ENGLISH
Workshop around Yona Friedman’s Museum with building
At the Sculpturegarden,Geneva Biennale, Parc La Grange
Sat 08.08.2020, from 2:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Yona Friedman's architecture is that of participation. He was skeptical of big theories and high-tech solutions. He invented systems that could be shaped according to users’ needs and desires, and which would have a minimal impact on the environment. Some of Yona’s structures were suspended in the air making room below for people, agriculture and nature. Others were mobile. They could be assembled, disassembled and reassembled, interconnected and appropriated by the users.
For Yona Friedman, building the city was above all a collective and creative enterprise. He rejected the modern drive towards technocracy and commercialization. To the plan, he opposed improvisation and flexible processes, which allowed endless experimentation and learning.
After a lifelong practice outside mainstream modern architecture, Yona Friedman emerges as a precursor of participatory practices in architecture and urban planning. Neither utopian nor populist, Yona Friedman's insistence on placing inhabitants at the heart of production of their habitats, is recognized as good practice. Participation or "consultation" are now part of any development project, at least in theory. Yona Friedman invites us to move from theory to practice by contributing, in our own particular way, to a museum without building.
During this workshop, we will take time to revisit Yona Friedman's ideas, and we will follow his invitation to imagine, quite simply, the city we want. Above all, we will take the time to listen to each other; children, adults, retirees, entrepreneurs, artists, newcomers or long-time residents, and imagine how the city we aspire to as individuals can come together as a spontaneous, dynamic and collective assemblage.
The "Museum without building" sculpture was produced by architect Nader Seraj, editor of Yona Friedman, The Dilution of Architecture, published by Park Books and Archizoom (EPFL).
FRANÇAIS
Atelier autour du Musée sans bâtiment de Yona Friedman
Sculpturegarden, Biennale de Genève, Parc La Grange
Samedi 08.08.2020, de 14h30 a 18h.
L’architecture de Yona Friedman est celle de la participation. Il se méfiait autant des grandes théories que des solutions high-tech. Il inventait des systèmes permettant aux usagers de créer leurs espaces en fonction de leur besoins et inspirations. Il cherchait à minimiser au maximum l’impact sur l’environnement tout en s’en inspirant. Certaines de ses structures étaient suspendues en l’air pour laisser la place aux gens, à l’agriculture et à la nature. D’autres étaient mobiles. Elles pouvaient être assemblées, désassemblées et réassemblées, se connecter entres elles et être appropriées par les usagers.
La construction de la ville était pour Yona Friedman avant tout une entreprise collective et créative. Il rejetait une modernité technocratique et commerciale. Au plan il opposait l’improvisation et la flexibilité, permettant d’expérimenter et d’apprendre sans cesse.
Après des décennies de pratique en marge des grands courants de l’architecture moderne, Yona Friedman apparaît comme un précurseur de la participation. Ni utopique, ni populiste, l’insistance de Yona Friedman à mettre l’habitant au cœur de la production de l’habitat, apparaît aujourd’hui comme un aspect central de la bonne pratique architecturale et urbaine. Participation ou « concertation » font maintenant parti de tout projet d’aménagement, du moins en théorie. Yona Friedman nous invite à passer de la théorie à la pratique en contribuant, chacun à notre façon, au musée sans bâtiment.
Lors de cet atelier, nous prendrons le temps de revisiter les idées de Yona Friedman et de nous en inspirer pour imaginer, tout simplement, la ville que nous désirons. Et surtout nous prendrons le temps de nous écouter, enfants, adultes, retraités, entrepreneurs, artistes, nouveaux venus ou résidentes de longue date et d’imaginer comment la ville désirée par chacun peut devenir un assemblage spontané, évolutif et collectif.
Le « Musée sans bâtiment » de Yona Friedman au Sculpturegarden de la Biennale de Genève a été réalisé par l'architecte Nader Seraj, éditeur du livre Yona Friedman, The Dilution of Architecture, publié par Park Books and Archizoom (EPFL).
Parc la Grange
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