WE ARE ADVOCATING FOR ROOTED IMAGINATION OF RADICAL SCENARIOS.
WE ARE CATALYSTS ACTING TO RESOLVE COMPLEX PLANETARY ISSUES.
WE ARE A RESPONSIBLE GLOBAL COUNTER-NARRATIVE.
WE ARE A MANIFESTO, WE ARE A CATALOGUE, WE ARE A GRAPHIC.
WE ARE THINKING.
Under the guidance and methodological framework of The Why Factory, the student body of Masters in City and Technology of the Institute of Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC) undertook a research that explores the crossovers between biodiversity, couture and the city. We explored the continuous and evolving relationship that develops amidst this transdisciplinary space, binding the work of Iris Van Herpen Atelier, Naturalis Museum, The Why Factory and IAAC. Our common goal is to contribute to sustainable solutions through technology and design by operating in different environments and through various scales.
Our current planetary urgencies demand collaboration and cooperation. ‘(Every)body is urbanism’ seeks to bring attention to infrastructure and ecology, but the more urgent call is to attend carefully to the human body. How does starting with the body inform our understanding of urbanism? And as we turn our attention to the body, how do we learn from our collective material resources and knowledge to shape future communities and bodies? Put differently, how can skins shape the relationship between urbanism and the body? Can certain planetary urgencies be addressed by dressing our world with different skin?
The goal of the workshop ‘(Every)body is urbanism’ was to generate pioneer ideas for the calculations and visualizations of a versatile mix of couture, heritage, urbanism and biodiversity. As a collective production unit, we used the idea of listing to formulate a collective start-point for all existing possibilities; the development of an extensive cataloguing system created a foundation for all our referencing.
Our vision is an exercise in establishing and promoting a process of thinking, associating, fabricating and responding that could approach planetary urges through streamlined actions and experimenting with the idea of the development skins for (Every)Body!
Our exhibition layout is the reflection of the methodology developed. The design and production of this spatial interface, along with the presentation provides us a platform at identifying relationships. This display is a collective effort; it is an exposition of our processes. An approach surrounded around setting goals as a team to give everyone the opportunity to display and develop their skills and contribute with their unique experiences.
Our aim is not to advocate for radical scenarios. It is first of all to provoke and reflect upon new relationships between micro-organisms, bodies and cities. To reflect upon alternative materialities that host, dress, and shape the structures our bodies occupy. By doing so, dependencies on traditional materials that fuel the exploitation of our planet and its resources becomes increasingly apparent. It is through interdisciplinary and cross-sector collaborations that this dependency can be addressed and solutions designed.
Inspired by The Why Factory and IAAC’s approach, this exercise is here to challenge the boundaries of established standards to produce solutions that reimagine how we live, work, and play. This is an open-ended exploration, one which is curated in a flexible manner to embrace changes as new discoveries are made to accentuate the necessity of the dissemination of design ideas amongst broader audiences. Our approach towards production was surrounded around setting goals as a team to give everyone the opportunity to display and develop their skills and contribute their unique experiences and we hope the viewers find their own narratives within the weave of our methodology.
To see what materials can help dealing with planetary issues, check out our interactive dashboard CLICK HERE!
Every(body) is Urbanism is a project of IAAC, Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia developed by Master in City and Technology in 2021/2022 together with Iris Van Herpen Atelier, Naturalis Museum, The Why Factory
Students: Aida Hassan, Can Xu, Kriti Nirmal, Parshav Sheth, Gayatri Agrawal, Jiyun Lee, Julia Mcgee, Dimitrios Lampriadis, Joseph Bou Saleh, Maria Augusta Kroetz, Robert Yussef, Karim Abillama, Ocean Jangada, Pushkar Runwal, Lucas Zarzoso Hueck, Júlia Maria Ferreira Veiga, Weronika Sojka, Yohan Wadia, Kishwerniha Buhari, Maria Magkavali
Faculty: Winy Maas, Javier Arpa Fernández, Adrien Ravon, Lex te Loo