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On-Site Projects

 

A Farm in Murcia: Rainwater Harvesting

Water-supply infrastructure, 2007
Estratos, Contemporary Art Project, PAC, Murcia, Spain

The rooftops of a small organic farm near Bullas, Spain, in the region of Murcia, collect rainwater and deposit it in a biological-purification tank. The collected water is used to irrigate fields. Murcia is currently facing the loss of both its soil and water -- essential and non-renewable resources -- which puts the region on the fast track to becoming a desert. Small organic farms, however, protect and rebuild soil fertility and the water supply.

 

Solar-Powered Desalination Device

Energy and water-supply infrastructure, 2007
Sharjah Biennial 8, Sharjah, UAE

A small desalination device powered by solar energy is installed in a public school in Al Dhaid. It provides fresh drinking water for the students. Although the main desalination plant in Sharjah City is intended to supply drinking water to all residents, in some parts of the city only salty water comes out of the drinking taps. The desalination plant runs on fossil fuels, reflecting the area's dependence on oil. In Sharjah, solar energy is only rarely used to create electricity.

 

Power from Nature

Energy infrastructure, 2005
Barefoot College, Rajasthan, India, and the Catherine Ferguson Academy, Detroit, Mich., USA
In collaboration with the Nobel Peace Center, Oslo, Norway

Self-sustainable technologies are relocated from the city of Oslo to two other sites: the rural community of the Barefoot College in Rajasthan and the Catherine Ferguson Academy, a high school for teenage mothers in Detroit. The installation of solar panels at the Barefoot College and of a hybrid wind turbine/solar panel system at the Catherine Ferguson Academy came after the historical preservation authorities in Oslo refused to authorize an earlier project designed for the Nobel Peace Center that would have incorporated wind turbines as the main element.

 

Balcony with Wind Turbine

Building materials and energy infrastructure, 2004
'3rd Liverpool Biennial', Liverpool, England

A balcony with a wind turbine is installed on the 14th floor of the Bispham House towerblock. Originally part of the movement for social housing, towerblocks are today being increasingly pulled down. Of the 72 social-housing highrises that were once in Liverpool, only 12 remain. With the dissolution of the social state, these remaining towerblocks are being privatized. While underscoring private space and wind-generated energy, the project improves living conditions for two families.

 

Dry Toilet

Building materials and sanitation infrastructure, 2003
Courtesy of Liyat Esakov and Marjetica Potrc
Supported by La Vega community, Caracas;
Caracas Case Project and Federal Cultural Foundation of Germany;
Ministry of Environment, Venezuela

The dry toilet project was the result of a six-month stay in Caracas, during which time Liyat Esakov and I researched the informal city under the auspices of the Caracas Case Project. A dry, ecologically safe toilet was built on the upper part of La Vega barrio, a district in the city without access to the municipal water grid. The project attempts to rethink the relationship between infrastructure and architecture in real-life urban practice in a city where about half the population receives water from municipal authorities no more than two days a week.

 

Individual Empowerment

Building materials, energy and communication infrastructure, 2003
'The Fifth System: Public Art in the Age of Post-Planning'
The 5th Shenzhen International Public Art Exhibition, Shenzhen, China

A wi-fi service is provided at a cafe in the Porto Fino gated community in the Overseas Chinese Town (OCT) in Shenzhen. Solar panels supply electricity for a laptop computer, allowing visitors to browse the Internet for free. All across the world, gated communities seek control over basic infrastructure systems, whether for water or communication.

 

Siena: Urban Agriculture

Building materials and energy infrastructure, 2003
'Arte all'Arte 8 Project' Associazione Arte Continua, San Gimignano, Italy

A hydroponic vegetable garden is cultivated on the roof of a privately owned building in the city of Siena, Italy. The project focuses on notions of self-sustainability and private space. In this way, an experiment in urban agriculture -- an approach that has been recommended by the World Bank for such fast-growing cities as Cairo and that is being implemented in Caracas -- now finds a home in Siena.

 

Istanbul: Rooftop Room

Building materials, energy and communication infrastructure, 2003
'Poetic Justice' The 8th International Istanbul Biennial, Istanbul

Rooftop Room is a site-specific project realized for the 8th Istanbul Biennial. It consists of a tin roof constructed on top of a privately owned flat-roof house in Kustepe, Istanbul. After the exhibition closed, the family who lives in the house replaced the temporary curtain walls with permanent walls.

 

House for Travelers

Building materials, 2000
'Manifesta 3', Ljubljana, Slovenia
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Building material, 2002
'Go-Home', Sarajevo, BIH

I built the House for Travelers for a family of refugees who live in Ljubljana. The house is modeled after a UNESCO resettlement project in Kenya. The dwelling consists of a tin roof on stilts and a small room for safeguarding possessions. In both Ljubljana and Sarajevo, the temporary structure was given to a temporary social group. Residents made their own improvements on the houses.

 

Magadan

Site specific building, building materials, 1997
'Skulptur. Projekte in Münster', Münster, Germany

Magadan, a project named after a Far Eastern Russian port city, begins with a walk through a huge World War II bunker and ends with a shanty structure built in the open area of the moat. Magadan references both the urban voids of Münster, of which the bunker is one example, and shantytowns. Shantytowns and urban voids are both common features in the contemporary city.

 

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