2O12: BUILDING IMMATERIALITY
“2012:Building Immateriality” is a project created within the competition “Pop-upculture” organised by the cultural programme “Guimarăes 2012 European Capital of Culture”. It represents the seventhof the given categories – “Pop Up Urban Element”. According to its assumptions, the projectconstitutes an attempt to transform the urban landscape alongside conveying amessage. The project’s main objective is a revitalization of the vacant orneglected areas, integrating the community, but above all changing a way of using the public space and bringing citizens and thepublic space closer to each other. The designed facility aims at takingpeople’s out of their houses or apartments and letting them enjoy and cherishthe outdoors space. The monolith’s goal is to show that public does not equal nobody’s.According to it, public means belonging,available and friendly to everybody. The idea is to create a public spaceas without limits of all kinds. Kids, teenagers, adults and the elderly peoplecan give full reins to their imagination. With the structure, equipped with aplug, people can do whatever they want (bring a laptop, listen to the music, watchthe football game or TV series), giving the example that things than could bedone at home now gains a new factor – a social interaction! As a result ofspending time outdoors together, the new bonds and friendships are created andthe community is becoming more integrated. The facility which is a place of social gatherings and different formsof entertainment both by day and night also stands as an example that publicsphere can be attractive regardless the time. The structure’s inspiration comesfrom the futuristic movies, like the Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: Space Odyssey”,where the introduction of a strange, previously unknown element brings adevelopment to the society. With that idea in mind, the project puts its hopethat the monolith can also revitalizethe bond between citizens and public space, which thanks to the new,extraordinary, urban element now represents equality, diversity, attractiveness and full availability for thecommunity. It is believed, that once portrayed as futuristic, differentways of utilisation of the public space can become a reality and create atotally new quality of life for the whole city.
