Notations @ Notebook DAMDI Publishers

Hybrid Space Lab developed a series of projects for the radical appropriation of the controversial Humboldt Forum in Berlin:
Whereas Humboldt Jungle formulated a strong vision for the re-wilding of the Forum and Humboldt Volcano developed a concrete architectural design solution that addresses many of the foreseeable problems in the Humboldt Forum and that could be realized in the (near) future, Humboldt Kosmos is a fictional universe based on Humboldt Forum that opens up a multiplicity of possible futures.

Publication Humboldt Futures @ Atlas der Datenkörper 2, Transcript Verlag, Germany, 27 May 2024

Playgrounds, gardens, sports areas.
The roofs of apartment buildings can become a true above-ground city, with multiple benefits for the environment and our socializing.

Interview @ SHEDIA magazine 111, Athens, May 2023

A sort of staircase enveloped in jungle thickets, a waterfall and food offerings on the way up to the roof of Berlin’s city castle.

Publication @ RBB, Berlin, 5 February 2023

As adventurous as Humboldt himself: The design by the architecture firm Hybrid Space Lab for the Berlin Palace.

Publication by Julia Weiss @ Tagesspiegel, Berlin, 31 January 2023

Hybrid Space Lab wrote the lead article “hybrid” for tanz yearbook 2022, the international magazine for ballet, dance and performance,  focussing on the body and space in the context of the physical and the digital.

Publication hybrid @ tanz, Germany, 19 August 2022

The pilot issue of KHM Magazine (#0) entitled “Out of Time” will address questions such as: What does it mean for people in general and artists in particular to have to keep their distance? How do we experience the changing world, the fears, hopes or anger, promises and consolations? How can we react to them or think of them in terms of a changed future? How is our relationship to closeness and distance changing?

Article Post COVID-19 City @ Academy of Media Arts, Cologne, Germany, 27 July 2022

Baunetz showcases ReWild Autobahn as part of the Berlin Atlas.

Publication ReWild Autobahn @ BauNetz, Berlin Atlas, Berlin, 19 November 2021

Our whole sense of reality is shaped by our hybrid existence. Hybridity is a multifaceted notion, as we are experiencing a proliferation of hybridization in all dimensions of our contemporary life. This is discussed in an article on Hybrid Space, published by the Lithuanian Union of Architects.

Publication Hybrid Spaces @ Regeneration [and its Discontents], Lithuanian Architectural Foundation, Vilnius, Lithuania, 4 June 2021

We need a fresh, radically innovative and solutions-oriented approach to address the various forms of contested heritage sites in a way that is fit for the 21st century.
Article on Hybrid Space Lab’s work on contested monuments, is published in Italy.

Publication Re-Charting Places @ Contested Spaces – Concerted Projects: Designs for Vulnerable Memories, LetteraVentidue Edizioni, Syracuse, Italy, April 2021

Hjärnstorm, the Swedish independent journal of art, literature, philosophy published an article on Deep Space.

Publication Valle de los Caídos: the Digital Architecture Embraces a Painful Heritage, Cecilia Nyman @ Hjärnstorm Stockholm, 5 January 2021

Hybrid Space Lab contributes to the international conference “Practices of Inheritance – Metaphors, Materializations, Power Constellations” of the “IDENTITY AND HERITAGE” research cluster of the Bauhaus University Weimar and Technical University Berlin.

Lecture Hybrid Heritage @ Bauhaus University Weimar & Technical University Berlin, Conference Practices of Inheritance, Metaphors, Materializations, Power Constellations, Tempelhof Airport, Berlin, 19 November 2020

Berlin’s contribution to the debate on monuments: What to do with Franco’s mausoleum?
Do not destroy it, says the Berlin office Hybrid Space Lab as it lays out ideas for a new way of dealing with the controversial Franco memorial in the “Valley of the Fallen” near Madrid.

Publication, Bernhard Schultz, journalist @ Der Tagesspiegel, Berlin, 16 July 2020

Monuments are Vehicles of Meaning. Elizabeth Sikiaridi and Frans Vogelaar research how to negotiate monuments’ narratives and how to bring criticism.

Interview, Brigitte Werneburg, journalist @ taz, Germany, 14 July 2020

As the use of digital instruments is rapidly increasing during the current COVID-19 pandemic, new options for spatial organization and the possible consequences of digitization are more sharply outlined. This creates the necessity to rethink the digitalization model we want to follow and to address issues such as who should benefit from digitization and what our city visions are.

Publication The Right to the Hybrid City @ Marlowes Magazine for Architecture and City, Germany, 19 May 2020

The Valley of the Fallen without Franco: the fate of the other 33,847 dead”
This is the title of the article by journalist Sílvia Marimom Molas in the Catalan Newspaper ARA on the future of the Valle de los Caídos with an interview on Deep Space.

Article The Valley of the Fallen without Franco: the fate of the other 33,847 dead, Sílvia Marimom @ Catalan Newspaper ARA, Barcelona, 23 November 2019 

Hybrid Space Lab plan is in line with the undoubtedly most important question for contemporary cultural identity: the relationship between tradition and innovation. Their idea of ​​a growing green world around the castle is the portrayal of the idea of ​​tradition as a dynamic phenomenon.

Publication A small history of the biggest German struggle, Merlijn Schoonenboom @ Querido Publishers, Amsterdam, November 2019

In the article “Without Franco, what to do with the colossal Valle de los Caídos?” for HuffPost, Anthony Berthelier describes the project “Deep Space: re-signifying Valle de los Caídos” with its creative approach for addressing controversial history and contested heritage.

Article Without Franco, what to do with the colossal Valle de los Caídos?, Anthony Berthelier @ HuffPost , France, 24 October 2019

The main Berlin newspaper Der Tagesspiegel, published an article on the Green party questions on the implementation of the Humboldt Jungle raised in the Bundestag, the German parliament.
“And in order to honor their name, the Greens asked for the “state of the considerations (…), a greenery, a so-called Humboldt Jungle, to be installed”. The brief reply: “Further measures on the facades are not provided.”

Publication Humboldt costs, yes and no @ Der Tagesspiegel, Germany, 19 July 2019

The Valley of the Fallen is a large memorial erected near Madrid in the mountain range of the Sierra de Guadarrama on the initiative of the dictator Francisco Franco. It is dedicated to the fallen of the Spanish Civil War. Within the scope of the project “Deep Space” it is proposed to transform the monument by digital means.

Publication From Monument to Memorial@ Magazine for Architecture and City Marlowes, Germany, 16 Juli 2019

One of the “questions” concerning the Humboldt Forum that the German Green Party (Fraktion BÜNDNIS 90/DIE GRÜNEN) put before the German Parliament, the “Deutscher Bundestag” on 2 July 2019 was:
Question 22: “What is the current state of the considerations on the part of the Federal Government for the greening of the facades, to install a so-called Humboldt Jungle?”

Publication 19/11306 Answer @ Deutscher Bundestag, German Federal Government, Germany, 2 July 2019

Article “We come for the place, not for Franco “: El Valle de los Caídos, a tourist site almost like the others” by journalist Juliette Campion, France Televisions.

Publication, Juliette Campion @ France TV Info, Paris, 10 June 2019

Deep Space is an international project to re-think the burial site of former dictator Franco.Deep Space, presented at the Goethe Institut in Madrid, uses augmented reality to change the totalitarian nature of the Spanish Civil War monument the Valley of the Fallen.

Publication, Peio H. Riaño @ El País, Madrid, 6 June 2019

By means of creativity, Hybrid Space Lab’s approach paves the way towards a more integrated, collective processes of memory- and meaning-making.
Bringing creativity into controversial situations informs engagement with contentious landscapes, negotiation stasis, and political reticence.

Publication Creative Crossovers @ Public Diplomacy Magazine, University of Southern California, USC Annenberg, USC Centre on Public Diplomacy, USC Masters of Public Diplomacy Program, USA, 7 June 2019

Hybrid Space Lab unleashed and subsequently curated a heated discourse around this utopian proposition. The combination of tabloid-friendly imagery with international expertise on greening cities and climate change proved to be a highly effective strategy.

Publication Make City, Francesca Ferguson, MAKE_SHIFT @ Make City, Berlin, May 2019

Working on places of conflict can be extremely challenging.Architecture practice Hybrid Space Lab takes a rather unique approach for the re-signification of the controversial site of Valle de los Caídos in Madrid, the burial ground of Spain’s dictator Francisco Franco and 33,000 victims of the country’s brutal civil war.

Article by Elena Rossoni @ Bnieuws TU Delft, The Netherlands, 5 February 2019

An initiative of the Hybrid Space Lab, in cooperation with the Neonyt Fair and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Berlin.

Publication Neonyt Fair @ Fraulein Magazine, Germany, 15 January 2019

Frans Vogelaar wants to give the Valley of the Fallen in Spain, one of the most controversial places in the world, new meaning. How does the founder of the Berlin design lab and think tank Hybrid Space Lab think to do that with use of digital technology?

Article Deep Space @ Het Financieele Dagblad, the Netherlands, January 2019

The Valley of the Fallen, the shrine of Franco’s dictatorship, is still dividing Spain.
With the words “Die heiße Asche des Diktators”, in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) of November 1st 2018, journalist Paul Ingendaay captures the toxicity of the highly divisive Francoist Memorial at Valle de los Caídos, as well as the urgency of Hybrid Space Lab’s workshop Deep Space: Re-signifying Valle de los Caídos.

Article The Hot Ashes of the Dictator, Paul Ingendaay @ Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, 1 November 2018

Catalan journalist Sílvia Marimon Molas describes in her article “The Gaze of European Experts” in the Catalan newspaper ARA on 31st October 2018 the workshop “Deep Space: Re-signifying Valle de los Caídos” participants’ visit to the site and the necessity of a change of the monument’s narrative.

Publication The Gaze of European Experts, Sílvia Marimon @ ARA Catalonia, Spain, 31 October 2018

In the chapter “International Developments; The Schlossplatz and the Museum Island in Berlin” Humboldt Volcano is mentioned as the example of the rethinking of the Humboldt Forum.

Publication The Vienna Hofburg since 1918 @ Institute of Art and Music Historical Research, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria, 1 October 2018

How is Berlin becoming a socially just smart city?
The Make City Festival discussed ideas like the Humboldt Volcano at the Humboldt Forum designed by Hybrid Space Lab.

Publication, Susanne Isabel Yacoub @ Garten + Landschaft, Germany, 15 August 2018

Berlin urgently needs new ideas, impulses and visions.
Humboldt Volcano was the featured image in the article by TIP Magazine.

Publication, Iris Braun @ TIP, Berlin, 14 June 2018

The “MakeCity 2018” architecture festival with 250 events in 18 days aims to make architecture in the capital more transparent and invites people to join in the conversation and help develop it

Article @ YEAST, Germany, 15 June 2018

With the increasing urbanization and the virulent climate crisis, interest in nature is also growing. In various formats, such as talks, discussions, guided tours, exhibitions, workshops, open-house events and more, the public is invited to think of green and gray infrastructure in the city. Something like this: what if we were to look at urban space from the perspective of animals and plants?

Publication @ Baunetz, Germany, 15 June 2018

The “MakeCity 2018” architecture festival with 250 events in 18 days aims to make architecture in the capital more transparent and invites people to join in the conversation and help develop it.

Publication Rethinking Berlin @ Berliner Kurier, Berlin, 14 June 2018

It must be a very special event when Ada Colau, former city activist and since 2015 Mayor of Barcelona, and Sadiq Aman Khan, London’s first Muslim city head, travel to Berlin without being invited by the Governing Mayor.
Nevertheless, both will be in town on Thursday – and will open the second Make City Festival with building senator Katrin Lompscher and other guests.
The theme of the 18-day event is “City Remixed”.

Publication, Uwe Rada @ TAZ, Berlin, 11 juni 2018

Rüdiger Schaper, author and head of the cultural department of the Berlin “Tagesspiegel” presents his biography on Alexander von Humboldt and discusses Hybrid Space Lab’s  Humboldt Volcano project during our Studio Talk @ MakeCity Festival. Moderation is by Merlijn Schoonenboom, historian and journalist.

Studio Talk, Reading, Presentation & Discussion @ MakeCity Festival, Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Berlin, 5 June 2018

BPD Magazine will publish in June 2018 a double interview with Prof. Frans Vogelaar, Partner at Hybrid Space Lab in Berlin and Prof. Dr. Elphi Nelissen, Dean of the Faculty of Architecture at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) on how digitization is changing mobility and the city. They explore the possibilities of digital technologies for citizens and cities and the design of future cities.

Double Interview with Prof. Dr. Elphi Nelissen & Prof. Frans Vogelaar @ BPD Magazine, The Netherlands, 1 June 2018

Affect Space refers to self-mediated leisure spaces that act as affective backdrops for digital self-activation.
Hybrid Space Lab presents Deep Space in this context.

Lecture &  Discussion Affect Space, Transmediale Festival Face Value, @ Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, 4 February 2018

The Swiss architectural magazine Archithese published “Humboldt-Dschungel” as part of the issue on “Ruines”.
How would it be if the Berlin City Palace grew huge trees, sprouted up exotic plants and toppled a waterfall?
The Think Tank Hybrid Space Lab presents a refreshingly ruinous idea in the discussion about the controversial reconstruction.

Publication Humboldt Jungle @ archithese, Architecture Magazine, Switzerland, 15 January 2018

The documentary “Fabric” which we made for the documenta 14 is now part of the archive of the Foundation of the Hellenic World and of the collection of the Hellenic Cosmos Cultural Centre.

Archive Foundation of the Hellenic World @ Hellenic Cosmos Cultural Centre, Athens, 14 December 2017

Adam Szymczyk, director of documenta 14, refers to the documentary Fabric in the documenta 14 magazine South.

Publication South issue #9, Katerina Koskina, Adam Szymczyk, Domenick Ammirati @ documenta 14, Kassel/Athens, 17 September 2017

Only a few construction projects in Germany are more controversial than the rebuilding of the City Palace in Berlin. With a bold plan, the Dutch professor Frans Vogelaar knows how to break the stuck debate.In the heart of Berlin one of the most controversial buildings of the moment stands out: the rebuilding of the Berliner Stadtschloss.

Publication, Bertus Bouman @ duitslandnieuws.nl, Berlin, 15 September 2017

Rüdiger Schaper, head of the cultural section of the German newspaper Der Tagesspiegel presents the Humboldt Volcano in an article entitled “Welcome to the Jungle – rescheduling is not forbidden, there is still time. The article, which gives an overview of the current discussion about the Humboldt Forum, is illustrated with a large-scale image of Humboldt Volcano. Humboldt Volcano acts as a symbol and icon for a better Humboldt Forum.

Publication Rüdiger Schaper @ Der Tagesspiegel, Berlin, 1 September 2017

In Deutsche Bauzeitung the author Bernhard Schulz, who is editor in the culture edition of Tagesspiegel Berlin publishes an article on the reconstruction of the Berlin City Palace.
The article also refers to Humboldt Volcano.

Article Fake Architecture, Bernhard Schulz @ DB Deutsche Bauzeitung, Germany, 1 September 2017

Improving life in Athens requires thoughtful investment and realistic proposals. Poly Garden City is a project for Athens, which incorporates green on a wide variety of hard surfaces of buildings, creating gardens and helping to change the microclimate.

Article Poly Garden City, Nikos Vatopoulos @ Kathimerini Newspaper, Greece, 29 June 2017

Publication of the research on the Athens “Rex” theater and cinema complex in the Greek daily “Kathimerini”. The research on “Rex” was done in preparation of the documentary “Fabric” that is screened at the Athens School of Fine Arts in the framework of documenta 14 from April to July 2017.

Article Rex, Nikos Vatopoulos @ Kathimerini Newspaper, Greece, 18 May 2017
Article Rex, Nikos Vatopoulos @ ekathimerini Newspaper, Greece, Website, 11 June 2017

“Fabric” features the life cycle of “Greek Spinning and Weaving Mills”, but at the same time it is the narration of the greater framework in which the bourgeois citizens of the Ottoman Empire acted. It focusses on the role of Athens after 1922 and on the industrialization with the many workers’ hands of the refugees from Asia-Minor, on social responsibility, and on labor ethos.
Fabric is screened at the “Old Library” space of the Athens School of Fine Arts during documenta 14.

Screening Fabric @ documenta 14, Academy of Fine Arts, Athens, 8 April – 17 July 2017
Publication Fabric, Nikos Vatopoulos @ Kathimerini Newspaper, Greece, 28 April 2017
Publication Fabric, Chara Papadimitriou @ Punta Grecia, Greece, 10 May 2017
Publication Fabric, Nikos Vatopoulos @ ekathimerini Newspaper, Greece, 11 May 2017

Reconciling supporters and opponents of “Humboldt Forum”, the Humboldt Jungle and Humboldt Volcano received a strong positive reception in the Berlin cultural world.

Publication Green Emperor made in Greece, Nikos Vatopulos @ Kathimerini Greek Newspaper, 24 January 2017

The special art edition of the German newspaper DER TAGESSPIEGEL Kunst 2016, which appears during the 9th Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art, publishes an article by Bettina Homann, an interview on the projects Humboldt Volcano and Humboldt Jungle.

Publication Design Zone by Bettina Homann @ DER TAGESSPIEGEL Kunst 2016, Berlin, 2 September 2016

798 and the Creative Cluster Conundrum is a highly ambitious and innovative project in order to plan the next step of Beijing’s renowned 798 Art District and is presented during Beijing Design Week.

Workshop & Presentation INbetweenSTITUTE @ Urban China Magazine, Beijing, 26 – 27 September 2016

Today, with ecological aspects gaining in importance and the Circular Economy becoming central to the EU strategy, the focus of architecture and urban planning is shifting from the completion of new objects to dealing with cycles. Landscape architecture has always had such an orientation towards cycles and processes, since it dealt with growing and decaying matter. At the edges, these disciplines come together; it is here that the interrelationships and metabolisms of the different fields are most effective.

Publication Foundation of the Brandenburg Technical University Cottbus @ Brandenburg Technical University Cottbus-Senftenberg, Chair of Landscape Architecture and Planning, ISBN 978-3-940471-24-6, IKMZ University Library, Cottbus, Germany, 13 March 2016

Berliners, do you want this fairy tale castle?
Berliner Kurier, the Berlin newspaper, publishes an article by Stefanie Hildebrandt on Humboldt Jungle.

Publication Berliners, do you want this fairy tale castle? Stefanie Hildebrandt @ Berliner Kurier, 20 February 2016

DIE ZEIT, the German weekly newspaper publishes an article by Dr. Werner Bloch on Humboldt Dschungel.
Berlin discusses a big idea: the Humboldt Dschungel.
It is the idea to elicit from the bold cultural monster, the Humboldt Forum, something more playful, rampant, outlandish…Is Humboldt Dschungel the better Humboldt Forum?

Publication Is this the rescue?, Dr. Werner Bloch @ DIE ZEIT, Nr. 9/2016, Germany, 18 February 2016

German radio presents interviews and discussions on Hybrid Space Lab’s Humboldt Jungle proposal for the future of the Humboldt Forum in Berlin.

Interview, Dr. Werner Bloch @ MDR Figaro, WDR3, Deutschlandfunk, Ö1 ORF1, Germany & Austria, 10, 11, 18 February 2016
Discussion @ SWR2 Wissensmagazin, Germany, 11 February 2016
Discussion @ NDR3 Journal, Germany, 11 February 2016
Discussion @ SR2 Kulturmagazin Länge Sieben, Germany, 11 February 2016
Discussion Greening of the facade is “absurd idea” @ Deutschlandradio Kultur, Germany, 15 February 2016
Discussion Wilhelm von Boddien & Elizabeth Sikiaridi on the Humboldt Jungle @ Deutschlandradio Kultur, Germany, 19 February 2016

Humboldt Jungle press, radio and WEB publications.

Awareness Campaign Humboldt Jungle @ Press, Germany & International, 2015-2016

At the Berlin Castle, where the baroque façade is still missing, “Humboldt Jungle” is to grow.
On Tuesday evening, the project initiators spoke to experts and representatives of the various castle initiatives about possible implementations.

Publication Seductive Image, Brigitte Werneburg, Journalist @ TAZ, Berlin, 8 July 2015

open! the platform for Art, Culture & the Public Domain published an essay by Eric Kluitenberg on Hybrid Space titled “Affect Space”.

Publication Affect Space, Eric Kluitenberg @ open! Platform for Art, Culture & the Public Domain, Amsterdam, 10 March 2015

Greek lifestyle magazine Lifo published article on Hybrid Space Lab’s workshop on the revision of the “hated” Athenian apartment buildings.

Article by Dimitris Kyriazis @ Lifo, Athens, 14 January 2015

Publication by Hybrid Theory and Practice in Format P: Disobedience. Theory and Practice by the Bec Zmiana Foundation, Warsaw.

Publication Hybrid Theory and Practice, Disobedience: Theory and Practice @ Format P, Bec Zmiana Foundation, Warsaw, Poland, December 2013

On Wednesday 9 April 2014 in the evening the walls of the Opera House became a canvas for a light installation. The approximately 15 minute animation runs in a continuous loop on the facade of the opera house.

Merkel admonishes industry. Holland lets opera shine.And its European neighbour is bringing the atmosphere of the trade fair directly into the city: films about the “City of the Future” will be projected onto the façade of the opera house every evening until Wednesday.

Projection Smart & The City @ Opera, Hannover, Germany, 5 April 2014

On Wednesday 9 April 2014 in the evening the walls of the Opera House became a canvas for a light installation. The approximately 15 minute animation runs in a continuous loop on the facade of the opera house.

Hybrid Space Lab’s article Notations is published in the book “Architect’s Notebook” by DAMDI Publishing, Seoul, October 2013.

Publication Notations @ DAMDI Publishing Co, Architect’s Notebook, Seoul, South Korea, October 2013

For the Design Journal, an international, refereed journal covering all aspects of design, Hybrid Space Lab wrote the article Rebooting (Dutch) Design on hybrid design for the special issue on Dutch Open design.

Publication Dutch Open @ Design Journal Volume 15, United Kingdom, December 2012

Max Urai interviews Professor Frans Vogelaar, who is a professor for Hybrid Space at the Academy of Media Arts in Cologne.

Interview by Max Urai @ BLIK #5.0, University Utrecht, Media and Cultural Sciences, Utrecht, The Netherlands, March 2012

Hybrid Design initiated by Prof. Frans Vogelaar, Academy of Media Arts Cologne, approaches technological developments from the perspective of the designer, by “inhabiting technology”, by transforming these technological developments to meet the way we want to live. It introduces the design fields that are emerging through the combination and fusion of environments, objects and services in the information-communication age.

Publication Re: Thinking Innovation, Haydn Shaughnessy @ Forbes, USA, 16 October 2011

The Department of Hybrid Space / Academy of Media Arts Cologne Germany (KHM) and its founder, Prof. Frans Vogelaar, presents “Hybrid Design”, consisting of lectures, screenings and a workshop on self replicating 3D printers (Fab Lab).

Lectures, Exhibition & Workshop Hybrid Design @ Beijing Design Week, Beijing, China, 27 September-3 October 2011

Primary Conditions: The Emancipation of the Pluripotential.
In the societies of control, power relations come to be expressed through the action at a distance of one mind on another, through the brain’s power to affect and become affected, which is mediated and enriched by technology.

Publication Cognitive Space, From Biopolitics to Noopolitics Architecture & Mind in the Age of Communication and Information @ 010 Publishers, Delft School of Design Series on Architecture and Urbanism, Rotterdam, 2010

The Winter Worm Summer Herb pavilion consists of triangular plywood plates sown together with the help of cable binders.
At a very low cost and low technology construction the pavilion is also a flexible mobile structure that can be very easily disassembled, transported, reassembled and sown together again, adjusting to the size of the site and the local requirements.

Publication City Kit @ Platform 21, Dutch Design Foundation, 20 October 2022

Playing the game City Kit, you adapt a digital version of your local surroundings according to your desires. In a switch from changes in the neighbourhood that are beyond your control, City Kit makes you the architect, urban planner, environmental expert or designer. City Kit is currently shown with a presentation and demo version and soon you will be able to play and experience the game at Platform 21 during Checking Reality.

Exhibition City Kit @ Checking Reality, Dutch Design Foundation Premsela, Platform 21, Amsterdam, 18 May-27 August 2008
Publication @ Curatorial Cooking, Dutch Design Foundation Premsela, Platform 21, Amsterdam, 18 May 2008
Lecture Participatory Design @ Club Real #4, Dutch Design Foundation Premsela, Platform 21, Amsterdam, 27 August 2008

This contribution discusses the interdisciplinary aspects of Iannis Xenakis’ oeuvre and his Synthesis of the Arts. In doing so, I draw on archival research-including Xenakis’ personal archives in Paris and interviews with him.

Publication, Lecture & Discussion Iannis Xenakis @ Make it New, le Poème électronique, Alice Foundation , Eindhoven, the Netherlands, 15 June 2004

This contribution discusses the interdisciplinary aspects of Iannis Xenakis’ oeuvre and his Synthesis of the Arts. In doing so, I draw on archival research-including Xenakis’ personal archives in Paris and interviews with him.

Publication, Lecture & Discussion Iannis Xenakis @ Make it New, le Poème électronique, Alice Foundation , Eindhoven, the Netherlands, 15 June 2004

There is a fascinating moment of artistic synergy in the aesthetic production of the 20th century. An architect, Le Corbusier, conceived an electronic poem, an electronic synthesis of visual and acoustic events, as well as a “vessel for the poem” (a pavilion) for the presentation of the Philips company at the 1958 World Exhibition in Brussels.
The result was one of the most exciting buildings of the post-war era, the Philips Pavilion, in which the electronic composition and the building form interrelated parts of a total work of art in which the elements of light, colourful images, rhythm and sound combine to form an organic synthesis.

Publication “From event structure to spatial form” @ Klangräume der Kunst, Kehrer Verlag, 7 Juli 2006

The idea of ​​converting the principle “one to many” into a “many to many” has already been formulated by Hans Magnus Enzensberger in 1970.
But what is different today, that what was not successful at the time could have one today?
Interview in the German architectural magazine Deutsche Bauzeitung by Christian Holl.

Interview Network Space, Christian Holl @ Deutsche Bauzeitung, Germany, 1 March 2006

Bridging the gap and connecting the global media spheres with local content and place, an architecture of communication spaces proposes a combined analog-digital infrastructure: publicly accessible interfaces between the global media space and the local urban place.
Public Media Urban Interfaces is an alternative scenario for the interplay of mass media in order to reinforce the function of public (urban) space. This project develops a hybrid urban network-space, a fusion of media space and urban space.
It emphasises the role of the public in an increasingly privatised society and occupies the vacuum in between the local and the global. The products of this alliance of urban and media networks are “hybrid” spaces that are at the same time analog and digital, virtual and material, local and global.

Publication Public Media Urban Interfaces @ Metalocus, Madrid, Spain, 17 November 2005

BUGA 05 in Munich provides food for thought.
As a contribution to the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, which begins in 2005, a total of four symposia will be held in cooperation with the German UNESCO Commission.

Lecture Smart Home @ Bundesgartenschau München 2005, Munich, Germany, 16-17 June 2005

Idensity® develops scenarios for an interplay of the urban space and the media domain.
New interdisciplinary fields of planning and design are introduced: Soft Urbanism, exploring the interaction of urbanism and the space of mass media and communication networks, and Hybrid Space Design, developing fused analog-digital / architectural-media spaces.
Within this framework, “Idensity®” is proposed as a conceptual tool for developing space in the information-communication age.

Publication Idensity® @ MIT Leonardo Press, Boston, USA, 1 July 2005

To reinforce the significance of public space we have to deal with at least two “public”, the global and the local public, by creating spheres where local and global public space can fuse and interchange.

Lecture Idensity ® of the Urbanite @ Cyber Art Congress, Bilbao, Spain, 23-30 April 2004

Democracy can be understood in two notably distinct ways. In the institutional view democracy is understood as the interplay of institutional actors that represent ‘the people’ and are held accountable through the plebiscite; public votes, polls and occasionally referenda.

Essay Constructing the Digital Commons, Eric Kluitenberg @ tactical media files, Amsterdam, 1 March 2003

The conference A2B is an initiative of architect Jacques Herzog.
This year’s exhibition “We are building the future for you” was presented by the prominent lecturers as designers of the future.
International luminaries of architecture in real space like Toyo Ito were placed alongside pioneers of virtual architecture: Elizabeth Sikiaridi explained the term ‘idensity’, which has already been protected by her, which describes the density of media and urban networks and the fusion of virtual and real spaces.

Publication Information Technology and Architecture, Villö Huszai @ Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Switzerland, 1 February 2002

On the subject of “mobility: immobility”, a number of international architects and representatives from the political and business sectors were invited to attend the conference at Swissbau.
The symposium was intended to expand the traditionally rich architectural lectures in Basel through a new thematic focus: the links between architecture and urban development with information and communication technologies.

Publication Mobility : Immobility, Susanne Schumacher @ ETH Zurich, Switzerland, 29 January 2002

The world is changing and with it the cities.
The new possibilities of physical mobility in the industrial age have decisively influenced architecture and city planning.
The question now arises as to how much the present revolution of information and communication will have.

Lecture Technology & the City @ A2B International Architecture Symposium 02, Basel, Switserland, 24-25 January 2002

The world is changing and with it the cities.
The new possibilities of physical mobility in the industrial age have decisively influenced architecture and city planning.
The question now arises as to how much the present revolution of information and communication will have.

Lecture Technology & the City @ A2B International Architecture Symposium 02, Basel, Switserland, 24-25 January 2002

The conference A2B is an initiative of architect Jacques Herzog. This year’s exhibition “We are building the future for you” was presented by the prominent lecturers as designers of the future. International luminaries of architecture in real space like Toyo Ito were placed alongside pioneers of virtual architecture: Elizabeth Sikiaridi explained the term ‘idensity’, which has already been protected by her, which describes the density of media and urban networks and the fusion of virtual and real spaces.

Publication Architecture in the Information Age, Francesca Ferguson @ entourage, Switzerland, January 2002

What is the role of urban planning in this highly dynamic unpredictable environment?
What could replace the failing instrument of prognosis?
What will the tools for processing possible urban transformations be?
Could hybrid (urban and media) environments function as generators (of trust) transforming planning to an event-communication (space) and entertainment zone?

Discussion & Lecture Science Friction @ de Orderverstoorders, de Balie, Amsterdam, 25 Januari 1999

Publication “Politics of Space” for Lab für Kunst und Apparate, Academy for Media Arts.
The segregation processes in media environments are nothing but the enhancement of tendencies manifesting themselves in the “real” space with the creation of the urban ghettos and their counterparts, the (suburban) protected social reservoirs for the upper classes.
These access-controlled residential areas can be found today all over the world, in Third World and in western democracies as well as in the east neo-capitalist countries.They range from heavily protected impenetrable fortresses to retirement towns for well-off pensioners or projects like Walt Disney’s Celebration – an entire residential town (not a theme park).

Publication Politics of Space @ Lab für Kunst und Apparate, Academy of Media Arts, Cologne, Germany, 1 October 1998

Public urban space and the “space” of communication networks are usually seen as frameworks for social interaction, competing or mutually exclusive.
The traditional functions of urban public space are being taken over by telecommunications networks.
The inputs and outputs of their channels are increasingly located in private interior spaces.

Soft Urbanism @ Architect, Magazine for Architecture and Urbanism, 1 June 1997

Telecommunications lacks the tangibility of real space. Conversely, the culture of the city needs to integrate digital technology.
How telecommunications and the city interact.
Media Babies on Chanel no.5 is a concept for a digital public structure for the city of London.

Article Network Architecture, Ed van Hinte @ Items #6, Netherlands, 20 September 1995

Doors of Perception is an annual conference, and a programme of workshops, seminars and pilot projects, organised by the Netherlands Design Institute in Amsterdam. Doors of Perception seeks answers to the question: what are multimedia and global networks actually for? Doors of Perception generates scenarios about future applications of new technology and enhance the development of multimedia and online environments by bringing together previously unconnected knowledge and skills.

Lecture Hybrid Space @ Doors of Perception Conference, Dutch Design Institute Premsela, RAI Convention Centre, Amsterdam, 4-6 November 1994

A colossal De Klerk, complex dream-pictures in wood or a monkey with a transistor radio and a bright pink rear end. Rotterdam’s Museum of Ethnology is showing some 30 sculptures by South African Venda artists in a remarkable display. ‘If there is one general characteristic to be given to contemporary African art, it is an unstoppable narrative drive.’

Publication The storytelling art of the Venda, Paul Faber @ Museum magazine Vitrine, Rotterdam 1 August 1994

Telecommunications lack the tangible everyday reality of the residential neighborhood. Conversely, the culture of the city is entitled to digital technologies.
This is why Frans Vogelaar and Elizabeth Sikiaridi developed the project “Media Babies on Chanel no.5.”
It is a more elaborate concept for a digital public space for London.

Media Babies on CHANNEL no.5 @ Items #6, Magazine for Design, Visual Communication and Architecture, 1 September 1993

Exhibition and publication at the Architectural Association School of Architecture on Networked Architecture.

Exhibition & Publication Demand Your Right To Broadcast @ Architectural Association, Architectural Association School of Architecture, 34-36 Bedford Square, London, 17-21 June 1991

Exhibition presents the project “Media Babies on CHANEL no.5:” the fusion of media, architecture and urbanism.

Exhibition & Publication Future Media Space @ Architectural Association, Architectural Association School of Architecture, 34-36 Bedford Square, London, 28-30 June 1990

The Netherlands has a new design prize: the Frans Halle Prize for exhibition design.
The initiative deserves and receives much praise.
However, the elaboration of this new prize leaves much to be desired.
Carel Kuitenbrouwer takes stock now that the prize has been awarded for the first time.

Frans Hals Prize Exhibitiondesign @ Items #8, Magazine for Design, Visual Communication and Architecture, 1 September 1988

Frans Vogelaar produced a magnificent and dazzling scale model that, if executed, would have had an overwhelming and disconcerting effect on the visitor.
The open network of forms constructed from scrap-like material was therefore called a “brilliant plan” by the jury.

Publication Frans Hals Prize for Exhibition Design, Carel Kuitenbrouwer @ NRC Handelsblad, Rotterdam, 14 September 1988

The Uruba exhibition features traditional fabrics and clothing, was brought together by the Ahmadu Bello University of Zaria in Nigeria with the cooperation of the Ministry of Culture in Lagos and was previously on display at the Commenwealth Institute in London.

Exhibition Uruba, Article by Saskia de Bodt  @ NRC Handelsblad, Rotterdam Library, Museum for Ethnlogy, 29 Januari 1985

House for Juliet is an intervention by Alessandro Mendini in the building that according to legend (and partly but only partly according to history and findings) is identified as a wing of the Capulets’ palace.

Design & Exhibition, House for Juliet, Studio Alchimia @ Achille Forti Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art,  Via Cappello, Verona, Italy, 8 June-30 September 1982

You don’t really know what design is anymore, and talking about design, happy or unhappy, fails you; rock has saved your life.

Exhibition & Publication on Studio Alchimia, Stefano Casciani @ Nuove Intenzioni del Design, Reggio Emilia, Italy, 18 April 1982