Belgium

Fifth episode of a mini series about Belgian contemporary architecture commissioned by Wallonie-Bruxelles Architecture in the framework of EUMiesAward 2022. Let’s discover Mexico, a social housing in Molenbeek designed by Vers.A Architecture.

Denmark

A wall is a significant architectural gesture. There is an indication of an inside and an outside. An indication of power and a historical significance. It is the material consequence of an abstract line that was drawn. In urban contexts historical walls stand in space and time, serving as reminders of what once was and yet still partially is. “In Rome […] people live more in streets than at home” (Pasolini). The Aurelian wall, perforated and surrounded by the streets of Rome, inhabited by humans and time, appears as dynamic and vital, meandering and static all at the same time. But what might be perceived as a seclusive body of mass and a symbol of the remains is in fact, when distinguishing between living on the street and in the street, a body who offers itself as home for those without one. The scenes of the walls exhibit the rejection and invitation, dwelling and deserting. The theater of the street would not be the same without its walls.

Georgia

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.

Azerbaijan

Baku is an industrial oil city and the country's primary export - oil and gas is sucked off from the Caspian Sea which has a significant contribution to the city's identity, infrastructure, design, and culture as well as its economy. The oil industry has been expanding and shaping the destiny of Baku for almost more than 5 decades now and without it, neither the city could be the way it is now, nor the country. The industry brings major challenges to the city during resource-demanding oil production by emitting alarming levels of greenhouse gases, polluting air and water bodies, degrading land, and mismanaging toxic oil waste. As a result of it, the Caspian Sea is highly polluted, and most coastal areas of the sea even have a hazardous level of toxicity for swimming. On top of everything, most citizens are very irresponsible with their trash around the coast and it adds up to the catastrophic pollution of the Caspian. The city’s major identity comes from the Caspian Sea, however, it is heartbreaking to see the trash and oil leakage pounding the shores of the 16 KM long Baku Boulevard when you walk along it. Due to the mismanagement of waste and lack of public awareness the shores are getting dirtier every other day and it is becoming impossible to find a clean spot to swim in the summer to survive the heat waves. Also, the privatization of the beaches is another challenge, and access to clean shores is becoming more and more commercialized and expensive to enter. Thus, access to swimming is becoming very exclusive for the working class and many had to bear the smell, inconvenience, and ugliness of public beaches.

France

The relationships change in a house while the wifi is disconnected.