HelloWood - a creative, professional and social program with a message that mobilizes more and more young people – was organized for the 3rd year by MOMEline – designworks, together with its new partner Reflekt social architecture studio. The week-long creative camp included 200 Hungarian and international students who worked together to realize social and cultural spaces for eight north-eastern Hungarian communities. The social mission of the project was showcased at Sziget, Europe’s Best Major Festival. Cameron Sinclair, the co-founder of Architecture for Humanity, commended HelloWood’s inspirational initiative for aspiring to social change with thoughtful design for marginalized communities.
Join us after the break for details on some of the projects.
The creative camp was a hands-on project that featured collaborative teams with local designers and community leaders. The campsite was situated near the village of Dedestapolcsany. The surrounding villages became the clients for the eight projects that would be developed over the week-long charrette. The inclusive approach to local people was inevitable for building a sense ownership of the architecture and design objects among local people. It was also important that the works had an immediate effect on community life, aiming at longer-term change and touching crucial points of local development.
Péter Pozsár, architect of Reflekt Studio and curator of Hello Wood, was aware of challenges in store for the workshop. The cultural and social conditions of the villages had to be respected. Pozsár and a team of sociologists began a dialogue with the communities months before the workshops. In addition, the teams had to find the right scale to fit the needs of their clients within the short, one-week design period that still had an immediate impact on the lives of the people within the communities.
The eight projects are varied and speak to different parts of the communities. In addition to the “Wood Workshop”, teams also built projects for the Landscape Workshop, Upcycling Workshop, Typography Workshop, New Media Workshop, Stop Motion Animation Workshop, Photography Workshop, Film Workshop and Literature Field Book Workshops. Read about them here.
Clothes-Dragon was designed by architects Péter Borbás, András Cseh, Endre Ványolós and their team including, Dorottya Czakó, Nikolett Dendel, Tímea Ferth, Zuzana Kerekretyova, Péter Krompáczki, Roland Lipusz, Lugbauer Anna, and Regina Nemecz for the village of Bódvalenke. Inspired by the yearly Dragon Festival and the small wash basin in the village, the team decided to provide a social amenity for the daily routine of washing, arranging and laying out clothes. The installation creates a space for social interaction in the midst of daily tasks.
Tiger was designed by artist Gábor Miklós Szőke and his team including, Ádám Farkas, Eszter Móricz, Tamás Nádasdy, Krisztina Sárkány, and Zoltán Török for Szakácsi. The sculpture is a symbol of power that would defend the community, honoring togetherness, and self-advocacy.
Playground was designed by Kay Strasser with team members Bernhard Brigola, Erzsébet Gulyás, Erzsébet Hosszú, Norbert Paskó, Anikó Tóth, and Gerulf Weber for the village of Beret. The idea for the project was to create a new community space where parents and children could build their relationships and interact with other members of the community.
Cloud with Funnel, designed by Bence Pap and Oliver Sales with team members, Christian Daschek, Dóra Medveczky, Gábor Percz, Luca Petrányi, Alma Tóth, and Sára Weichinger for the informal school of Bátonyterenye. The Cloud Funnel is a stage for performances conducted at the school. The cloud-like structure refers to the “floating” meta-physical nature of acting and theater.
Pier was designed by András Huszár, Nándor Nagy, Bulcsú Szabó and team members Dávid Bánsági, Bence Benyusz, Csilla Fekete, Luca Glavatity, Dalma Kató, Ági Szekeres, Zoltán Antal, and Csaba Lázár for the Lázbérc Reservoir. The Pier as designed to reconnect with the reservoir and the tradition of the old bathhouses with a unique interior space.
Maigetos was designed by Csaba Rohoska and Norbert Vasváry-Nádor and team members, Anita Bodnár, Diána Sándor, Ádám Terleczky, Márton Varga, Panna Varga, and Bea Zsilinszky for the village of Uppony. The installation is built on the foundation of the planned, but unbuilt, lookout tower. From the exterior it is formally simple, but the construction of slats creates for an interesting play of light and shadow.
Landscape Box was designed by Béla Gál, Zsolt Frikker and Áron Vass-Eysen and team members, Dávid Flórián, Fanni Gárdos, Viktória Gergely, Balázs Horváth, Anikó Magyar, Davor Robitschko, and Adrienn Veres for the Lázbérc Reservoir. One of the key points in its design was to make the structure and its scale fit the natural environment and to provide an ideal spot for resting and contemplation, for the observation of ever-changing nature.
Bóta-Net was designed by Áron Losonczi (Litracon) and Bence Turányi (t2a architects) and team members, Krisztina Bárdossy, Borbála Huszanyik, Fanni Kárpáti, Viktória Kovalik, Máté Molnár, Mátyás Papp, and Orsolya Veres for the village of Borsodbóta. Bóta-Net is a self-supporting modular structure that is open to the landscape that also creates an intimate space that can be filled up by the local community, shaped and used according to their needs and imagination in order to create their own community space.
Gossip Bench was designed by Dia Harcsa, Tibor Dékány and Ádám Hatvani of Sporaarchitects and team members Csaba Bányai, Izabella Eftimie, Ticiána Eliza Fekete, Katalin Fésűs, Ákos Karóczkai, Viktor Kiss, and Júlia Thurnay for the village of Uppony. The bench decorates the existing community space in front of the wine cellars, serving as a support for gatherings, dinners or tasting wine.
Students were selected from diverse educational and cultural backgrounds based on their portfolios and motivational letters. The 200 students were placed within eight groups, creating diverse teams to foster a collaborative environment. The eight projects were gifted to the communities at a closing party. Some of the works were also showcased at the Sziget Festival. Organizers of the festival commissioned four more installations for the event, using eighty volunteers over the course of five weeks. The additional works were Colosseum, Tornado, Egg and Lounge.
An exhibition showcasing the year-round work of HelloWood 2012 will be shown at this year’s Budapest Design Week, opening on the 1st October (open: 1–7th October 2012 12:00 pm -11:00 pm @ Toldi Cinema, Budapest).
Learn more about HelloWood here on Facebook.
Images via Flickr user MOME line. All Rights Reserved.
