expectations of dwelling, and blur the boundaries

from the all-pervasive forces of commerce,

they represent the interest of a growing number

Mark Robbins, Joan Ockman, Ernest Pascucci, Alan

of form and function, the exhibition challenges

politics, and culture. In exploring the public

of architects looking to the everyday to escape

Plattus, and Mary-Ann Ray.

our assumptions about the design of objects and

meaning of ingeniously defended private

the ever-quickening cycles of consumption

spaces around us. This fully illustrated catalogue

meanings, de Certeau draws brilliantly on an

and fashion that have reduced architecture to

includes essays on the tactics of formlessness and

immense theoretical literature in analytic

a series of stylistic fads. Architecture of the

its impact on everyday consumption, the potential

philosophy, linguistics, sociology, semiology, and

Everyday makes a plea for an architecture that

of an endlessly transformable environment to

anthropology--to speak of an apposite use of

is emphatically un-monumental, anti-heroic,

extend product life cycles, and ruminations on the

imaginative literature. He develop a social history

and unconcerned with formal extravagance.

Henri Lefebvre has considerable claims to be

strange and familiar worlds of design

of “making do” based on microhistories that move

Edited by Deborah Berke and Steven Harris, this

the greatest living philosopher. His work spans

from the private sphere (of dwelling, cooking,

collection of writings, photo-essays, and projects

some sixty years and includes original work on

and homemaking) to the public (the experience of

describes an architecture that draws strength

a diverse range of subjects, from dialectical

living in a neighborhood)

from its simplicity, use of common materials,

materialism to architecture, urbanism and the

and relationship to other fields of study. Topics

experience of everyday life. The Production of

range from a website that explores the politics of

Space is his major philosophical work and its

domesticity, to a transformation of the sidewalk

translation has been long awaited by scholars in

in Los Angeles’s Little Tokyo, to a discussion of

many different fields. The book is a search for

the work of Robert Venturi and Denise Scott

reconciliation between mental space (the space

Brown. Contributors include Margaret Crawford,

of the philosophers) and real space (the physical

Michel de Certeau (1984), The Practice of Everyday Life, University of California Press, Berkeley US Michel de Certeau considers the uses to which social representation and modes of

Steven Harris and Deborah Berke (1997), Architecture of the Everyday, Princeton Architectural Press, New York

social behavior are put by individuals and groups, describing the tactics available to the

Ordinary. Banal. Quotidian. These words are

Henri Lefebvre (1991), The Production of Space, trans. Donald Nicholson-Smith, Blackwell, Oxford

P O RTA B LE M U S E U M KIT ® 95

and social spheres in which we all live). In the course of his exploration, Henri Lefebvre moves from metaphysical and ideological considerations of the meaning of space to its experience in the

Robert Venturi, Denise Scott Brown, and Steven Izenour (1972), Learning from Las Vegas, The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachussets.

Their insight and analysis, reasoned back through

theory and practice, between the mental and

the history of style and symbolism and forward

the social, and between philosophy and reality.

to the recognition of a new kind of building

In doing so, he ranges through art, literature,

a bibliography of writings by the members of Venturi and Rauch and about the firm’s work.

architects to be more receptive to the tastes and values of “common” people and less immodest in their erections of “heroic,” self-aggrandizing

everyday life of home and city. He seeks, in other words, to bridge the gap between the realms of

Learning from Las Vegas created a healthy controversy on its appearance in 1972, calling for

monuments.

Bernard Rudofsky (1964), Architecture without Archtects: An Introduction to Non-Pedigreed Architecture, The Museum of Modern Art, New York.

This revision includes the full texts of Part I of

that responds directly to speed, mobility, the

the original, on the Las Vegas strip, and Part II,

Originally published in 1964, concurrent with

architecture and economics, and further

superhighway and changing life styles, is the kind

“Ugly and Ordinary Architecture, or the Decorated

the exhibition Architecture Without Architects

provides a powerful antidote to the sterile and

of art history and theory that is rarely produced.

Shed,” a generalization from the findings of the

shown at MOMA, this slim volume of text and

obfuscatory methods and theories characteristic

The rapid evolution of modern architecture

first part on symbolism in architecture and the

photographs radiates heat and light when

of much recent continental philosophy. This is a

from Le Corbusier to Brazil to Miami to the

iconography of urban sprawl. (The final part

reviewed almost forty years later. In fact,

work of great vision and incisiveness. It is also

roadside motel in a brief 40-year span, with all

of the first edition, on the architectureal work

Rudofsky’s introductory essay is so fresh today it

characterized by its author’s wit and by anecdote,

the behavioral esthetics involved, is something

of the firm Venturi and Rauch, is not included

is almost inconceivable it was written the better

as well as by a deftness of style that Donald

neither architect nor historian has deigned to

in the revision.) The new paperback edition

part of four decades ago! Offering a scathing

Nicholson-Smith’s sensitive translation precisely

notice....” -- Ada Louise Huxtable, The New York

has a smaller format, fewer pictures, and a

attack on modern approaches to the landscape

TImes?

considerably lower price than the original.

and to problems of living more generally in a time

There are an added preface by Scott Brown and

of rampant population growth, Rudofsky shrewdly

captures.

P O RTA B LE M U S E U M KIT ® 96

pointed to the fact that “part of our troubles

immutable, indeed, unimprovable, since it serves

people’s lives must necessarily challenge the

technologies on our lives. Dunne and Raby

results from the tendency to ascribe to architects-

its purpose to perfection.” Rooted in a practical,

difficulties of topography and the vicissitudes

investigate the real physical and cultural effects

or, for that matter, to all specialists-excessive

harmonious relationship with its setting,

of climate. His primary heuristic interest was

of the digital domain, demonstrating that mobile

insight into problems of living when, in truth,

primitive architecture exemplifies the art of

in elucidating the solutions creatively and

phones, computers and other electronic objects

most of them are concerned with problems of

living well through its consistent use of frugality

spontaneously generated by these people in

such as televisions profoundly influence people’s

business and prestige.” But what transpires when

in construction, cleanliness in line and detail,

order to make such rugged locales inhabitable

experience of their environment. Dunne and

the focus can be maintained on functionality,

and a general respect for “creation.” Further,

AND livable. Architecture Without Architects

Raby’s ideas have important implications for

efficiency, ease of use, and a design aesthetic

its impetus is aligned with a human dimension

demonstrates the way in which basic solutions to

architecture and design in this, their first major

that remains humbly in tune with and loyal to

fundamentally as opposed to an excessively

complex problems were developed historically

book, they introduce their extraordinary new way

the mood and visual imperative of the land under

hubristic predisposition to conquer nature at

and why those solutions are so important to

of thinking about objects, space and behaviour

development? To answer these crucial questions

whatever cost. Finally, from Rudofsky’s vantage,

remain cognisant of today.

to a broad audience. The book is divided into

Rudofsky takes us back a few thousands of years

these principles are usefully to be understood

to the origins of architectural strivings (even

as timeless guidelines for the future as well as

preceding man’s earliest efforts) and the material

descriptions of the past.

results thereof.

According to Rudofsky, sophisticated people

three sections: 1. Manifesto, introducing the

Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby (2001), Design Noir: The Secret Life of Electronic Objects, Birkhasuer, Basel, Boston, Berlin

authors’ ideas about electromagnetic space.

2. Conversations. Dunne and Raby talk to a variety of designers, architects and artists about the impact electronic technology has on their

The essential point Rudofsky cares to make in

seek rugged country where what is intrinsic holds

these pages is that “vernacular architecture

sway. His search for the origins of a humanistic

London Designers Dunne and Raby explore the

practice. 3. Placebo. The intriguing results of a project involving Dunne and Raby’s working

does not go through fashion cycles. It is nearly

architecture was always in rugged terrain where

revolutionary and uncanny impact of electronic

furniture prototypes, including a table with an

P O RTA B LE M U S E U M KIT ® 97

integrated global positioning system and a chair

speculation for some time, product design’s

look at what surrounds us, offering a refreshing

that lets the sitter know when radiation is passing

strong ties to the marketplace have left little

perspective on how we live. The rest of the book

through his body. Dunne and Raby are Research

room for speculation on the cultural function of

is taken up with a collection of pieces ranging

Fellows at the Royal College of Art; London.

electronic products. The book offers a broader

from the autobiographical to the surreal. Some of

Dunne trained as an industrial designer, and Raby

context of critical thinking on its aesthetic

these pieces are extremely compelling pieces of

as an architect, and both lived in Japan during

role in everyday life, and contains the chapters

storytelling, while others give you an insight into

the 1980s, where Dunne worked for Sony, and

“Psychosocial Narratives”, “(In)human Factors”

the oblique perspective of Perec. Occasionally,

Raby worked for Toyo Ito.

and “Real-Fiction”.

however, there is a weaker piece which, being a

Anthony Dunne (2001), Hertzian Tales: electronic products, aesthetic experience and critical design, RCA CRD Publication, London

Georges Perec (1997), Species of Spacies and Other Pieces, ed. John Sturrock, London, Penguin Books

completist text, it is naturally hard to avoid. But this considered, as a whole the book is a special collection which should form part of any Perec fan’s bookcase

Originally commissioned by his architect friend, This volume seeks to set the scene for relocating

Species of Spaces is a meditation on the spaces

the electronic product beyond a culture

which we occupy and the ways in which we order

of relentless innovation for its own sake.

them. Forming the main section of this book, it

Whereas architecture and furniture design have

is also one of its highlights: original, informed

successfully operated in the realm of cultural

and often witty. It’s a piece which takes a fresh

P O RTA B LE M U S E U M KIT ® 98

F I F T E E N EASY PIEC ES: WH AT I L IKE M OST LY I’ve selected fifteen pieces I find stimulating material leading my approach to thesis project: they all have a precise logic strictly related to the main issue of the everyday life critic design within a neutral (?) inflatable space. I believe collecting and describing them as sharply as possible, is an extremely conceptually strong selfinflicted exercise.

Le Cabanon (1952), by Le Corbusier To a certain extent, it is a perfect piece of not-electronic-driven interaction design, applied to the issue of living space design. Moreover, the design of the everyday life experience (space, objects, services) here is beautifully distilled since it is completely related to the real needs and wishes of the owner, who was both the designer, a master, and the user: an house like himself.

P O RTA B LE M U S E U M KIT ÂŽ 99

Casa Scroeder, by Rietveld

House (1991), by Hans Walter Muller

Basic House (2000), by Martin Ruiz de Azua

Polycarbonate House (2000), by Brigata Tognazzi in Tokyo

This is another incredible and unusal piece of architecture, whom it would be better to watch at with great attention ...

An inflatable volume, set up since ‘71 in La Ferte-Alais, houses the life and work of Hans-Walter Muller. This haven of experiment, moored to the rocks and transparent to the vegetation around, is a place of methodical and serious practice, the home of a small company quite inlike any other, based on the desire to share a passion.

No Compromises here. It’s just a matter of a few grams of lightweight metallic polyester and that’s it! The most minimal inflatable individual cocoon then ever for the maximum mobility and freedom

What I love in this project, which is actually cute, is the amazing story around. This is another perfect example of partecipatory interaction design.

P O RTA B LE M U S E U M KIT ® 100

Pao I Dwelling (), by Toyo Ito - read more here ToyoItoPao

San Girolamo nel suo studio (1460), by Antonello da Messina -

The kitchen maid (1600), by Jan Vermeer van Delft

The betrothal of the Arnolfini (1434),

by Jan van Eyck

The house of the future is an ovoidal, transparent tent. Inside, three blurring pieces of furniture: one for styling, one for snacking, one for the intelligence.

With regards to your thesis, this painting is an example of taking a neutral, cold space and placing a smaller, controlled, intimate environment within it.(thanks to WalterAprile for this contribution)

The quotidian has long been a touchstone for many artists and movements. For example, XVI-XVII century’s Dutch painters were masters in detailing famous scenes of daily life.

Among them, Jan Vermeer van Delft whose the kitchen maid is the most famous piece.

This is a master piece by another Dutch painter, Jan van Eyck: sharply describing this scene, implies a big effort and patience, but at the end, you will realize this painting must be carefully analized to be really understood .. practicing the subtle art of watching!

P O RTA B LE M U S E U M KIT ÂŽ 101

Life: A User’s Manual (1970), by Georges Perec

Italian Folktales (1956), by Italo Calvino

Learning from Las Vegas (1977), by Robert Venturi

Architecture without architects, (1964), by Bernard Rudofsky

The novel takes as its plan a block of flats in a Parisian suburb, over which the narrator must proceed by way of the moves of the Knight in chess, never landing on the same flat twice.The facade is removed from a the apartment house on the Rue Simon-Crubellier, permitting us to spy on its tenants in the grid of rooms and to examine their pictures and bibelots. Books, letters, clippings and announcements add to the textual welter, all interlocking like pieces of a puzzle, the novel’s chief metaphor..

As well as there is an architecture without architects (see Bernard Rudofsky below RudofskyNonPedigreed?), there is a literature without writers. This books is a manifesto. Of what? Imagination, simplicity, lightness, unespectedness.

Also it tells stories on what was (and still often is) usual and quotidian in the italian way of life ... “once upon a time..” my dad used to say.

This book calls for architects and designer to be more receptive to the tastes of “common” dayly life environment: here the ugly and the ordinary become important values for a design strategy

Rudowsky proposed that architecture and design might disappear into the assembly of prefound materials, thus producing forms that were ad hoc and always by their nature unfinished; he also proposed to let people assemble their own homes out of availables materials: the everyday life is the engine for the partecipatory design

P O RTA B LE M U S E U M KIT ® 102

Inflatocookbook (1970), by Ant Farm

The Do It Yourself paradigm here is perfectly exemplified. Moreover, it is related to the inflatable realm: let’s take a sheet of polyethilene, cut it, fold it, blow into and then..

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5 . W H AT TO S AY AT T H E E N D

P O RTA B LE M U S E U M KIT 速 105

T EC H N OL OG Y Which approach ? Do I have first a

goal of every deisgn process: to question

technology to use for a vague needs ? Or

an environment and try to give anwer to

do I have to find the proper technology

real question

to solve a real problem ?

Which role? Do I have to express the best from a technology, proposing new scenarios of need ? Or Do I have to solve problem ?

Which approach is more ethic ? Is there any ethicity ? Is there a so clear distinction between them ?

Considering the RFID Tags I used for my explorations, I noticed how I was inspired by the “magic” behaviour of this technology.

My constant anxiety was to explore the expressivness of the medium. For exaples I tried to experience all these alternatives: 1. One Object - One Tag - One Story 2: One Story - Many Tags - Many Objects 3: One Tag - One Object - Many Stories But then I realized I missed totally the

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