20X11

We got a letter saying:

We have the technology, the knowledge and the resources to realize any construction, the only restriction is our own creativity - we have all the answers but:
What is the question?

Friday 1 April we are one of 20 architects invited to:
1 - formulate a question
2 - propose an answer
3 - show the consequences

..all in 11 minutes.. 20X11!

letter from Tokyo, March 2011

We received these words from the PechaKucha head-quarter in Tokyo this week-end:

Dear PechaKucha Night organizers around the world,

We knew it had to happen sometime and here we are with an 8.8 earthquake, the biggest ever in Japan.

But we are all safe at PechaKucha HQ in Tokyo. Thank you for all you messages - we really appreciate it.

Central Tokyo was lucky, only light damage, but as you will see from the TV news the coastline has been devastated. We are trying to get in touch with the PKN organizers in Sendai - very close to the epicenter - and Nagano, but had no replies yet.

Our thoughts our with the whole country.

Astrid, Mark, Tomoko and Jean


..and our thought are with you..


PKN points this info page if you want to know how to help: ultrasupernew. And Morten, one of our fellow organizers of PKN Tromsø, posted a few words on his blog this week-end.

Esfahan - Shiraz - Rasht - Mashad - Masuleh

Back from Iran, Berit shares some of her impressions with us.

New Year in New York

We got new year greetings from Irene and a snowy New York - thanks and happy new year to you too!

letter from le56 in 20th

Doina Petrescu, our friend at aaa, sends us some good news from the 20th arrondissement, to spread around us:

Dear friends,
You have visited, seen, published or just heard about our project Passage 56, St Blaise Paris which has recently been awarded a special mention within the European Prize for Public Space competition. www.publicspace.org

The project has been currently selected for another competition: Prix Grand Public des Architectures contemporaines de la Métropole Parisienne, which presents to the public opinia a selection of recent successful projects in Paris. The 56 is probably the ONLY bottom-up project in the selection, realised with very little money and the participation of inhabitants of the area who have gradually became users and managers of the space. We will be very happy if you can support the Passage 56 bid by voting (or/and commenting) on www.prixpublicarchi.com/espaces_publics/ by 30 June.

Many thanks for your support
aaa and Le56

what's on at 56: 56stblaiseactualites.wordpress.com/ photos: aaa/le56

letters from Monterrey

Our friend and former colleague Federico sends us letters from his home town Monterrey in Mexico. We have his permission to publish some of his thoughts on the sad reality of what is happening in his country right now. So, a couple of day after Cinco de Mayo we forward you these words on the battles of Mexico of today:

Things in Monterrey, believe it or not, have calmed down a bit, but I'm guessing it's because of the grey/rainy days that we're having, even criminals don't feel like going out as much. It's been like that for the last 2 weeks and it shows. No more street blockades (which I haven't seen any personally, and it is now reported that the ones blocking the streets are the same ones that protested back in February of 2009 when the military entered the city, AND they're being paid by the drug fractions about 20USD per day for men, and school supplies for mothers and children that participate.)

It is sad, very sad that this happens, add to that many of these people have lost their jobs and it shows that we have an unhealthy society, where the government does not satisfy the needs.
Our capacity to be amazed at certain violent acts has ceased to exist. All over Mexico the drug wars have made almost every mexican oblivious to the killings, as long as they're killing each other and not innocent people, like what happened at my school, believe it or not, 2 PhD students were killed not long ago. They were caught in the line of fire between military forces and the bad guys in an altercation that took place near one of the entrances of the school. The altercation was at 1am right outside one of the entrances to the school, the military started shooting, the bad guys shot back, the city police came and rescued the bad guys (yes that is the kind of police that we have here). That is a typical story of our judicial system, it is so corrupt that the only people you can semi-trust are the military forces. (They are taking care of kidnapping cases now too, because many policemen have been found were cooperating or are heads of kidnapping gangs).

The city runs almost at top speed, but you do see less people at night, our habits have changed, no stopping at night at convenience stores, shopping for food only at daytime. People are changing their cars to less luxury brands, or not upgrading their cars but rather keeping the one they have, etc. Too much information coming in, or none at all. This is how we live now, not in fear, but cautious all the time, where Monterrey used to be one of the safest cities in Mexico it has become a quite bizarre city. Areas of the city where nothing happened are safe no more, the most random shit, and i say that with all it connotates, happens now in Mexico, and some of these drug gang leaders I swear could could be taken out of ANY horror/suspense/gore/torture movie, it is a war after all, don't want to go into details but you get the idea. (Scare tactics to keep the population at bay)

We are learning to deal with it, it is not all bad news. It is just a matter of time I believe before things get better, it'll probably take years, but we're getting there, at least that's what we're hopeful for.

This is the latest report from Monterrey, people are getting tired of this and it is changing the country I believe, people are more honest in their general day by day activities, in part because you don't know who you are dealing with and in part because people are trying to show each other they they are NOT the bad guys.

But life must go on and we mexicans are quite resilient, we will not give ourselves in to being controlled by a mafia, drug lord, kidnapping gang, extorsion or whatever type of activities that these drug wars have created as parallel criminal activities. We still laugh, we haven't lost our sense of humor, people do want to go out, see their friends etc, house parties have become quite common in lieu of going out late. Again it has made us more cautious of our surroundings, it's like living in Mexico City in the 90's hehe.

I am optimistic and never down, and I believe the people of Mexico are not only wanting Mexico to be better, but they are actually working to make it better! All the best! Big Hugs from "La Ciudad de las Montañas"

Seoul you!

Berit sends us some kim chi and patterns from her trip to Seoul and Tokyo - we want to hear all about it!

t-birds

Beautiful bird-pic from brilliant Berlin-chic - thanks T!

Dette sterke ropet kom lørdag 3. januar kl. 13.50 fra Mads Gilbert, lege p.t. i Gaza:
De bombet det sentrale grønnsaksmarkedet i Gaza by for to timer siden. 80 skadde, 20 drept, alt kom hit til Shifa. Hades! Vi vasser i død, blod og amputater. Masse barn. Gravid kvinne. Jeg har aldri opplevd noe så fryktelig. Nå hører vi tanks. Fortell videre, send videre, rop det videre. Alt. GJØR NOE! GJØR MER! Vi lever i historieboka nå, alle!
Mads G.

We don't understand..

..but it's beautiful!