Your public space for thinking architecture is now going ABROAD.
every 3rd, 13th and 23rd (3x a month)
Each episode on a different place but always on Spotify…...
Today we travel to Ghent (Belgium) to meet with Jasper Stevens and Karel Verstraenten whom, together have founded FELT architecture & design, back in 2014. FELT favors the 'in between', creating objects and projects that oscillate between between architecture and design, scale and scaleless, between function the fiction. They “see scenography as an architectural commission”, what about vice-versa? Sometimes they re-scale buildings to stool-size, other times, they skate stools to building-size. “This exercise of re-scale is something we do with almost everything we make.” They believe in the importance of not ending up “with a grey, basic architecture”. Are you a believer as well? “We are liars. We like to lie. We lie to tell a different story”. As it should. Sometimes it is about adding sprinkles on top of frozen yogurt. (Yes, you need to listen to the episode to understand this reference.) “There is a reference for those who wan to see it."Guest: Jasper Stevens + Karel Verstraeten (Ghent, BE)Host: Ana Catarina Silva (Porto, Portugal)Upload your references to: arquiteturaentrevistas.comInstagram@arquiteturaentrevistasFollow for more thoughts on architecture.
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44:25
#34 EMI (CH), Arquitetura Entre Vistas ABROAD
Next stop, Zurich (CH) alongside Ron Edelaar, Elli Mosayebi, Christian Inderbitzin. You might better know them for the short-form EMI Architekten. The conversation starts on a high, discussing the difference between “concept” and “narrative”. Were you aware that there was a difference between one and the other? On one hand, “the concept, goes back to a very heroic era of architecture”. On the other hand, “the narrative, allows for richness and multi-diversity (…) it Its more about diversity, richness, heterogeneity, tentacular, contradictions”. Therefore, “the narrative is also a critic towards the concept. But if you don’t know the concept anymore… it is difficult to recognise the narrative. (…) I think. In a way, it would be good to have a consciousness for both”. “Do we cover the project with the story or do we develop the project in the story?”, they wonder. “With our floor plans, we are trying to overcome preconceptions in housing.” Successfully, I think. We talk about mirrors that are moon eclipses. We confess our obsession for doors. “Its all about doors.” “Architecture is always very serious.” “Architecture can be quite humorous.”, it is like a joke that can be told serval times, not a one-liner.Guest: Ron Edelaar + Elli Mosayebi + Christian Inderbitzin (CH)Host: Ana Catarina Silva (Porto, Portugal)Upload your references to: arquiteturaentrevistas.comInstagram@arquiteturaentrevistasFollow for more thoughts on architecture.
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50:03
#33 KOSMOS (www), Arquitetura Entre Vistas ABROAD
For our 33rd stop, we’re going a bit all around the world with KOSMOS, an architecture practice whose tone is set by Leonid Slonimskiy and Artem Kitaev.
KOSMOS don’t do architecture as one is supposed to do architecture. Yet, they claim they do nothing new…everything they do “already exists”.
Rather than abstract statements, they focus on the specific issues within surrounding conditions, aiming to create architecture that reflects and subtly shifts these realities.
For KOSMOS, less is more…in the sense that “the less we propose to do with our project, the happier we are with it.”
“To us, it is very important to see the project as something that is not possible now/today, but something that is possible in a year or two. It should be very real in these terms.”
Using their words, “Innovation [is] introduced by requirements, not by our subjective vision.”
To them “like life without humor,” architecture without life “doesn’t make sense”.
They are right, I guess.
Guest: Leonid Slonimskiy + Artem Kitaev (www)
Host: Ana Catarina Silva (Porto, Portugal)
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54:30
#32 Kawahara Krause Architects (DE+JP), Arquitetura Entre Vistas ABROAD
In our 32nd episode, we travel to Hamburg (Germany) and Tokyo (Japan) to meet Kawahara Tatsuya and a Ellen Kristina Krause, the minds behind Kawahara Krause Architects.
Kawahara Krause Architects explores the subtle ways architecture can bring people together without rigid boundaries. “We are living together, and this togetherness should be architecturally staged.” “If things are separated from each other there is still a way to think about how they direct to each other.”
For Kawahara and Krause, each project is an invitation to endless “ways of reading.” Spaces should offer “stimuli without defining too strictly”. “We wanted to show people how enjoyable architecture can be”
"The more experience you have, the richer your intuition gets” and their rich intuition makes them wonder “what really needs to be defined”, after all?
Guest: Kawahara Tatsuya + Ellen Kristina Krause (Tokyo, Japan + Hamburg, Germany)
Host: Ana Catarina Silva (Porto, Portugal)
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Follow for more thoughts on architecture.
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38:46
#31 ouest (BE), Arquitetura Entre Vistas ABROAD
On our 31st stop, we are travelling east, direction Brussels (BE)…or rather, to “ouest” to meet Stephan Damsin and Jans Harens, the duo behind “ouest architecture.”
ouest architecture thrives in the spaces left unfinished and unsolved, " there is a room for unsolved things and for a bit of ambiguity”. In their vision, not every problem has to be be fully solved. “We are interested in ways to repair stuff without hiding that it has been repaired,” they explain, a philosophy that calls for embracing the imperfections rather than smoothing them away.
Their approach invites a rethinking of architecture’s role in urban life.
How far can one question the brief? Can we question it so much that the kitchen ends up to be left out of the program?
“What are the opening hours, what is the price of the coffee? All these things are so important for how the building works in the city.”
“How to make a building as a swiss knife?”, they ask. I do too.
What does adobe’s strategy on “progressive discloser” has to do with architecture? Maybe nothing.
“Color pencils and excel tables” are all you need to do architecture.
Guest: Stephan Damsin, Jan Harens (Brussels, Belgium)
Host: Ana Catarina Silva (Porto, Portugal)
Upload your references to: arquiteturaentrevistas.com
Instagram @arquiteturaentrevistas
Follow for more thoughts on architecture.
Your public space for thinking architecture is now going ABROAD.
every 3rd, 13th and 23rd (3x a month)
Each episode on a different place but always on Spotify…and instagram and on the website arquiteturaentrevistas.com (upload your references to our website)
Portugal