University College London, The Bartlett Development Planning Unit (DPU)
* Graduate Design Workshop, 3 days in Brescia (Italy)
* Co-taught with Camillo Boano, William Hunter, and Andrew Wade
* In Collaboration with the Local Democracy Embassy of Zavidovici (LDE)
* Download BUDDlab vol 2: "The City of Euphemia" here
Brief
This is an intensive, three-day design charrette exercise where students are assigned a particular site(s) in the city of Brescia, Italy and tasked to ‘observe’ and ‘document’ the urban and social phenomena and occurances within that given area. Provoked by a critical and creative reading of the ‘City of Euphemia’ from Italo Calvino’s seminal text Invisible Cities, and combined with the critical interpretation of their findings, students are encouraged to explore possible catalytic interventions that highlight, mobilise, and/or transform existing social activity and the notion of openness and ambivalence imagined in that specific locale.
In Trading Cities 1, Calvino describes the city of Euphemia as a place, “where the merchants of seven nations gather at every solstice and equinox.” These merchants arrive at Euphemia for trade, and simultaneously develop an evening cultural exchange, “sharing tales of wolves, sisters, treasures” unifying merchants from different nations along their travels for financial gain. The merchant exchanges often amount to the sharing of second hand experiences of the world.
The interactions of the merchants exchanging goods serve to connect them to a specific lifestyle, thereby giving Euphemia a distinct social identity. Stimulated by the richly evocative and symbolic narrative of Euphemia, students develop individual and collective imaginations of such multiple meanings adapted to the realm of spatial reality in which work. The exercise is focused on exploring the potential implications of ENVISIONING what the complex meanings of Euphemia could entail for the selected sites.
BUDD Camp 2011 is run in conjunction with the Local Democracy Embassy of Zavidovici (LDE), a local association based in Brescia, working on social and educational projects with immigrants and refugees in Brescia and promoting democracy and peace overseas.
