Omnitecture

Omnitecture at Talent 2008

2008-10-16T15:31:00.002+01:00

The Omnitecture project will go on show at the Designhuis from the 18th October until 30th November as part of the Talent 2008 exhibition. This exhibition will showcase the work of more than 100 graduates from 50 European Institutions.

"Talent 2008 gives an overview of the current state of European Design education and its future stars as selected by Li Edelkoort, Art Director, Designhuis."

The Brief

2008-08-12T14:17:00.002+01:00

The Guerrilla Gardeners are a global movement of people who cultivate derelict public spaces without the permission of the authorities.

Inspired by their actions, I wanted to see if the same was possible with architecture.

I placed five small buildings, each with a different function, around Edinburgh and recorded what happened after they went on site.

You can see the results and reaction of the public below.

Radio House

2008-07-24T11:50:00.000+01:00

Library

2008-07-24T11:48:00.001+01:00

Contemplative Space

2008-07-24T11:47:00.000+01:00

Watchtower

2008-07-24T11:46:00.001+01:00

Shelter

2008-07-24T11:44:00.000+01:00

Progress

2008-05-18T12:14:00.002+01:00

I must apologise for the delay in posting images and locations of the individual buildings. I have to admit that I had no idea how fast things would happen once the buildings went on site. I've been collecting as much information as possible and this means I've neglected the blog a little.

Each building was placed on wednesday morning and I revisited them again early wednesday afternoon. In the couple of hours in between visits quite a lot happened.

The watchtower on Arthurs Seat had been completely removed by the Ranger Service.

All of the books in the Library had been "borrowed".

The handle on the Radio had broken.

All of the candles, the visitors book and the prayer books had been taken for the Contemplative Space.

The shelter had had a couple of visitors but nothing hugely eventful.

Library

2008-05-18T12:11:00.003+01:00

The Library was placed on Pleasance at Carnegie Court. The building contained a small bench and a shelf with some books, these ranged from Pride and Prejudice and some Shakespeare to The BFG and Dr. Seuss.

Radio

2008-05-18T12:09:00.003+01:00

The radio was placed on the Roseburn cycle path just as it crosses the A8. The building contained a small bench and a wind up radio set on one station.

Contemplative Space

2008-05-18T12:07:00.003+01:00

The Contemplative space was placed on Gorgie rd. / Dalry rd. beside the petrol station. The building contained a small altar, some candles for people to light and some prayer books.

Watchtower

2008-05-14T21:50:00.003+01:00

The watchtower was placed on Queen's Drive, the road that runs around Arthur's Seat. The building has a telescope mounted inside it so people can view the city.

Shelter

2008-05-14T21:35:00.003+01:00

The Shelter has been placed just off the Water of Leith on Blinkbonny Road. There's a small blackboard inside the shelter which will show the weather forecast for the day.

The Buildings are on site

2008-05-14T21:22:00.002+01:00

All five buildings were placed on site today. Photos and locations will be posted shortly.

In my first post I said I would post some stuff on the design process and the construction of the buildings. I hope to have this up in the next couple of days

About Omnitecture

2008-04-21T19:29:00.001+01:00

This is a project which has come out of an interest in small buildings, graffiti and people who contribute, in a physical way, to their environment without permission. Over the course of researching this project I have been inspired by many things, too many to list here but they include: The (Original) Street Piano in Sheffield; The Graffiti Research Lab; Santiago Cirugeda's Recetas Urbanas; but most of all The Guerrilla Gardeners.

For those that haven't heard of The Guerrilla Gardeners, they are a global movement of people who cultivate derelict and neglected public spaces without the permission of the authorities. They do this for a variety of reasons both personal and political, but mostly their works are undertaken to improve the general amenity of that location. The aim of this project is to explore if this approach can be used to erect structures that have the same goal and are accepted by the public.

I have designed five small buildings and I will be placing them in specific sites throughout Edinburgh. They will occupy alleyways, derelict sites and anonymous corners of the city These buildings include a Library, a Contemplative space, a Watch House, a Shelter and a Radio House. The buildings will be placed on site and their lives will be observed and recorded. I want to see how the buildings are used or if they are just abused. To see if they become part of the city or if they are quickly destroyed or removed.

I've set up this blog so people can post comments and give me feedback on how they feel about the buildings. I will also be leaving guest books in each of the buildings so people can leave their comments there.

Ultimately, I would like to be able to gauge the reaction of both the public and the authorities and to judge whether the buildings are seen as a nuisance or as something valuable.