1/2/8 — Urban Frictions // #TRYOUT von HEFT
by
PACT
Themen
1/2/8
HEFT's project at PACT during 1/2/8
Interest in Conversational Space
HEFT was initiated by Ina Römling and Torben Körschkes in March 2016 as a project space for reflections and debates addressing the city. The two Designers wanted to talk about urban matters in a non academical way, and got interested in conversational spaces. For a far-reaching discourse, they were researching different forms of gathering and negotiation structures in built environments and met the hosts for an exchange. At the core of most of the spaces they looked at, people came to the point, that they can't get any further on their own, and need other people to talk about certain issues – and not just with their friends. For having a real discussion, there must be a gathering of people with other backgrounds, people from other »bubbles«.
Problem of Consensus
In addition to exploring discussion rooms, they began to deal with political spaces. In doing so, they have dealt with the crisis of official policy in Europe and around the world and believe that it is also a crisis of negotiations, a crisis of a system with the main objective of reaching a consensus. In this area HEFT shows a problem that makes the political auditorium superfluous, it becomes a stage to present decisions already made and not to discuss current problems or visions.
The Project at PACT
For their work at PACT, they started to get inspired from the salon culture: Salons actually started by citizens as an opposition to royal and aristocratic hegemony. The ideal was, that everyone coming together is the same, entering a space you lose your profession and status so everyone can converse on one level.
To materialize the idea, HEFT developed physical structure or architectural installation, which is very flexible in rearranging it with the aim to offer different approach to »space«. In addition the idea was to combined a physiscal agenda with a social or contentual agenda. In both issues they think of a need to overcome consensus with the believe into frictions to happen.
At PACT their project is to developing ad-hoc physical structures in and around PACT. With those structures made of e.g. wood, fabric and other materials they are experimenting different arrangements and spatial layouts. These structures, which will change constantly, should be understood as a living lab. The main goal is to discover how space, negotiation and exchange are related and being influenced by each other.
TRY OUT'S at PACT Zollverein
During the time of 1/2/8 HEFT invites to try out in its yellow, puristic salon using the structures as a physical framework for getting a „step out“ of the working routine and getting in to a conversational exchange.
Wednesday, the 16 th of May
Can you separate work from everyday life and how far do you connect your life as a labour?
Do you think that social design aesthetics is made for avoiding political frictions? Is the dicers about the social often a buffer to avoid the political?
During the process of trying, they develop a non-physical structure format that triggers the discussion in space.
