object collecting_the balcony stage

I was soon get used of being peeped when walking in the narrow alleys of Istanbul neighbourhoods by those curious eyes behind the shutters or hiding in balconies.To them, i was a novel alien visitor;to me,they were like performers of various life scene. It is interesting to find out how an original building facade was turned into a live stage.It might be a working place of housewives in Gulensu where they can chat and hanging clothes in the lazy afternoon sun, or an advertising display for those"ladies" in tarlabasi's ambiguous evening, or a spiritual communicating space between someone inside and the entire city,which in his view easily but keep in distant always.

moreover, the stage is 24-hour operation.A silent show will begin in the midnight,acted by lights,shadows and those left behind.

object collecting__Amateur Fishing

The fishing men in Istanbul came from different places of the city.They spent most of their time standing by the coast line and waiting for prey,but always there were only a few 3-inch long sardines in the foamy box until the late night.Sometimes they will fight for a place on the Galata bridge so that it was easy to have a transaction with the restaurant downstairs. The fishing men worked hard for seasons, never feel relax.They can’t go back home unless they hve enough lira to buy family tomorrow’s meal. One day a fishing man found a strange structure along the golden horn at night, where he could take a nap and then got a magic harvest.

objects collecting__Boat Cafe

objects collecting__ the Bazaar tent

the bazaar tent

I was really surprised to see a series of tents which suspended in an narrow street when i passed a neighbourhood in Historical Peninsula. The tents were randomly overlapping each other,brought a special kind of beauty when playing with the sunshine.Usually made by white canvas,the tents are used to shade an temporary outdoor market,which can be easily found in many places of Istanbul. As a manifesto of occupation of certain urban space,the bazaar tents constitute a part of urban fabric.Under the tents,vibrant daily life takes place.

Object collecting_social clubs for housewife

social club

It was the first time to be invited into a turkish tea house in Kucuk Pazar, which was about 10 minutes' walk from the Grand Bazaar. This was a traditional neighbourhood in the central city.Beside a demolished wooden house's site, an old tailor was concentrating on sawing. Only kids were playing in the alley while their mums sometimes peeped them from the upstairs windows.

The tea house was not new to me,which i had known from the turkish movie "Distant". It was like social club where men gathered to play backgammon while being served steaming hot Turkish tea.They also watched TV or talked about daily things together.With a custom of "men domain",it is obvious that the existence of us three girls let them feel unexpected.These small tea houses can be easily found in villages,town squares,seasides and so on, where people spend day and night in this city.

The trip to Gulensu 2 days later was in the late sunny morning. It was a quiet and peaceful gecekondu village where i can see housewives doing housework in the balconies or chatting in the small garden in front of houses. Men went out to earn a living, women took care of families and prepared for dinner.This scene may be changed by the invasion of new built gate communities beside the village. Some day the inhabitants of Gulensu may move into those modern style apartment thanks to the city's policy,with the lost of their beloved garden, the family-like neighbourhood, the best girlfriends,and many pleasant moment.

object collecting_homemade play device

Playground for children can be seen every where in the open space of Istanbul,no matter in the sea side or high way's buffer zone. It supposed that people may use them for excises or relax in daily life,and sometimes the residents in nearby neighbourhood just come and use the facilities,though it may not so convenient. In some gecekondu settlement such as Tarlabasi, the inhabitants just made some play device for children by themselves. The spontaneous techniques are one of the urban life characters i found in Istanbul. The intention to made chance to get better living facilities by such informal activities always results in all kinds of creative built work in the city.The normal stuffs in daily life or recycled material are mainly used.

object collecting_wooden houses

“It is no more possible to take pride in these neglected dwellings,which dirt,dust and mud have blended into their surroundings,than it is to rejoice in in the beautiful old wooden houses that as a child i watched burn down one by one."---Istanbul Memories and the city

Istanbul has a long tradition of construction in wood.Those wooden houses from the Ottoman empire period are one of Istanbul's least appreciated architectural forms.But many of they have vanished and the survivors are under threat because of lots of new modern development and gentrification project take place in those historical areas. Some of the houses are demolishing now or neglect until collapse.You can easily find those demolishing house pieces or fragments as window/door frames in the city,which may be taken by local rural inhabitants to make some temporary structures or shelters.

The demolishing wooden houses' fragments and those isolated houses in bad condition are objects which i want to borrow from the city to relocate and recombine in the carnival site. To form some temporary platform and building by wooden house material and additional supporting structure such as cranes and scaffolds.The new looking and function may be totally different from the original houses, to achieve an overlay and penetration of various of memories.

object collecting_mobile vending machine

The morning in Eminonu belongs to those early birds, who can not wait to place their mobile vending machines to the square in front of the spicy bazaar, and looking forward of a brand new busy day. The vendors are also best friends of Buri, a 9-year old girl who live in Fener, one of the oldest neighbourhood in Istanbul. They always bring delicious home made "simit"(a kind of turkish bread)downstairs, she and her friends sometimes can get one for free. In Buri's dream, one day she becomes the first passenger of the vending "vehicle" and the captain is playing baglama like Mr.Orhan Gencebay.Mr."Orhan" has bushy green hair and took her to lots of places in Istanbul where she has never been before.Every time "orhan"droped in some place he liked singing and dancing with villagers into the late night. And one thing Buri feels so curious is that the captain's countless treasures in his Vehicle,which he always gives to people as gifts when starts a new journey.

object collecting_turk balon

Mosque

Mosque is an important space for Istanbul citizens which is not only the symbol of Islamic culture but also an place where people can meet and gather in daily life . Mosques were built every where in the city with the communities as landmarks. In istanbul the mosques serves as a centre for information,education and tourists. The architectural characters such as domes,minerats and prayer's halls make mosques distinguish from other building types.

Turk Balon

I found this hot air balloon near the sea side of Kadikoy.It might be the most obvious landmark of the area. Normally the Balloon is anchored to the ground and under it there is a restaurant and cafe. here is the descriptions;

"This balloon carries 30 people and one pilot. The diameter of the balloon is 22 meters, and it rises to a height of 200 meters according to their brochure; therefore, locals and tourists can enjoy a 15 minute, 360 degree view of the beautiful city of Istanbul..."

Istanbul has the tradition of flying with balloon,which can be seen from the annual balloon festival and the famous balloon tour in Cappadocia.The turk balon in Kadikoy is one of mobile devices which i want to borrow for the carnival site from Istanbul city，which may act as a temporary landmark of the site.Ceremonies and events can take place in the open space under the balloon.As the Carnival moves on,the balloon may move around the site and to organise various of activities.

schedule of carnival(0527)

draft plan of urban carnival in Kartal 0506

the meaning of urban carnival

- A way of occupation/invasion of the abandoned pre-construction place

- A fantastic reality

- A nomadic presence of objects/techniques/life fragments found from the city, deconstruction and recombination local memories with new demands, and to repair/explore new networks.

- An Instant urban form keeping constantly moving and fleeting, providing dynamics of connection between the local and global. It never complete, keep going both materially and ideologically

schedule of carnival:

"She Changes"

two men

“Another, that while we sleep here, we are awake somewhere else, so that every man is in fact two men.” - Borges

http://jorgevaliente.tumblr.com/post/3689166320/melmoththewanderer-another-that-while-we

instant city by Archigram

Instant City forms part of a series of investigations into mobile facilities which are in conjunction with fixed establishments requiring expanded services over a limited period in order to satisfy an extreme but temporary problem.

[Instant City is] A research project based on the conflict between local, culturally isolated, centres and the well serviced facilities of the metropolitan regions. Investigating the effect and practicality of injecting the metropolitan dynamic into these centres by means of a mobile facility carrying the information – education – entertainment services of the city, extended through the establishment of this together with the national telecommunication network. The initial study for this project is to be published in May. Grant approval for the main stage is under negotiation at this time. This project is carried out in co-operation with the Architectural Association. The Systems Consultant is Professor Gordon Pask of Brunel University Department of Cybernetics; Audio Visual Consultants, Program Partnership; Film Consultant Dennis Postle of B.B.C. Television.

The illustration shows a possible configuration when the Instant City is attached to a declining industrial area. The structures used are known forms such as toweres as in building operations, air structures and converted commercial vehicles.

Archigram


The Notion

In most civilised countries, localities and their local cultures remain slow moving, often undernourished and sometimes resentful of the more favoured metropolitan regions (such as New York, the West Coast of the United States, London and Paris). Whilst much is spoken about cultural links and about the effect of television as a window on the world (and the inevitable global village), people still feel frustrated. Younger people even have a suspicion that they are missing out on things that could widen their horizons. They would like to be involved in aspects of life where their own experiences can be seen as part of what is happening.

Against this is the reaction to the physical nature of the metropolis – and somehow there is this paradox – if only we could enjoy it but stay where we are.

The Instant City project reacts to this with the idea of a `travelling metropolis’, a package that comes to a community, giving it a taste of the metropolitan dynamic – which is temporarily grafted on to the local centre – and whilst the community is still recovering from the shock, uses this catalyst as the first stage of a national hook-up. A network of information-education-entertainment –‘play-and-know yourself’ facilities.

In England the feeling of being left out of things has for a long time affected the psychology of the provinces, so that people become either overprotective about local things or carry in their minds a ridiculous inferiority complex about the metropolis. But we are nearing a time when the leisure period of the day is becoming really significant; and with the effect of television and better education people are realising that they could do things and know things, they could express themselves (or enjoy themselves in a freer way) and they are becoming dissatisfied with the television set, the youth club or the pub.

A Background to Archigram Work

With our notion of the robot (the symbol of the responsive machine that collects many services in one appliance), we begin to play with the notion that the environment could be conditioned not only by the set piece assembly but by infinite variables determined by your wish, and the robot reappears in the Instant City in several of the assemblies.

The planning implications of Instant City have emerged more and more strongly as the project has developed, so that by the time we are making the sequence describing the airship’s effect upon the sleeping town, it is the infiltrationary dynamic of the town itself that is as fascinating as the technical dynamic of the airship. Again we have to reflect on the psychology of a country such as England, where there is a historical suggestion that vast upheaval is unlikely. We are likely to capitalise on existing institutions and existing facilities whilst complaining about their inefficiency – but a country such as England must now live by its wits or perish, and for its wits it needs its culture.

A Programme Background

The likely components are audio-visual display systems, projection television, trailered units, pneumatic and lightweight structures and entertainments facilities, exhibits, gantries and electric lights.

This involves the theoretical territory between the ‘hardware’ (or the design of buildings and places) and ‘software’ (or the effect of information and programming on the environment). Theoretically it also involves the notions of urban dispersal and the territory between entertainment and learning.
The Instant City could be made a practical reality since at every stage it is based upon existing techniques and their application to real situations. There is a combination of several different artefacts and systems that have hitherto remained as separate machines, enclosures or experiments. The programme involved gathering information about an itinerary of communities and the available utilities (clubs, local radio, universities, etc) so that the ‘City’ package is always complementary rather than alien. We then tested this proposition against particular samples.

The first stage programme consisted of assemblies carried by approximately 20 vehicles, operable in most weathers and carrying a complete programme. These were applied to localities in England and in the Los Angeles area of California. Later, having become interested in the versatility of the airship, we came to propose this as another means of transporting the Instant City assembly (a great and silent bringer of the whole conglomeration).

Later we applied the method of the Instant City to proposals for servicing the Documenta exhibition at Kassel in Germany. By this time also there had developed a feedback of ideas and techniques between this project and our Monte Carlo entertainments facility.

A Typical Sequence of Operations (truck-borne version)

1. The components of the ‘City’ are loaded on to the trucks and trailers at base.

2. A series of ‘tent’ units are floated from balloons which are towed to the destination by aircraft.

3. Prior to the visit of the ‘City’ a team of surveyors, electricians, etc have converted a disused building in the chosen community into a collection-information and relay-station. Landline links have been made to local schools and to one or more major (permanent) cities.

4. The ‘City’ arrives. It is assembled according to site and local characteristics. Not all components will necessarily be used. It may infiltrate local buildings and streets, it may fragment.

5. Events, displays and educational programmes are supplied partly by the local community and partly by the ‘City’ agency. In addition, major use is made of local fringe elements: fairs, festivals, markets, societies, with trailers, stalls, displays and personnel accumulating on an often ad hoc basis. The event of the Instant City might be a bringing together of events that would otherwise occur separately in the district.

6. The overhead tent, inflatable windbreaks and other shelters are erected. Many units of the ‘City’ have their own tailored enclosure.

7. The ‘City’ stays for a limited period.

8. It then moves on to the next location.

9. After a number of places have been visited the local relay stations are linked together by landline. Community One is now feeding part of the programme to be enjoyed by Community Twenty.

10. Eventually, by this combination of physical and electronic, perceptual and programmatic events and the establishment of local display centres, a ‘City’ of communication might exist, the metropolis of the national network.

11. Almost certainly, travelling elements would modify over a period of time. It is even likely that after two to three years they would phase out and let the network take over.

12. As the Instant City study developed, certain items emerged in particular. First, the idea of a ‘soft-scene monitor’, a combination teaching-machine, audio-visual jukebox, environmental simulator, and, from a theoretical point of view, a realisation of the ‘Hardware/Software’ debate (which is still going on in our Monte Carlo work), as the notion of an electronically aided responsive environment. Next, the dissolve of the original large, trucked, circus-like show into a smaller and very mobile element backed by a wonderful, magical dream descending from the skies. The model of the small unit suggests two trucks and a helicopter as the carriage, with quick folding arenas and apparatus that can quickly be fitted into the village hall. Another stimulus was the invitation to design the ‘event structure’ for the 1972 Kassel Documenta, an elaborate art/event/theatre scene requiring a high level of servicing but a minimum of interference with the ‘open-air creative act’. The ‘Kassel-Kit’ of apparatus can therefore be considered as a direct extension of the original IC Kit.


Are we back to heroics then, with a giant, pretty and evocative object? The Blimp: the airship: beauty, disaster and history. On the one hand we were designing a totally unseen and underground building at Monte Carlo, and on the other hand flirting with the airborne will-o-the-wisp. The Instant City as a series of trucks rushing round like ants might be practical and immediate, but we could not escape the loveliness of the idea of Instant City appearing out of nowhere, and after the ‘event’ stage, lifting up its skirts and vanishing. In fact, the primary interest was spontaneity, and the remaining aim to knit into any locale as effectively as possible. For Archigram, the airship is a device: a giant skyhook.
Operationally, there were two possibilities. A simple airship with apparatus carried in the belly and able to drop down as required. Otherwise, a more sophisticated notion of a ‘megastructure of the skies’. Ron Herron’s drawings (ref) suggest that the ‘ship’ can fragment, and the audio/visual elements are scattered around a patch of sky. Once again, the project work of the group has picked up a dream of it own past – the ‘Story of a Thing’ made (almost) real.

We then built a model, which could hang out its entrails in a number of ways. This was the simpler ‘ship’, which reads with the scenario of a small town transformation. In the drawing with airship ‘Rupert’, a major shift in Instant City was first articulated: the increasing feeling for change-by-infiltration. The ‘city’ is creeping into half-finished buildings, using the local draper’s store, gas showrooms and kerbside, as well as the more sophisticated set-up. And there is a mysterious creeping animal: the ‘leech’ truck, which is able to climb up any structure and service from it: with the resulting possibility of ‘bugging’ the whole town as necessary. Gently then, the project dissolves from the simple mechanics or hierarchies of ‘structuring’ and like-objects. Just as did the Plug-In City: it sowed the seeds of its own fragmentation into investigations of a gentler, more subtle environmental thing.

Archigram, Edited by Peter Cook, Warren Chalk, Dennis Crompton, David Greene, Ron Herron & Mike Webb, 1972 [reprinted New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1999].

Basento River Bridge, Potenza. Itália 1967-69. Sergio Musmeci

can't image such amazing form and structures were build in 1960s! it is a typical sample of usage of the space under huge bridges,which i am also curious for many bridges in Istanbul

test for final carnival-kartal