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Albania

A short film created as a spontaneous action of inclusion of a local taxi driver into the conversation of foreign passengers, three friends. Although we didn’t speak the same language as him, in this short moment in time we let the music he likes become our way of silent communication with him. The simultaneous scenes of walking along the labyrinth of meander lines, drawn on the floor of Rruga Sermedin Said Toptani, symbolize the complex paths of interpersonal relations between strangers. While I was staying in Tirana I had a strong feeling of empathy towards older, local people. I saw that often they don’t speak any foreign languages, while at the same time, because of economic challenges Albanian people face, they are “forced to” work with tourists. As Tirana is rapidly growing and changing, the city center is full of foreigners, both investors and tourists. Local people don’t take a taxi — they take a bus or they drive a taxi. Local people often don’t go out to eat in restaurants — the eat at home or they work in restaurants. Economic differences between local people and foreigners are felt in all areas of life. In Tirana, I had a strong feeling that local people from Tirana often feel as second-grade citizens in their own city, “occupied” by English-speaking foreigners, surrounded by fancy shops, cars and restaurants, which they, local people — can’t afford. This short film is a documentation of one humble effort of trying to make a local taxi driver feel he’s at home in his own city, by a simple act of showing an interest in his culture via his own personal — music playlist.

Russia

The red triangle. One of the oldest industrial enterprises of the city of St. Petersburg.The first rubber factory in Russia.Since the beginning of the 2000s, the factory buildings have been in a deplorable state. Most of the plant's premises are abandoned. The windows are broken. And the territory of the plant itself no longer belongs to its original owners and is attractive for lovers of the aesthetics of abandoned buildings. Several shoe companies operate in separate buildings of the industrial zone, but the volume of production of rubber shoes is very small.Sevkabel Port is a favorite place for residents of St. Petersburg in the Harbor of Vasilievsky Island. A recently closed industrial area, today it is one of the most welcoming and hospitable spaces of the city. All the monuments of industrial architecture that are on the territory are carefully restored, endowed with new modern functions. And the architectural concept of the project delicately emphasizes the historical memory of the place. There are various functional zones on the territory of the Port where you can create projects, work, spend free time, engage in creativity and sports. There are bureaus, workshops and offices, exhibition, concert and sports halls, children's studios, shops and showrooms, restaurants, cafes and bars.Today, the share of the so-called "gray belt" in the central part of the city is almost 40%. The appearance of the "gray belt" is a feature of more than one St. Petersburg. Many cities in Europe, and indeed all over the world, have faced this problem to varying degrees. Based on convincing examples of renovation of depressive zones, we are able to adapt former industrial buildings to new functions!

Georgia

Portugal

MuBE portrays the “Museu Brasileiro da Escultura” built in 1987 by the Architect Paulo Mendes da Rocha. The short movie invites the spectator for a slow journey through the museum, enlightening the relation among the building, the cityscape and the nature, blurring the boundaries between private and public space. His attitude towards architecture was not just to make aesthetic and solitary architecture, but first of all he strived to change the thinking of the people, living, visiting or working in his buildings. In his architecture, rooms act like public spaces, where no divisions and privacy nor segregation take place. People are forced to interact and live together. In his mind, a house should not be more than a place to sleep. And all the rest of the functions are happening in the city itself. MuBE was designed as an introverted, restrained building, carved into stone, it does evolve all the necessary functions in the subterranean layers of São Paulo without disturbing the visual aspect of the surrounding landscape. The portico, the roof over the communal spaces, shelters sculptures and visitors from rain and sunlight, like a stone in the sky. The short movie emphasizes the stone in the sky, through the infinite palette of degradation, weathering patinas and the ever aging construction materials in opposition to contemporary forms of fast architecture and unsustainable resources. Paulo Mendes da Rocha's architecture transcends time and social limits of an inhospitable and inhuman society. Through the use of materials in their most legitimate aspects, Brutalism reveals itself in essence, thus echoing the meaning of architecture: to develop spaces that link city and people.

Denmark

The bridges are an important urban element in Copenhagen, providing different ways of navigating the city. A bridge in the city is not only a connection to the waterfront, it contains a broader definition. By observing the bridges, we can see Copenhagen's diverse lifestyle and the city's inclusive culture.

Korea South

The other path that Shin presents us with in Acrobat (2021) is one that draws us in from outside the stage. This is not the sort of route we find on a navigation device, which guides us toward our destination based on measurements and calculations. This route is a long way away from recorded data volumes and efficiency. It guides us into a place where years of dust drift, a place that exudes the characteristic damp odors we find underground. In Acrobat, Shin proposes ways of interpreting space through the senses. Both videos are set around intake stations, which were used in the past to store water but are no longer employed today. Dried up and (seemingly) fated to remain unvisited by anyone, they call to mind enormous time capsules that remain sealed past their scheduled opening date, their whereabouts unclear. They also resemble stones that were raised to commemorate something in the past that no one visits anymore. Inside this discontinued intake station is a person – a person who feels, measures, and seeks. There is no defined route. Yet he moves nimbly and constantly, keenly sensing the floors, the walls, and the structure. In the world in which he perceives, the once-solid order of the “named” takes on a flexible quality. In a sense, the staircase is not a staircase to him. Named things are reinterpreted like, length of stride, body width, and grip strength: a tread-board for the feet, and a railing to stop the body from falling. These experiments suggest that with his physically based explorations, Shin Jungkyun sought to open up new structures and paths as he diluted the meaning of each individual element. The Acrobat suggests a more roundabout path to those of us who firmly believe that we are already predicting the path toward tomorrow, or who balance between anxiety and helplessness as we wonder how valid the paths we have established will remain. It also poses a question for us: what should we be latching on to as we proceed toward the future? The bright light of a lamp that whites out whatever clue we’ve managed to find? Or a finger capable of sensing all the roughness and quivering of a surface? Sometimes, the things that we view as the most obviously reliable are the ones that lead us to ambiguous places. It is in this context that Shin Jungkyun reactivates the expired time capsule, entreating us to move along its length, width, and depth – setting today in motion in the process. Most of all, he asks us to be awake in this place where no path to the future can be found.