Changing nothing so that everything is different
Radical pedagogy, dystopic visions, refusal of architecture and contamination with visual arts - radical designers and architects in the ’70s implemented all these strategies in different ways, to question the role played by humankind within territorial transformation. How could environmental thinking develop beyond the concept of sustainability? Which are the possible strategies of urban regeneration and creation of new urban space? How can the city and the countryside merge into an uninterrupted social factory? How to create new consciousness of precarious living between “cities” and “territories”? Revisiting the history of architecture and questioning the fundamentals of its theory, Beyond Entropy has elaborated, through transdisciplinary research experiments, exhibitions and fieldwork investigations, a philosophy where interventions on site are realized through a methodology of “Changing nothing so that everything is different”.
This workshop proposes to reflect on the idea of the city and its evolution after the end of industrialisation in Europe. The attempts at redefining the space of the urban settlement in keeping with ideas of post-industrial economy and gentrification highlight the issue of the role of artistic practices in these processes. Taking as its starting point Aldo Rossi’s ideas (The Analogous City, 1976), that the city should be shaped by historical imagination, collective memories and participation, the laboratory will conduct a case study on Cittadellarte, to verify how this model could become a paradigm for the regeneration of post industrial cities in Italy and beyond.
The week will comprise of lectures, discussions and film screenings focusing on several examples of pedagogical and architectural initiatives attempting to define new operational tools for urban and rural environments.
SCHEDULE
May 11th
morning
Guided tour to Cittadellarte, including the Pistoletto, Arte Povera collections and temporary exhibitions (curated by Luca Furlan)
Group presentation
afternoon
Introduction to the workshop's core topics
May 12th
A day with Beyond Entropy
evening
Film screenings
May 13th
Tool globalism. Case study lecture on Global Tools and Radical Architecture
May 14th
Self-study day, production
May 15th
Summary and reflection on the workshop’s outcomes
REFERENCES
The mentor will prepare a reader for participants with key texts, some of which will be discussed during the week.
Global Tools’ e-book (upcoming)
BIOGRAPHY AND STATEMENT
Silvia Franceschini is an independent curator and researcher in contemporary art and architecture. Her practice deals with the political intersections of education, history and institution making within research based art and design practices.
Her recent curatorial projects address the connections between radical pedagogy and the operaist theories during the “years of lead” in Italy (Global Tools 1973-1975: Towards an Ecology of Design, SALT, Istanbul), institutional critique and political commentaries in the urban sphere of post-socialist Eastern Europe (The Way of Enthusiasts, VAC Foundation, Venice Biennale, 2012) and the notion of “strategy” in global art practices (Sources go dark, Futura Center for Contemporary Art, Prague, 2015).
She studied Cultural Policies at the Strelka Institute for Media, Architecture and Design in Moscow and Design and Art Theory at Politecnico di Milano, where she is now a PhD fellow. Silvia Franceschini is a member of the curatorial team of the upcoming Second Kyiv International Biennale of Contemporary Art 2015 led by Georg Schöllhammer and Hedwig Saxenhuber.
GUESTBeyond Entropy was founded by Stefano Rabolli Pansera in 2009 as a trans-disciplinary research laboratory at the Architectural Association, School of Architecture, London.
Beyond Entropy is now an independent collaborative practice operating at the threshold between art, architecture and geopolitics while developing a variety of projects: from curatorial activities to art installations, from architectural interventions to master-plans, from public debates to publications.
Beyond Entropy is structured as a network operating in situations of territorial crisis: from the urban sprawl of the most industrialized parts of the planet to the derelict infrastructures of deserted islands; from the overcrowded urban development of emerging countries to the preserved areas of historical urban centres.
Beyond Entropy questions preconceived notions in order to produce new ideas about the space we inhabit — our homes, cities, and territories.
www.beyondentropy.com
Stefano Rabolli Pansera is the Director of Beyond Entropy. After working as an architect with Herzog and de Meuron between 2005 and 2007, he taught as Unit Master at the Architectural Association from 2007 to 2011. He has lectured in the Universities of Cagliari, Cambridge, Naples, Wuhan, Seoul and Madrid. In 2009 he founded Beyond Entropy, which operates in Europe, the Mediterranean and Africa. He curated the exhibition Beyond Entropy. When Energy Becomes Form as a collateral event of the "12th International Architecture Exhibition – Venice Biennale 2010". With Paula Nascimento, he has curated the first national participation – the Angola Pavilion at the "13th International Architecture Exhibition – Venice Biennale 2012" and the first national participation – the Angola Pavilion at the "55th International Arts Exposition – Venice Biennale 2013" which received the Golden Lyon. In 2014 he curated the Albanian Pavilion at "14th International Architecture Exhibition – Venice Biennale". Since 2012 he is director of Mangiabarche Gallery in Sardinia.
download the full documentation about the module and the mentor in PDF format
