eco week with Lucien Kroll @ METAVILLA, French Pavillion, Venice Bienalle, 9 - 14 october 06

"Ecology is exactly and no more the science of relations" : Lucien Kroll The week is a sacred form, so the days of the week are divided into seperate themes; 6 days of work and we rest together on the 7th day.

audio recordings from the week (work in progress, apologies)

Day 1 : no recording available at present Day 2 : architecture : why is participation important (1 hr 38 mns) invited friend : Peter Blundell-Jones Day 3 : architecture and the participation of the user (1 hour 25 mns) invited friend : Peter Hubner Day 4 : From Bauhaus to our uncles house: eco decolonisation ( 1 hr 50 mins ) invited friend : Sergio Porto, human space lab Day 5 : eco landcapes (1 hour) invited friend : Luigi Cavallari Day 6 : open conclusions from the week (2.5 hours) invited friend : Ugo Sasso from Bioarchitettura and many more

Weeks closing touching words between friends and mutual role models; Lucien Kroll, Patrick Bouchain, Simone Kroll last words from the last NATIONAL pavilion, bon appettite (3 mins)

"As a matter of urgency, we must stop considering architecture, urban and landscape design as products of techniques, rationalities, methods, economy, hard sciences, specifications, or narcissism. Last year, in the French Clichy-sous-Bois, we saw riots when young people burned 1000 cars in 20 days as well as many public buildings, and how it had been triggered by a criminal modern architecture. If the 20th century was overwhelmed by the power of technology authority, the 21st century will probably endeavour to soften and try to rehumanize its citizen`s behaviours and by the way, also its architecture. We should first place inhabited environmant along with human and global knowledge system: intuitive, ecological, relational, emotional, experienced, etc. Instead of seeing it as a frigid mechanism or as merchandise. Only after that, may we talk abut inventing tools and intelligence: no one is useless as a servant, provided that he or she renounces taking power for him-herself. Hence, weshould reinvent the friendly and free relations we had with our techniques because they have become autistic and harmful. Architecture will then become once again humanitarian and hospi-table as it was in the pre-human epoch ( the Zeus of hositaltity René Schérer)"

so reads the poster for this week of discussions in METAVILLA, the French Pavilion, here at the Venice Bienalle

programme for week:

Each day will be illustrated by a sort of daily exhibition of "banners" with 2 or 3 of our projects qs examples of hte signification of architecture. The whole exhibition will be shown Saturday and Sunday. Many books will be exposed and 2 new ones: "Partecipazione e partecipazione ... " Mancosu publisher in Roma, A magazine of Milan University with my study ( 1965: "Kimihurura, Rwanda, urban decolonization" Exhibition: "Spontaneous cities and gardens": a comparison between the freedom of the gardens of Simone Kroll and naturally self formed cities.

Monday 9th, 5.00 : Eco-ethology Model: Conrad Lorenz as architect? invited : Jean-Louis Deneubourg (social insects behaviour)

Tuesday 10th, 5.00 : Eco-Biology Model: Ebenezer Howard & Patrick Geddes as urban designers? invited : Peter Blundell-Jones, architectural critic

The Participative observations demonstrate that the "whole" is a net of active, solitary living things and I invite Ebenezer Howard, Patrick Geddes and James Lovelock: they showed the city as a living being. Peter Blundell-Jones just wrote a book about participatioin....

Wednesday 11th, 5.00 : Eco-Pedagogy Model: Carl Rogers as architect? invited : Peter Hubner, architect.

Thursday 12th, 5.00 : Eco-Decolonization, Model: Ivan Illich as architect? invited : Sergio Porta: analysis of street nets:

Friday 13th, 5.00 : Eco-Landscapes Model: Louis le Roy, Gilles Clement; architects? invited : Luigi Cavallari

Saturday 14th, 11.00 : Open Conclusions Model: Peter Sloterdijk : (rules for a hman park) :: ( ancient humanism became mechanization untill eugenics`...) and Marcel Gauchet "the disenchant,ent of the world" invited : Ugo Sasso, Wittfrieda Mitterer, founder of INBAR (Bioarchitettura)

attempts are being made at present to braodcast these discussions live over the net via streaming technology. Discussions from today onward will be archived for later listening.

previous posts about or from Venice Bienalle;

Onboard the (French) pirate ship METAVILLA (whats being pointed at in Venice this year?)

Cities, architecture and culture, Venice architecture Bienalle 2007

previous example of streaming event : Future of Digital Media watch 4 minute film about : streaming from the gaff

recent eco work I have been involved with:

Ireland: greenway and eco corridor for Dublin : Botanic spine and Dublins greenway community gardens Dublins community gardens

Denmark: eco building; a new outdoor playhouse for Bornholm Kindergarten

Bosnia: Eco city Banja Luka

related thread and base for audio files: Cities, radical urbanism, sqatting, social centres