On behalf of SHIFTboston and Light Boston, I would like to invite you to join us for the GLOW Forum. The event will be a celebration of the results from the GLOW Competition, an international call for ideas for innovative lighting concepts for Copley Square.

Responses to the call came from architects, landscape architects, lighting designers and designers all over the world. The event will include a digital exhibition of ALL submissions, a review of selected submissions and a presentation of the three finalists. Guest speakers will include members of the jury panel: Nader Tehrani, Professor and Head of the Department of Architecture at the MIT School of Architecture and Planning; and Paul Zafferiou, Lighting Designer and Principal of Lam Partners in Boston, MA.

The GLOW Forum will be held in the Channel Room of the new BSA Space, on Wednesday, May 16, 2012 from 5:30 – 7:30 pm. Wine will be served. This event is free but please be kind enough to send your RSVP to: info@shiftboston.org.

For more information on the competition please visit here! Hope to see you there.

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This summer is…… BLIGHT to MIGHT: Open International Design Competition for Transforming Cities with Innovation

ONE Prize 2012 is a call to put design in the service of disenfranchised communities, to reinvigorate deindustrialized and depressed urban areas, and to repurpose spaces for economic growth and job creation. Situated in the context of a struggling U.S. economy and the tension of stagnant unemployment, ONE Prize 2012 aims to explore the socially, economically, and ecologically regenerative possibilities of urban transformation and design. The competition is powered by the idea that social, ecological, and economic struggles can simultaneously be addressed through collaborative action and innovative planning.

The ONE Prize seeks architects, landscape architects, urban designers, planners, engineers, scientists, artists, students and individuals of all backgrounds:

Can we rework the skeletons of 20th century manufacturing for 21st century innovation?

Can former plants in Detroit become greenhouses, schools, theaters?

Can mill towns be revamped as digital fabrication hubs?

Can vacant parking lots become farms or parks?

Can abandoned strip malls be reinvented?

Can we reboot the American economy?

For more information on ONE Prize 2012: Blight to Might, this year’s competition jury and to submit your ideas visit: www.oneprize.org.

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Here is the winner and honorable mentions from the Passive House Competition in Bulgaria! Passive House Bulgaria challenged the architectural community to design a schematic design proposal for an affordable, low energy, single-family houses, focus the public attention to this new type of energy efficient buildings, and promote the design and construction of Passive Houses in Bulgaria.

Hristo Stankushev Dipl. Arch, Svetoslav Michev Dipl. Arch. – dontdiy, Bulgaria and Rumen Yordanov Dipl. Eng. MEP and Sustainability Consultant – AEE Asian European Engineering Ltd.

Comments from the judges regarding the project of dontdiy: Excellent design & sustainable concept; Talented compact design and thought through; Energy: great energy efficiency presentation; very thorough explanations, Passive House concepts and calculations; Well thought out integration of mechanical systems, day lighting and architecture. The team will receive an award of 1500 BGN

Honorable Mentions

Seymour-Smith Architects, Rob Statham BArch, BA [Hons], Helen Seymour-Smith B.Arch [hons], Dip. Arch, RIBA , Cotswolds, UK

Comments from the judges regarding the project: Beautiful sustainable design in material & construction, correct design; nice details of the facades; Energy :The south facade with the sun shading works very well; wonderful presentation.

Dragos Fodoreanu, Romania

Comments from the judges regarding the project: Beautiful exterior and interiors; Simple but effective layout, feasible solution, economical building form; Energy: one of the few projects that could be a Passive House.

Peter Tchordov Dipl.Eng. Arch. and Sofia Kodjamanova – Tchordova Dipl.Eng. Arch., Bulgaria

Comments from the judges regarding the project: Good sustainability concept, simple but good design; Passive House concepts; good detailing; mechanical design, and sun control.

SPA Inovations – arch. Bogdan Teodorescu, arch. Ionut Tudose, arch. Sorin Juverdeanu, and urb. Octavian Dragomir, Romania

Comments from the judges regarding the project: Beautiful sustainable project and presentation. Energy: excellent thoughts about the wood pellets and water reflection of the sun light to the solar panels.

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ZIG-ZAG,* new SHIFTboston’s feature, presents “Sleeping with Stallman,” an innovative micro-space for sleeping in the public space.

Figure 01. “Sleeping with Stallman – Digital Disobedience Project” by Giacomo Castagnola (2011) at MIT Media Lab. Image source: Giacomo Castagnola

The concept of micro-spaces,  explored in (the recent) Antoni Muntadas, Volume 1: Between book and (for long present) work, is also very present in  Giacomo Castagnola‘s practice, where he explores a series of interstitial spaces interconnecting the building with the body. His latest project, is a micro-space for sleeping, a semi-private small environment,  can be found and experienced in the semi-public  Fumihiko Maki‘s new MIT Media Lab ”whitish” lobby.  According to the artist (also designer,  architect, and currently a graduate student at MIT Art, Culture & Technology) :

“Sleeping is a behavior that happens all the time in hidden corners and library couches throughout MIT, and I am interested in accommodating a space for that ‘non conforming’ activity in order not to represent civic disobedience only, but to actually embody it within the project…

 

Figure 02. Students sleeping (anywhere) at MIT. Image source: Giacomo Castagnola

 

Figure 03. Students sleeping (anywhere) at MIT. Image source: Giacomo Castagnola

…The ideas generated by “sleeping in public” as a form of social critique led me to an article on Richard Stallman by K.C. Jones in InformationWeek, that notes: ‘until around 1998, his office at MIT’s AI Lab was also his residence. He was registered to vote from there.’ In other words, Stallman was sleeping on campus.”

Figure 04. Philosopher of “free software” Richard Stallman and artist Giacomo Castagnola.  Image source: Giacomo Castagnola

The multi-faceted project refers to MIT’s  hacking culture (with famous examples like that of students placing MIT Police Car on the Great Dome of MIT back in the 1994) . From installation’ s manifesto: ”Sleeping with Stallman is a ‘hack’ into the exhibition space with the simple activity of sleep or rest. ‘Hack’ is another MIT-coined word: ‘A hack is a parodic, practical joke designed to debunk authority.’ As Stallman says, ‘hacking means exploring the limits of what is possible, in a spirit of playful cleverness’.”

Figure 05. Person sleeping in the installation.  Image source: Giacomo Castagnola

The temporary micro-space is part of the “Disobedience Archive” research and exhibition curated by Marco Scotini together with Nomeda & Gediminas Urbonas on show until April 15th in the MIT Media Lab  lobby. It consists of a soft platform that hosts three sound compilations and three reading sections.

 Figure 06. Inside view of the installation.  Image source: Giacomo Castagnola

Figure 07. Outside (elevational) view of the installation.  Image source: Giacomo Castagnola

The project is very popular among MIT community since in this case art provides a function, an opportunity for the users to occupy the building in a more  comfortable way through naps and rests. It creates a contrasting to the transparent (surveilling, open) Media Lab, little corner where one can hide and sleep without complete isolation. It provides an opportunity to enjoy the small (individual bubble) while being part of the big (system).

*ZIG-ZAG is a series of two-fold posts that present one project (ZIG) and their creator (ZAG). SHIFTboston’s readers can participate in the process by submitting their questions and comments (ZAG), or to pinpoint interesting projects or their projects for exploration (ZIG).

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