/// ARTEFACT FESTIVAL NOTES #7

(ENG) On Saturday, we had the pleasure to spend a wonderful KITCHAIN evening with Davis Freeman, his daughter, or as he introduced her to us “my assistant” and other 6 guests! The evening started with “Promises” and we need to explain this concept a little bit: it’s a really simple and great idea, he asks people to make promises that will contribute to a more sustainable world, like: “You promise you will take a shower just for 2 minutes for 1 week… You promise you will buy just second-hand clothes for 1 month...” and so on… If people agree they sign a paper and they will get a badget…and a free shot of vodka! Us and many people eating at the KITCHAIN made promises and the atmosphere was great! We also played a multiple choice quiz related to the environment and after a delicious shortbread, made by Davis daughter, we ended up singing a karaoke version of “I will always love you”! Thanks a lot Davis!  

/// ARTEFACT FESTIVAL NOTES #6

(ENG) We would like to share with you some projects here at the Artefact. The first is the unCLOUD project by INTK (Rui Guerra) and the Antisocial Notworking by various artists, curated by Geoff Cox/Arnolfini. The unCLOUD is an application that enables anyone with a laptop to create an open wireless network and distribute their own information. You can download the software or you can just connect to the unCloud wireless network. Check it out!

More information at: www.intk.com/uncloud  

/// ARTEFACT FESTIVAL NOTES #5

On the fourth day, 6 people have cooked two delicious salmon improvised recipes at the Do-It-Yourself kitchenette and at the outdoor grill. They were quite happy with the result and they have even left the KITCHAIN with the leftovers!

/// ARTEFACT FESTIVAL NOTES #4

/// ARTEFACT FESTIVAL NOTES #3

(ENG) The Do-It-Yourself KITCHAIN is officially open and what a great start!
At one kitchenette the artists Sarah Vanhee & Kristien Van den Brande and two persons who joined them...who are actually the cooks of a very famous restaurant in town!! At the other kitchenette the Kitchain team - us, Thomas and our guest Yari. We had to challenge ourselves with radicchio, fennel, beans, aubergine, figs, almonds, chicken, tempeh and other many delicious things! The two kitchenettes gave each other advices, shared ingredients and cooking skills and, of course, got to know each other! It's really nice to see two professional cooks at work at the KITCHAIN kitchenette! You can see but, unfortunately, you cannot smell our first Do-It-Yourself KITCHAIN night! Tomorrow there is more! Come!

/// ARTEFACT FESTIVAL NOTES #2

(ENG) Yesterday was Artefact opening in STUKcafé. Some pics of the night:

/// ARTEFACT FESTIVAL NOTES #1

(ENG) Since saturday we are in Leuven to do the Kitchain installation for the Artefact Festival. Tomorrow will be the first day that we will be in action but the tables are already assembled in the space. Bellow you can see a few images of it. We will post daily here in the blog during the entire festival (14 - 23 February) to give a full insight of Kitchain and the Festival. Stay connected.

(1) STUKcafé - ready made area
(2) Artist kitchen -  do-it-yourself area
(3) Courtyard - barbecue and beer garden area

/// MOOV PUBLISHED IN ARCHDAILY

(ENG) Our proposal for Fundecor New Headquarters  in Costa Rica, was published today on archdaily website. Go and have a look here.

/// SKETCHING

(ENG) Forget i-phone, i-pad, Canon EOS 7D and the new Mark Newson's camera for Pentax. The old and beautiful hand drawing as a medium of recording the reality is back: urbansketchers.org

/// GAME CHANGER

(ENG) We had teamed with GPOD to produce Game Changer. The aim of our proposal, is to show that change is at everyone's reach, and that we all have the tools needed for being active agents of change.


The theme of sports seemed ideal for 2 main reasons: 1 - its collaborative essence; 2 - everyone knows sports very well. The idea is to have groups of people actively taking part on a system they know so well - the game, which we change in ways that it can almost be played as everyone knows it, but not really! Consequently, every player individually and as a group, will have to refrain it automatic knowledge of the game, and go back to learn about it in order to  play it.

More than the sports we chose to work on our proposal, the location in town as well as the way we chose to have them represented in the urban space, were the two driving forces guiding the creative process. Also as agents of change ourselves, we decided to intervene in spaces where the need for a successful negotiation with the current use of a given urban area, being it a street, a parking lot or a square, would be a determinant point for the success of the installation. For this we also rely on the help of the eventual players which by wanting to play those games we propose, will help us on achieving that negotiation. 

The urban spaces chosen, having primary functions perfectly defined in urban terms, being temporarily misused by the introduction of a new sportive functionality, will become a natural invitation for the population to think about the potential of their neighborhoods and how they can evolve. The deliberate choice of going towards the periphery of the city, meaning going away from the obvious urban areas where cultural events take place, aims at emphasizing the notion that everyone can be an active agent of change - a game-changer.

/// MOOV FUNDECOR PROPOSAL PUBLISHED IN LW MAGAZINE

/// MOOV IN THE BOOK "ARTE E DELINQUÊNCIA"

(ENG) MOOV has contributed with a text to the book Arte e Delinquência edited by Gulbenkian Foundation. The text is about our experience of six months working with minors that are hindered into Educational Centres of the Lisbon district.

































(images Maga-Atelier)

/// KITCHAIN IN THE ARTEFACT FESTIVAL

(ENG)  Our project Kitchain will be part of the Artfact Festival that will take place in the city of Leuven, Belgium between 14 and 23 of February.  The Kitchain   is a construction consisting of a large number of foldable tables and benches that can be assembled into different structures, depending on the space. It also contains 3 kitchenettes and a grill.  The concept was developed for the Belluard Festival and every year since 2009 is assembled on the festival main venue.

In the Artfact Festival version you can to queue for a delicious ready made dinner, cooked by the STUK catering team, or you can cook for yourselves with friends or strangers at a do-it-yourself table. The STUKcafé, courtyard and artist kitchen (normally a backstage area) will become a meeting point for Artefact and Kulturama visitors, artists and the STUK team. Key words are social contact, sustainability, creative design and, above all, loads of fun.
Some evenings you can make a reservation to cook and dine with some of Artefact's artists and guests (Sarah Vanhee, Rudi Laermans, ...). Booking starts on 1st of February.

+ info: Artfact Festival  /  Kitchain

/// MARKUS KAYSER - SOLAR SINTER PROJECT

/// MOOV IN THE EXHIBITION STRATEGIES FOR PUBLIC OCCUPATION

(ENG) Yellow Arrow and Demo_polis has been included in the exhibition "Strategies for Public Occupation" that will be on view until Thursday December 22nd on the Store Front for Art and Architecture in New York.  The projects are displayed in the form of postcards. These postcards will be available to the public the last day of the exhibition - Dec 22nd - to be sent to the pertinent Structures of Power. You can find images and videos of the exhibition on the website.

Demo_polis  / 2006

Yellow Arrow 2004 > 2007

/// URBAN SKETCHERS PORTUGAL :: BAIRRO ALTO

Desenho Eduardo Salavisa

(PT) O Urban Sketchers Portugal é um colectivo de autores portugueses que registam em diários gráficos as cidades onde vivem e os sítios por onde viajam. Encontram-se para desenhar de vez em quando. No próximo domingo, dia 11 às 15h, têm encontro marcado para desenharem o Bairro Alto . Esta accção está integrada no programa Dia do Bairro que pode ser consultado aqui. Levem bloco e caneta e juntem-se à caçada.

/// NEWS FROM THE FUTURE #2

(ENG) We want this book!

/// NEWS FROM THE FUTURE #1

(ENG) Architectural Environments for Tomorrow: New Spatial Practices in Architecture and Art

'The spread of computerization and urbanization since the beginning of the twenty-first century has given birth to new lifestyles and forms of public space. This exhibition will look at the way in which architects and artists respond to environmental and urban problems, demographic growth and change, as well as other transformations in our surroundings, expressing them through their ideas and experiments in spatial structure. The spaces they create introduce people to new experiences or approaches, exposing the latent possibilities that may exist in the environment. The metaphors of the world-views suggested by the artists resonate with the practical proposals of the architects, presenting images of future ‘humanity’ from a variety of differing angles.'

mot-art-museum

/// OUR NEW PIECE

(ENG) In the last three months we have been working in a crazy blower vac machine to present in an art exhibition that will open on the 24th of November. Soon, we will release more information about the project and the exhibition. For now, just a small pic of what we have been developing:

/// FUNDECOR NEW HEADQUARTER COMPETITION - OTHER PROJECTS

(ENG) If you have curiosity, we leave here the link for the facebook page of the Fundecor New Headquarter Competition where the organization published all the awarded projects.

/// FUNDECOR NEW HEADQUARTER PROJECT - 2nd PRIZE

(ENG) The fundamental concern that guided the decision process from the start was how to produce a solution that is at the same time environmentally responsible, functional, cost effective and iconic. The circular shape of the building aims at giving a positive response to all of the above.
The circular form recalls ideas that have always been associated with it such as continuity, regeneration, balance, and centrality. It evokes movement and, at the same time, summons the idea of place to meet, to gather.

The radial disposition of individual spaces allows taking full advantage of the landscape in all 360 degrees, and the functional distribution of the program, set in array around an inner circular patio, where people can gather. Under the single continuous gesture of the large roof surface are generated distinct spaces, from totally enclosed rooms, to fully open spaces, suiting each space to its function according to the program.
The building is lifted from the ground, leaving the terrain topography untouched, reducing to almost none the need for excavation or land filling. The natural flow of rain water is also preserved. That also allows air to move under the construction, cooling it, and gives the building a more prominent presence, as a landscape reference.

This project not only preserves the locations and offers living conditions to its dwellers as is also enhances the actual natural conditions, by regenerating the plot.

/// KAZUYO SEJIMA

/// EXHIBITIONS YOU SHOULDN'T MISS

(ENG) Experimenta Design Biennale in Lisbon is approaching the end and there are two exhibitions that you shouldn´t miss. If you are around and have the opportunity go and have look at

UTILITAS INTERRUPTA - An Infrastrutural Index Of Unfulfilled Ambitions

1 OCT - 27 NOV
Fundação Arpad Szènes-Vieira
Jardim das Amoreiras
Mãe d'Água

"Since the dawn of time, man’s greatest dreams, challenges and, ultimately, accomplishments have materialised in works of infrastructure. From Babylonian hydraulics to the geoengineered archipelagos of the twenty-first century, great infrastructural works represent the apex of design complexity and achievement—and often, by virtue of their sheer magnitude, the most tangible expression of a culture’s development, ambition and might. Canals, power plants, fortifications, reclaimed lands, particle accelerators, aqueducts, suspension bridges, dams: infrastructure is justifiably held up as the register of society’s collective accomplishment and the historical benchmark of its leaders’ enlightenment."

- - -
DON´T LOOK BACK  - Fernando Brízio Inhabited designs

29 SEPT - 27 NOV
Antigo Convento da Trindade

“Fernando Brízio: Inhabited Designs” constitutes the first retrospective of one of the foremost Portuguese designers of today. His consistent and consciously crafted production, exhibited and published both nationally and internationally, hinges upon the challenging relationship between object and user, and the creation of multi-dimensional projects that evoke several functions and readings. This exhibition provides an intimate and unconventional look at this designer. Encompassing the entire period of his professional activity since 1993, it presents several projects in different stages of development and their respective creative processes, but also biographical notes, documentary interviews (conducted by his daughter, director Salomé Lamas), films that inspire him and books. Thus, the exhibition features multiple formats such as animations, original drawings, catalogues, photographs, models, and, of course, objects. It also incorporates video content and texts by experts from different areas."

/// MOOV GETS 2nd PRIZE IN INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION

(ENG) It is a pleasure to inform that our proposal obtained the Second Prize in the International Architecture Design Competition “Symbiosis in the Rural Landscape” for the new headquarters of Fundecor in Puerto Viejo, Sarapiquí, Province of Heredia, Costa Rica. We will soon get back to the blog with more details about our project and the competition.