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Topic: Blessed Unrest @ Letterfrack? (Read 669 times)

duncan
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Blessed Unrest @ Letterfrack?
« Thread Started on Jun 9, 2008, 12:35pm »

“Operating manual for Spaceship Earth”, the “design revolution” and EASA's part in this critical process.

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The craic at Letterfrack?

Since 1981 a group of European architectural students have been organizing themselves to meet somewhere in Europe to spend 2 weeks living, working, playing together, an autogestion architecture and life summer school of sorts. Originally it started in Liverpool, when concerned students put a call out for help to positively assist the cities docks area as industry wound up, workspaces shut down and surrounding workers living space saw increases in abondanment and crime. A bit similar to the Sheriff Street and East wall communities in Dublin. So these, what I can only imagine as, passionate social minded architects came and did things such as turn abondended dead space into playgrounds and had a profound time of learning. In short, it seems, architecture mattered.

EASA is the name of this collective, which stands for European Architecture Students Assembly, it is the largest student architecture group in Europe and normally a gathering consists of more than 400 of them from all corners of Europe and Beyond. It has always had a magical spirit about it.

in early 90’s EASA visited Dublin in the winter, perhaps you remember footsteps sprayed around the city’s streets? Then the following year it got stuck into what was perhaps its most “real” learning time, the streets, spaces and players of a then brutal, bloody and dangerous sectarian Belfast. EASA has always been “non-political”, in times of conflict and war the bringing together of peoples from different sides and having them live and work together sends out a powerful message of hope. But in these times when everything is politically weighted: “where does your water comes from, do you pay for it, are the charges affordable….” in the safe confines of “fortress Europe” we need not worry too much about these issues, as much as our Bolivian friends do, for example, but as we are a global community we must understand the other world, the world of LOS OTROS.

20 years after Liverpool, EASA was still going strong in terms of the meetings of peoples, which is always a hugely important and enjoyable thing. But, in terms of that getting stuck into full on situations, the “real world” lets call it, by 2002 it seemed there was less magic about. EASA’s world had drifted like so many other things of importance as the years went from DIY punk to corporate yuppie. It seemed that architecture had moved from the passionate days of squatting buildings to fight for housing rights, as in Dublin ’69, to the empty, but wealthier world of what’s fashionable at the Milan catwalk. What is the latest design fad, what cladding looks nicer: architecture had become nothing more important than nice little, and not so little, buildings looking nice in fashion and design mags. The architects forgot that people have to live in these sculptures.

From EASA’s early year experiments in “trouble spots”, the meetings tended to happen more now in “safe” spaces like greek islands with little time for investigation into complex urban conditions and more time for intimate inter cultural exchange, of the romantic sort. These encounters are great, always were, always will be, but there seemed to be a lack of something, a lack of spirit. Then in the Danish island of Bornholme after busy days of building a strawbale house for kindergarden kids a bold French man made a bold proposal: to go back to the city, and all her troubles. To venture to la Condition Publique and the troubled territory it existed in, in the French workers area of Roubaix in Lille. That year, 2005 Lille was the city of culture and EASA, along with their space collaborators EXYZT, were asked to participate in the “neighbourhood of small utopias”. They were invited to come to this zone that desperately needed help and to create a bit of magic, to excite the local, mostly north african, community, to attempt to give them hope, to give them tools to organise and take back ownership of their streets, now that drug wars had dictated no go areas… The organisers said “EASA 2004 will be a political act”, It was a big ask, perhaps too big?

Again was the chance for EASA to try to work in the “real” world of architecture and urbanism, to get stuck into a place with its share of problems, but with that, to try to create solutions. And somewhere in that process unleash the deep joy that goes along with participating in such important process’s that matter.

Unfortunately the experiment failed. Failed because most, not all, but most of EASA had got too accustomed to the easy stress free life, perhaps they had got too arrogant and forgotten how to say hello to strangers? For the most part they choose to work and play with only themselves within the safety confines of the security controlled la CP.

It does have to be said that a very small part of EASA did venture DEHORS, outside, and that connections were made with locals, and that those local kids were excited enough to venture into what was for them the “other world”, the exclusive world that belonged to cops, security and architects. These kids became the teachers for the architects, they thought their traditional stitching techniques they had learned from their Algerian grandmothers while colloborating on the roubaix tapestry.. For those few, some beautiful shared projects and experiences happened. The questions of who are the architects and architecture serving who were clear.

The experiment could have worked, If 400 + people were unafraid and willing to leave the land of safety with a desire for it to work, to really try to create something beautiful and meaningful, it could have been… But, it didn’t. the sad thing is that EASA’s failure further widened the divide between la CP and “her” people. The EASA failure put an end to those adventures for some, there were other groups and spaces to seek out and connect with. But for most, EASA carried on, back in the safe world. It is still a fine world, it just could have been something deeper.

So roll on 3 years, by which time the mainstream trends and governments had realized there was a global crisis, sustainability had become the new buzz word, architects talked again of important issues. 2008; This summer from August 9 till 24th, EASA is coming again to Ireland where they will be investigating / exploring / playing with the idea of ADAPTATION. They will be in Dublin for 2 nights and will then cross the island to live in and work out of the furniture college of Letterfrack. In terms of build up it seems to be the most impressive lead up ever, its seems the irish are buzzed up about this summer, they have already created a dialogue in the media and architecture mags. They have written a clear and thorough booklet outlining their objectives as well telling their islands story, so far. They seek to understand Ireland and the housing problems, they point out flawed planning examples, the point when its necessary to point. But from this event, what will arise?

It seems again there is that spirit to understand, the wish to work with the guts of things, to come up with solutions. We will have to see how it goes. Perhaps we have gone full circle, to a time when again architects seek to make a difference?

Who knows? The only sure thing is that without a doubt, there will be music playing, waves rolled in, hills walked on, pints supped, friendships forged and some amount of craic had this summer in Letterfrack..

more info at: http://easa.antville.org/stories/1803671/

« Last Edit: Jun 9, 2008, 12:39pm by duncan »