Looking forward for the launch of the ZATO exhibition catalog on 15th of may at Van Alen Institute, New York. This publication includes a few essays on secret cities issue and also my paper "Studycase #44/ How to open a Closed city", pity I wouldn't be able to be there.
U:lab.spb has been invited to contribute to the exhibition about Closed cities which was opened on 27 of March and will go on till 22 May at Harriman Institute, Columbia University. I was happy to present research on ZATO Sverdlovsk 44 in sections "perimeter" and "territory". There is a forthcoming in the end of the month publication of my essay "ZATO, studycase #44, to open a closed city" within an exibition catalog. Also on 15th of May there will be a panel discussion in Van Alen institute, unfortunately I would not be able to be there. I am very glad that there is a high interest around such an fasinating topic we was working on. Special thanks to the exhibition curator Xenia Vytuleva. ZATO - Secret Soviet Cities during the Cold War
I was kindly invited by Douglas Spencer in the framework of his history and theory lecture course for Landscape Urbanism students to give a talk “Closed Cities” as an "Open system" at Architectural Association. On my lecture I was glad to share my research and results of the Workshop U:Lab.spb made on the unique phenomenon of Russian Closed Cities or so called ZATOs (closed territorial formations)
This is a lecture Landscape DynaMix U:Lab.spb made at Strelka school, the one of two we made in the framework of our workshop Interaction /Branchpoint @ Strelka 2011. The second one hopefully will be available soon.
The focus of the Landscape DynaMix lecture is design of environment as a dynamic system. Here we talk about a new perception on urban environment, about a dynamic relations within a strategy for territory of development and about control over those natural processes that create space. In the second part of the lecture point of my particular interest was to examine horizons of application of few methodologies (including Landscape Urbanism) challenging to deal with design environment as complex dynamic system.
Landscape DynaMix U:Lab.spb unfortunately only in russian
On the workshop INTERACTION @ STRELKA / summer 2011 we proposed to use dynamically developing site of red October as an interactive platform between different actors of the space, urban and virtual landscape of Moscow. Particular challenge of the workshop was to work with environment as with a dynamic system, and use a digital simulation of processes shaping material and virtual landscape of the design site.
We also proposed a different design process, in order elaborate projects on variety of scales and fields, we split project into parallel 4 streams \ clusters. Cluster Landscape Dynamics has todevelop an analytical instrument which was simulating a dynamics of series parameters clusters agreed to work with. At the same time other clusters were developing design prototypes to which analytical instrument had to be applied later in order to reply to the real dynamic processes of the context. In the end we received 4 inter-cluster projects, where dynamicprocesses driving the context got into the interaction with a different scales of the compiled design proposal.
Here are some illustrations, the overall report is published here (in russian)
Analytical instrument / accessibility
Analytical instrument of the simulation of pedestrian circulation in daily dynamic.
Simulation shows monitoring of activity of public attractors during the daytime and calculates the most efficient pedestrian routs. The intensity of pedestrian routs overlaps with tightness and openness of the urban fabric.
On the basis of the dynamic simulation group Information Cell build a set of scenarios which plays with user and navigate them through island tissue.
Application of the dynamic simulation to the tracing of urban corridors prototype
Analytical instrument / strategy of emergence
The focus of this simulation was to define a strategy of development of the creative cluster in the island. Team analyzed existing functions which can generate creative economy (first generation) then defined what the next generation of functions has to come in order to continue the development of the creative economy (and it was a combination of few old one and new), and develop a combination of the 3rd generation when the first generation is coming back but in the new quality.
Team also developed material system which will be driving the potentials of second generation of programs. This material system is a network of the public landscapes which were linking programs of the first generation and also generating the activity related to the new functions likely to appear .
Interactive part of the cross-cluster project proposed a serious of media instillations in order to connect different actors of environment.
Here you can find all the presentation Branchpoint @ Strelka 2011
U:lab.spb just back from annual Architectural Exhibition Archmoscow. Together with Branchpoint project we made an installation about our workshop/lectures activity.
Also U:Lab took a part in the lecture series '5 and a half branches' and presented our lecture "Topology of development / Limits of control"
The installation consisted of material structure representing our workshop projects and interactive media part where audience were able to play with primary logic of the installation structure using kinect.
You may check it out here on youtube (thanks to Yevgeni Shirinyan)
Huge thanks to all guys how helped us with installation (!) , special thanks to Vadim Smahtin with help on media part of installation and to all Branchpoint participants for the great seminar.
Also Daniyar Usupov made a lecture " Design:edu " on architectural education and particular our U:Lab teaching practice.
Together with Branchpoint project we have started the series of programmes at 1stArchitectural Radio http://1arch.ru/. So far U:Lab.spb took part in 3 programs 'Branchpoint' runs, the first one - architectural schools, the second one architecture vrs science, the third one was actually about U:Lab.spb. The lucky one who can understand russian) may chek out our podcasts here http://tochka-vetvleniya.rpod.ru/
Podcast about U:Lab.spb get here http://tochka-vetvleniya.rpod.ru/226537.html#cut
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