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Russia

The system of construction of seismic-resistant houses "LOTOS" allows you to build both low-rise and multi-store residential buildings with the possibility of building 30-40 store buildings. These are not ordinary houses, but they are 20-30% cheaper than even today's most economical large-panel houses. In an earthquake-resistant version, the savings can be much greater. This is achieved through the use of more stable curved walls and a three-ray coordinate system. Concrete consumption is 0.4 -0.5 m3 per square meter. High-rise buildings have high seismic resistance at minimal cost.

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. ‘Marjana therras’ is a personal, poetic view of Tirana, where different simultaneous scenes in a symbolic try to evoke different emotions; scenes of old photographs and bucolic nostalgia, contrasted by estranged people on the streets looking at their phones. 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 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 like he’s at home in his own city, by a simple act of showing an interest in his culture through his own personal — music playlist.

Japan

In Obara village, Fukui Prefecture, Japan, just one elderly individual persists. Once thriving local industries are now mere history, their absence highlighted by the harsh natural environment that hinders a modern lifestyle. The intricate relationship between humans and nature, often seeming like a conflict between the natural and artificial, becomes even more complex when we consider the role of 'weeds'. This is a glimpse into the intricate entanglements of symbiosis within the Satoyama - the gradually disappearing ancient Japanese rural landscapes.

France

‘Terrain Vague’ is a term for spaces that have been unintentionally transformed as the result of design and planning action. The short film reveals the qualities of a Terrain Vague and its users in Versailles in an urgent but poetic tone, inspired by the work of Jem Cohen. ‘Terrain Vague’ is an ode to urban margins everywhere that highlights the shelter these places offer to people that find themselves, either through choice or misfortune, outside of the norms society. The explored terrain in the film is the indirect consequence of planning regulations related to the nearby Palace and Gardens of Versailles. Large parts of the urban fabric of the relatively small town of Versailles cannot be significantly altered due to the UNESCO heritage status of the Palace and Gardens. The development and use of these heritage sites are under strict control as a way to manage, preserve and propagate narratives in the collective memory. The static character of the heritage site has led to the developing of a modern margin to host activities, people and developments that are deemed not fitting within the cultural narrative. As such the Terrain Vague provides space for the people and functions that do not comply with the aesthetic and societal standards of heritage preservation.

Switzerland

Unlike the promises of modernity in design, a single solution fulfills no one's wish. Even if all of us live in the same city under the same environment, everyone is different. Each one of us has individual voices filled with different needs and wants. However, in cities full of modernist structures across the globe, individual differences or cultural uniqueness can no longer be seen. Can design provide a space for uniqueness? Can every citizen be represented equally in a collective space? Instead of alienating ourselves in this concrete habitat, can we re-learn from nature and cultural expressions?" This film speaks for providing people opportunities to design our future knowing the importance of belonging, of nature, of community and connection. Instead of learning from standardized modernist practices full of concrete and computer programs, we need to learn from our past, from nature, and from our own hands. In order to let everyone's voice be heard, we need to first create a space that enables us to embrace our differences in its design.

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.