KKA (Kjellgren Kaminsky Architecture) presents three architectural dreams consisting of stories and images. In a time when architecture has become increasingly obsessed with shape and surface, they wanted to explore other fields of the profession. KKA wanted to envision alternative futures and societies, to fantasize and write their stories, proposing the unexpected. More project description after the break.
1. Architectural Revolution
At this point the city shall stay anonymous, but its inhabitants will surely recognize themselves as they read these writings. In fact they might even make use of this text as a manifesto for their future revolution.
Their town is solely modernistic, there is no core, only sprawl. Consequently the city is large but sparse. Distances are vast. It is a political and architectural experiment with a real city as the testing ground, a dream of equality that has resulted in monotony. Do the citizens hate the politicians? Or the architects? Or do they not see the connection? There is no identity, only rationality.
One day the inhabitants will have had enough. In an act of irrational aversion towards the existing they will invert their city. They will refuse to inhabit the old buildings. Instead they will populate what was once roads, parks, wastelands and squares. Consequently a new city will rise, much denser and smaller than the present. The old buildings will be used as quarries leaving vacuums in the new structure, in these holes intense social life and communication take place. The new city is so dense it will have no roads, making the car obsolete. There will be no rules to control its design, instead everyone is free to express their own dreams through their buildings. Outside the remnants of the old city will fall into ruins gradually covered by forests and grass.
Now, let us wait no more, it is time to act!
2. Architecture and Democracy
Every year the inhabitants vote to select the ugliest building of their city. The elections are preceded by intensive campaigns as different parties promotes their favorite eyesores.
Some parties are focused on individual buildings while other have political or stylistic incitements. One group, for instance, have specialized on attacking socialist social housing buildings, while another group focuses on the newly formed owned apartments promoted by the right wing parties. One group focuses only on postmodern buildings, while another raises votes for functionalist boxes. There are also parties specializing on certain architects of their dislike. In short, this is truly the most vibrant architectural debate to date.
Once the building is selected it is draped. Not in Cristo style with the intention of mystifying or abstracting, but with the single goal of making the eyesore disappear. The building is camouflaged as large mirror coated fabrics are lowered in front of it. A crowd cheer as the view of the facade is gradually replaced with a mirror image of themselves and the sky.
How long will this tradition last? surely the citizens will cast blank ballots when only the most beautiful buildings of the city are left exposed?
But then again, which building is more beautiful than the sky?
3. The Ten Commandments
Eventually it became all too clear. Despite ever harder regulations to promote sustainability the society moved in the opposite direction.
When buildings became more energy efficient, people got larger homes. When cars used less fuel, people traveled longer. As food became biologically produced people ate more, especially increasing their meat consumption. With improved recycling, consumption rose to new records. Consequently all good intentions and technological improvements where continuously nilled out by irresponsible behavior.
Soon the world leaders came to the only natural conclusion; what needed to be improved and regulated was human behavior itself. On the brink of catastrophe in a last effort to save the planet all members of the United Nations agreed upon ten commandments that would from that point enforce people to lead a sustainable lifestyle:
1. Thou shalt have no more than one child 2. Thou shalt not eat meat 3. Thou shalt not harvest earths resources in an unsustainable manner 4. Thou shalt only use renewable energy resources 5. Thou shalt only use locally produced goods 6. Thou shalt have an ecological footprint of a size that is sustainable for all humans. 7. Thou shalt not murder any beings 8. Thou shalt not spread toxics 9. Thou shalt not superinduce any substances, flora or fauna not naturally occurring in your habitat. 10.Thou shalt not dispose of unwanted possessions
Whether this last desperate effort was successful in halting the apocalyptic development remains untold.
Architects: KKA (Kjellgren Kaminsky Architecture) Project: Architectural Dreams Client: Own Project Type: Vision Stage: 2
