“Plastic Bang!Kok” - Building a rainbow courtesy of Basurama Asociación |
Sometimes there are surprises that I really appreciate while I am working abroad. Being in Singapore, I saw once a collection of photos about a project in Bangkok in a social network of some designer colleagues from Thailand. That project was called "Plastic Bang!Kok” and was signed by Basurama. Suddenly many questions in my mind due to Basurama is a architects collective from my university, ETSAM (Polytechnic University of Madrid, Spain). How did they do to reach to Bangkok with theirs projects? After long searching through my contacts in internet I found one member of this collective working in São Paulo, Brazil. He is Miguel Rodríguez, but he prefers to be called Mister, an architect with one of the minds more curious that I met in my university times and we lost contact for many years. Connection Singapore - São Paulo starts to work using emails and finally I can get answers. Easy What is “Plastic Bang!Kok”?
"Plastic Bang!Kok"
was a proposal for the Bangkok design biennial 2012. We had been
looking for an event which could host Basurama in Thailand with the help
of the Spanish embassy in that country. They also helped us to find a
nice partnership, a good space to work, waste, and a group of design and
architecture students to collaborate in the construction.
In a few days, we displayed on site our technology to transform the
local waste (discarded plastic bags) into four objects of inflatable
architecture to occupy a public space in a collaborative process during
the biennial. In the past two years, we have been experimenting with
inflatable architecture for many reasons. You can use plastic waste,
which is all around, you can create huge and well illuminated spaces and
it only consumes electricity to blow them and it´s a very simple
technology, which everybody can learn and transmit to others. Just
download the Inflatocookbook by Alien Ant Farm y check it!
I remember to see you riding a tricycle around the school yard of our university that vehicle was built using recycled materials during the first edition of Basurama. It was only a seed. What is Basurama?
Basurama supposed an extra curricular adventure which led a group of friends to self instruct, mixing research and action. The necessary way of setting an alternative to that academic ambient, which I consider so obsolete.
It all began as a open festival to create collectively out of waste founded around Madrid and industrial areas in the suburbs. All the creative energy collected in those first editions and the success we got, made us grow and evolute into cultural producers. Three years later we were out of the school organizing all kind of events to think about several topics and create with waste and 7 years later we are travelling all around America doing architecture and design out of waste.
Now you are living in Brazil and it makes me remember my Erasmus times when I was living in Lisbon, Portugal. Let´s talk in Portuguese language a little bit. Como é que chega Basurama a Brazil?
Basurama começou a viajar para fora de Espanha no ano 2007, com um projecto para a agência espanhola para o desenvolvimento (que então era muito forte na América Latina) e essa parceria marcou totalmente a evolução do grupo. O projecto RUS (Resíduos Urbanos Sólidos) foi uma turnê por vários países com uma proposta dupla: pesquisa sobre o papel do lixo e da reutilização informal em cada país (o lixo é cultura porque cada sociedade se expressa através de um lixo diferente) e um projecto de intervenção artístico/arquitetónica no espaço público colaborando com colectivos locais.
Não só aprendemos como outras culturas aproveitam os resíduos como
recursos, mas também conhecemos um grande número de artistas, técnicas
de design e arquitetura popular, lugares abandonados, aterros. Uma
imersão numa experiência que mudou a vida de todos nós.
Due to your words pops up in my mind a place, a huge urban space with two big trees in one side of a square located in Yogjakarta -Indonesia-,
a bohemian city-estate from a western point of view. Many people used
to spend the night there playing with the gap generated per these two
trees. Actually many of your proposals match quite well with that place
or surroundings. Do you think that Basurama can reach there with any of their proposals?
In our
projects, we are developing and spreading several technologies to create
ephemeral and 'soft' interventions in the public space. We consider the
existing local reality as the most important element to stablish a
productive dialogue. Not
only the natural, the social and the cultural heritage, even we consider other other
type of local resources, as solid or domestic waste, as one of the main raw material sources for our projects.
We have tested our working method in several places all around the world, and we (Basurama
and local partners) always had a good experience. Working with local
resources not only led us to create more sustainable projects,
but it helped us to have a great human collaboration and a great learning too.
Mister from Basurama Collective |
I think
that nobody at all could expect what was coming in 2008. We were
instructed to pursue the role of the star system architects, whose
offices were planning the biggest projects in history those years.
Koolhas in Beijing, Norman Foster all around the world, Zaha Hadid,
MVRDV, Herzog de Meuron... All based in the imaginary of architectural
magazines, the development of 'brand cities'.
I felt
that there were these alternatives: being part of the housing industry,
and designing the ugly and industrialized dwellings that caused the real
state bubble, or taking part in the architectural competition system.
Both options were harmful in my opinion. The first one is opposed to
creativity and my idea of a good life, and time has demonstrated that
was unsustainable.
The architectural context was not a better way. It makes everybody
fight against everybody, discarding an outstanding an incredible amount
of work by the 99,9% of the teams competing. The working conditions
generated by that system are completely slavery, and I think they take
many participants to frustration, feeling that they could not be the GOOD ONES.
The way
where I have been the most comfortable is trying to build my own (our)
way to build and create, agreeing with my ethics and my need of
freedom.
Let's talk about the origin and
do it in Spanish language. Te conocí en una clase de proyectos en la
ETSAM en la que un profesor nos hablo de la estética de un filósofo
alemán para aplicarla al proyecto de un refugio que estábamos haciendo
en ese taller. Cuando él terminó tú le preguntaste "Mi abuela me ha
dicho que la cama siempre se orienta al Norte y la cabeza hay que
situarla en el muro opuesto de la puerta de la habitación mientras se
duerme ¿Sigo los consejos de mi abuela o persigo el ideal alemán?"
Parece que no pero de aquello hace ya casi 14 años y, a día de hoy,
parecería que estuvieses viendo el futuro del presente que tanto
lamentamos. ¿Qué te queda aún de aquello?
Esa
anécdota en concreto me recuerda bastante a como viví mi paso por la
Escuela de Arquitectura de Madrid. Aquella participación tenía más de
irreverente que de fundamentada, pero respondía a un profundo desencanto
con la forma de enseñar arquitectura que vi esos años. En concreto,
aquellos profesores de proyectos eran nefastos, pero en general, el
método estaba muy dirigido a formar arquitectos concursantes, y sólo
algunos profesores fomentaban que el alumno creara su propio perfil de
arquitecto a la medida de sus necesidades, y aún más importante, de las
necesidades reales que hay de arquitectos hoy en día en España.
La primera
década del S.XXI ha supuesto una verdadera catarsis. El mundo de la
arquitectura profesional entró en crisis a medida que la burbuja
inmobiliaria-financiera explotaba, y el acceso al mundo laboral que
habíamos conocido en los 90 ya no es más posible.
Creo que la irreverencia me acompaña todavía.
Recuerdo otra vez que coincidimos en los pasillos de la ETSAM en Madrid tu ibas a proyectar no se que película para el cineclub de la escuela y yo iba a comprar algunos DVD para el cine-forum que organizaba en mi pueblo. Pero hablando de basura tu vives ahora en Sao Paulo y yo en Singapur. ¿Qué piensas que se podría hacer con mucha de la basura producida en Hollywood y que copa las carteleras en muchas partes del mundo? ¿Tenéis algún proyecto?
Juasjuas,... ¡Imagínate la cantidad de material sobrante que genera una
industria como la del cine en Estados Unidos! Recuerdo la película
sobre la vida de Ed Wood, en la que contaban como aprovechaba planos de varias películas y los colocaba sin prejuicios en sus producciones. O "Campanadas a medianoche" de Orson Welles.
Aquel plano secuencia del principio está grabado en un set que se había
construído para otra película, pero que el aprovechó durante la noche
para su película.
Tienes
razón, la industria del cine produce una ingente cantidad de cine
pésimo, muchas películas del montón, algunas buenas y unas pocas joyas.
Estoy de acuerdo contigo en que el cine norteamericano invade las salas
del mundo y muchas veces devora las industrias locales con políticas muy
agresivas de marketing y distribución. Pero también debo admitir que
admiro cómo los EE. UU. han creado semejante industria a partir de un
arte como el cine. Es un prodigio increíble de capitalismo cognitivo,
que ha creado una riqueza incalculable, empleo y patrimonio con la
cultura como materia prima.
Hablando de proyectos de Basurama, siempre nos ha gustado usar material audiovisual existente como programas de tv, viejos anuncios, películas, para resignificarlos, transformarlos y hasta pervertirlos diría, creando cosas nuevas con ellos. No hay nada más divertido que quitarle el ese aura sagrada y de dogma que tiene un anuncio publicitario, para transformarlo en algo satírico y divertido como Dinero tv.
As per Mister words, all this interview is just an historical introduction about Basurama and he really wants to talk about some projects on going that he is handling now as "O lixo não existe", participatory architectures made from open technologies available in Internet and using resources in anywhere, or "Pan Am", an international mapping about consumer landscapes in America.
Basurama is a architects collective working around the world. Mister is based in Brazil. If you want to contact him, please send an email to: brasil@basurama.org
For more information about Basurama, click here.
Hablando de proyectos de Basurama, siempre nos ha gustado usar material audiovisual existente como programas de tv, viejos anuncios, películas, para resignificarlos, transformarlos y hasta pervertirlos diría, creando cosas nuevas con ellos. No hay nada más divertido que quitarle el ese aura sagrada y de dogma que tiene un anuncio publicitario, para transformarlo en algo satírico y divertido como Dinero tv.
As per Mister words, all this interview is just an historical introduction about Basurama and he really wants to talk about some projects on going that he is handling now as "O lixo não existe", participatory architectures made from open technologies available in Internet and using resources in anywhere, or "Pan Am", an international mapping about consumer landscapes in America.
Basurama is a architects collective working around the world. Mister is based in Brazil. If you want to contact him, please send an email to: brasil@basurama.org
For more information about Basurama, click here.
Estupendo Basurama,
ResponderEliminar¡Ahogemos al poder con basura!
Me encanta la parte de la ETSAM y los profesores nefastos que enseñan para concursar. Es absolutamente cierto pero hay que tener la lucidez y limpieza mental de tu amigo para darse cuenta.
Por los dos artículos que he visto no me cabe duda que tu blog merece la pena, o sea que tienes un nuevo suscriptor. Le paso el enlace a mis hijas, sufridoras y gozadoras de la ETSAM también, y a algún amigo.
And please, go forward.
Besos.
Juan.
"aquellos profesores de proyectos eran nefastos, pero en general, el método estaba muy dirigido a formar arquitectos concursantes, y sólo algunos profesores fomentaban que el alumno creara su propio perfil de arquitecto a la medida de sus necesidades, y aún más importante, de las necesidades reales que hay de arquitectos hoy en día en España".
ResponderEliminarNo puedo estar más de acuerdo…
Conoci a Basurama –a casi todos- en la inauguración de unos cines en la periferia de Madrid –no me preguntes que hacia yo ahí o que hacían ellos, comida y bebida gratis, probablemente- me alegra ver que siguen tan activos e irreverentes…
Un abrazo,
Gonzalo
Este proyecto de Basurama en particular me parece fascinante; también revolucionario por supuesto, pero ¿es que no es necesario cambiar el mundo?. Me llama la atención la mención que hace el artículo al profesorado de la ETSAM, tan elitista, tan ajeno al mundo. Es algo sobre lo que las Academias deberían reflexionar, cerrar las puertas a lo que viene de la calle puede ser nefasto.
ResponderEliminarUn abrazo.
The works are super interesting, your interviewing is good but can we have it in full english? I hope its not too much too ask, cause I´m sure if the idea/your writings is spreading & useful for others are even better for 2wtree!! good works man! Thanks for sharing.
ResponderEliminarRafael Arsono.