Arsenale Novissimo
Tese di San Cristoforo
Sept 12th - Nov 23rd
Mon - Sun / 10:00 - 18:00
Free entrance
Check-in Architecture is a participative research project. We invited students of art, architecture, design and sociology from more than 20 universities in Europe, to tell stories about our cities in the form of 3 minute long documentaries.
Featuring works by:
Claudio Sinatti / Invernomuto
Ecosistema Urbano / Metrogramma / Ma0 / NLArchitects / Cherubino Gambardella.
click here for the map
The spaces of representation on the web are changing their shape. As the shapeshift, many questions arise: how are they transforming the way we look? How much of these representations change how we perceive urban spaces? In their own audiovisual research, Claudio Sinatti and Invernomuto have always paid a special attention, almost an obsession, to urban and suburban space. Their obsession led us to invite them to dig into the overflowing audiovisual archive we collected in a span of four months, and to fill with their aesthetic practice a sizable exhibition. They've created a visionary space, where movements, postures, behaviors and the perception of space itself could be questioned and interrogated. Mission Church – a visual wall made of all the videos posted on YouTube – and Perspectives on Archive – an erratic and restless cinematic ballad – were born with this in mind. The former focuses on visual language, and the latter on the subjects and the places shot. Both challenge low-resolution stereotypes in order to exalt them. At the same time, conceiving the exhibition as a contemporary media space, we asked several European architecture studios - Ecosistema Urbano, Cherubino Gambardella, Ma0, Metrogramma and NL Architects - to shape, only using words and sounds, original remarks committed to key words, which attempt to read the modern city in its continuous metamorphosis.
The artists and architects answered our questions with a clear statement. Their responses encapsulated the notion that research about the imaginary forces doubtful pauses and mysterious reflections to arise. But it can also give rise to challenges, invent new standards and re-invent media. And, above all else, stimulate the process of designing new and more adventurous projects.
checkinarchitecture.com
youtube.com/checkinarchitecture
picasaweb.com/checkinarchitecture
CHECK-IN ARCHITECTURE THE EXHIBITION
Check-in Architecture - The Exhibition
See you in Venice at Arsenale Novissimo on Friday 12th, for Check-in Architecture final exhibition.
Here, what remains of the post.
REMOVE SPAN TAG IF YOU DON'T USE THIS FEATURE! :-)
The Transmitting Architecture Report (teaser)
After these four days of Transmitting Architecture, it's time for a little budget.
Although we managed to get some really good video interviews, the congress itself was pretty disappointing, and the many critiques and complaints we collected from the very architects we interviewed during our stay is a further proof to this. Ok, transmitting architecture is not easy, but it gets trickier if you lock yourself into a conference stronghold and only express yourself through slides, that most of the time don't show when they're supposed to. As a medium, the congress is not a very conductive one.
However, all of this doesn't mean our congress experience was fruitless. If you guys are patient enough to wait a couple of days, there's a lot of stuff coming up on our video blog, and some of it is pretty entertaining: our old acquaintance Cino Zucchi and CCA director Mirko Zardini - both with a wrestling mask on, at some point - discussing about media; François Roche and Mario Cucinella showing some contrasting views about sustainability and matching ones on the architecture star system; a super interesting interview with Aaron Betsky about architecture and building. We were also able to get a hold on P.K. Das and Adam Greenfield.
As we were collecting material for you guys, another crew was shooting a documentary about the congress, directed by Vittorio Badini Confalonieri. He's also a Mini DV master and saved our asses recovering a cassette that had fallen on the ground and that we thought was lost forever, with some magic expertise only a film pro could have. The documentary will feature lots of interviews and images from the city and the congress venues, but we'll give you more info about it as soon as we have them. For now, be sure to check the blog every day for new videos.
CIA Transmitting Architecture through partying
Transmitting Architecture can be pretty boring at times. But we manage to party the congress away. Yesterday night, after an intense day of working and interviewing, the whole CIA crew gathered with lots of other congress visitors and random Turinese bohemians in Piazza Vittorio. As we were sipping on some fresh drinks, different performers livened up the porticos with music. When it got a little late - for the neighbors - we danced to the noiseless beats pumped through wireless headphones directly into our heads, making the Piazza our own silent disco.
As the night pushed on, a smaller group of partying nighthawks rallied to a rather bizarre Villa in the outskirts of Turin, a very old building turned into a party that the late Stanley Kubrick would have dug. The tipsy crowd danced to the Invernomuto and Shackleton dj sets until rosy-fingered dawn, occasionally climbing the rocky stairs to the bar, where a darker version of Benicio Del Toro - who eventually wanted to beat up our chief editor Fabio - served us a few cocktails.
CIA Transmitting Architecture with Invernomuto
Day one in Turin and significant representatives of the CIA crew have now gathered with us for Transmitting Architecture. As we stroll through the pavilions, interviewing interesting people as we go, we've got a few interesting things going on ourselves in the CIA outpost in the Oval.
Our friends Simone and Simone, better known as Invernomuto, performed the first of a series of audio/video sessions, mixing live music and images from the remainders out of the Check-in Architecture footage. An intense experience for those lucky enough (as we feel) to be in attendance. The same formula - not the same performance, since it's going to be different every time - is going to take place twice a day. Don't miss the next one.
The research is on!
Unluckily, we're not always partying. We at Check-in Architecture have a mission too: Transmitting Architecture.
Next week we're going to be in Turin, in the lounge area at the Oval. There are three spaces you should check-out:
- the interactive area, where you can access the internet to check out our website,
- the video exhibitions, where you can watch the Carlos Casas and Invernomuto videos and a selection of missions,
- the upstairs balcony where we'll be working hard as usual - and taking some video interviews - in case you want to pay a visit.
Transmitting Architecture is one of the most important moments in our Check-in Architecture research, so make sure you pass by.
CIA back in Turin!
Turin loves us and we love Turin. Once again the Check-in Architecture crew will move to the Piedmontese capital for a gaggle of good reasons: the UIA World Congress, the Transmitting Architecture exhibition and yet another party - details about it in the flyer above.
It's a good chance to witness the Check-in Architecture spirit both in video and in the flesh, we're three dimensional and rocking good dancers.
Festarch - epilogue
We were still a bit sleepy from last night - which ended up in a street party at the harbor, with the Minis' speakers booming and some street guys joining the dances with the CIA crew - when José and Nico left their four-star hotel to head back to their hometown Cologne. As they went back home, our own Gianmario and Elena got ready to fly to Venice, to join a party in Jesolo with Soulwax. These adventure and more are coming to a theater near you.
Last day of Festarch, we're not ready to head back home yet. Before packing all our stuff up tomorrow, we're gonna make sure to have the last shot at architectonic parties. Architects don't have much of a reputation for naked moonlight swims, but tonight in Cagliari, we're going to be working our hardest to change this.
Festarch - episode 2
While some of us had the time to enjoy some sunbathing and the windy beaches near Cagliari, José and Nico - the students from Cologne - had an intense schedule today. They've been attending speeches, wandering around the Festarch spaces and, of course, pursuing the noble goal of shooting us this mission. Their most glorious deed so far is an interview with Oliviero Toscani, soon to come on our video-blog. You can admire our heroes in a snapshot up here, as Toscani was sharing some thoughts with them and discouraging the two Cologne guys from attending his speech. He proved quite funny, so they went there anyway.
Stay tuned for the video, and of course for José and Nico's mission.
Checking-In at Festarch
We got to Cagliari just in time to go pick up our friends from Cologne, José and Nico, and take them to their luxurious accommodation. They're here to shoot us this mission, while we take care of our check-in point at Festarch.
Come check us out, we're right inside of the ex Manifatture Tabacchi, longing about in the clear sunlight of Sardinia, trying not to work too hard, but failing as we tirelessly toil for the greatness of the cause.
Festarch
Check-in Architecture is not afraid of moving, and we're more than happy when escape to the seaside. If you missed us in Milan and Turin - or if you live there, or if you're there for some reason - you should join us at Festarch in Cagliari. It's the right place to hear some interesting stuff about architecture, literature and global tourism, and sundry other issues and themes, and to have a dip in the Mediterranean. And get back massages and drink saccharine sweet daiquiris while staring absentmindedly at the waves lapping a the shore. We, as Check-in Architecture, have a check-in point you should pass by, and even somebody shooting a mission for us. Come look us up!
"We Love Magazines!"
Signjammin' Signjammin'
Gonna keep this party cracking
CIA has got your attention
and we’re rocking on the Signjammin’ rhythm
They say people can’t relate to our band
Misfit children making missions by hand
We’re not tapping out the beat on our laptops
Save your secretary jive for nerdstock
We’re thumping and strumming and a-banging
At the club or in the basements
It’s always a party when the mission gets started
and the screaming hasn’t stopped in Milan
Signjammin' Signjammin'
Just a abumpin' and ahumpin' and aslappin'
Signjammin' like this...
(Grossly adapted from Dub Narcotic Sound Systems "Handclappin'")
Signjam: the final frontier of commercial street culture, we wrote a mission about it already just a short while ago. And yes, the topic is so full, rich, bursting with possibilities, we are shooting another documentary on them. Or rather, Signjam is another project made by the same agency that makes Check-In Architecture, Metaflow. So we felt a healthy helping of shameless self-promotion was in order.
Soon, right at our new headquarters in Via Oslavia, 27, another round of workshops about cashing in on street culture will go down, this time regarding diffusion and communication, along with networking and the satisfying sensuality of printed paper.
The first day's topic is guerrilla advertising, with the international Cunning agency involving the attendants in a viral campaign brainstorming session. On the second day, lecool magazine editor Andrew Losowsky and shift! magazine creator Anja Lutz will discuss tendencies and new grounds in the world of commericial street mags, from nightlife mapping to street art and, let's hear that dirty word again, networking.
So if you're egualrly buying things you see advertised in graffiti magazines, this might just be your scene.
CIA in Turin: Check-In Point, Check Out the Party
From the pulsing creative factory of Via Ventura in Milan, where our headquarters sit, we're all heading to Turin tonight for a cool party at The Beach, on the city's riverside. If you've heard about Murazzi you know it's Turin's best nightlife scene.
The party starts at 11 pm, but you should also come over earlier to take a look at our Check-In Point, beautifully placed at the Politecnico, in the Castello del Valentino. Take a look, apply for a mission if you like and then, later, come join us for the Matthias Tanzmann dj set at The Beach.
CIA on Tour
In a way, Check-In Architecture is always on tour, traveling around in cars, airplanes, boats, and on foot, from city to city across Europe. But we, CIA staffers rarely get a chance to get unshackled from our desks, so now we get to trot around the continent ourselves to present the project to different universities. So if you study near or in to one of the following schools, run don't walk, to one of our presentations, meet a few of us. We'll talk to you about how great this thing is and the possibility of traveling around Europe for free and making documentaries. Come meet us, we don't bite or anything.
If you come, you can sign up for one of our missions!
Date - City, University, "Mission" Sign Up
13 May - Delft (Rotterdam), TU, "Festivalism" Barcellona
13 May - London, Metropolitan, "Portrait of the Pilgrims", Santiago De Compostela
13 May - London, East London, "Portrait of the Pilgrims", Santiago De Compostela
14 May - Leeds, School of Design, "Gypsy Caravan", Prague
14 May - Köln, KISD, "Festarch", Cagliari
15 May - Paris, ESAM, "Commodity Exchange", Leeds
15 May - Paris, E. N. S. d'Architecture Belleville, "Commodity Exchange", Leeds
15 May - Barcellona, ETSAV, "Corporate Living", Belfast
16 May - Berlin, TU Architecture, "Acqua Alta", Venice
Here's the link to all the schools participating in the project so far.
CIA on Domusweb
In the initial post we promised, in addition to regular musing, shameless self-promotion. Don't worry, such a policy continues truly. The positive press has started to roll in and we want you burnish our credentials with a few independent (positive) reviews. Okay, tongue firmly in cheek. But unlike any underpaid creatives working from a lonely cafe somewhere in Berlin (or factory district in Milan as the case may be) we like the sweet taste of recognition, before we return to our keyboards and third cup of coffee, trying to not to stare at the girl crossing her legs on the other side of the cafe.
Which is to say Domusweb has interviewed some of our fearless leaders, Luca Martinazzoli, Mario Flavio Benini, and Luca Legnani Jr., to chat about our projects, a few cups of coffee probably played a role in that conversation as well.
Check it out here on Domusweb.
