A4_klatka

k l a t k a - t h e c a g e

The Common Sculpture: A society and its environments

The common sculpture contrast the nature of the individual sculpture. The individual is able to engage with his or her environment more directiy. A group or a society, creates its own cultural environment, the interhumansphere of people gathering around a fire or the environment of human settlements such as villages and cities.

This environment is self-contained, struggles with maintaining an interactive relationship with the external environment. The common sculpture „Klatka" (The cage) intends to explore this relationship.

we lifted the mobile cage into the air and took it for a long walk through the landscape. During the walk over hills, through valleys and across fields we always remained inside the cage,the torch held high up inot the air to mark the centre of our space inside.

At one point we steared the cage into another direction, moved towards an area between two hills which was raised over the surrounding landscape and and opened the view over the fields towards the lake Ukla. Here we stopped and placed the wreath of the cage on top of four postes. We moved together into the centre of the cage. This was followed by one person climbing the central stair, looking over thetop of the cage and shouting „Klatka" into the surrounding landscape. This was answered by a strong echo.This was a sign of contact with the worid outside our world inside the cage. Finally the vertical ribbons of our cage were ignited, turning the cage into a buming ring. The stairs were bumed as it had become obsolete.

After Klatka's death we all turned round and moved outside the cage in a star formation. The burning of the cage was the ever repeating ritual of creating a dialogue between our human settlement and the world beyond.

Architecture of integration: „Phoenix"

The event sculpture „Klatka" (cage in Polish) formed the climax of our workshop and consolidated the individual responses which were shared and discussed at the end of the workshop's 5t part. The process of engaging individually with the environment, sharing and discussing the individual responses and finally finding a collective response to the environment showed how the diversity of individual expressions can form the basis for a common perspective.

The Collective and the Landscape

The cage enclosing our group visualized the issue of Isolation/identity and exchange/dialogue, an issue which was discussed extensively in workshop progress meetings. The cage formed the protective skin around the inside space which our group inhabits This skin regulates the degree of dialogue we have with the emjronment outside our sphere.

During the walk through the landscape we were enclosec by the walls of the cage and isolated from the environment outside. The self-enclosed nature of our inside space was stressed by the central fire of the torch. The steps which were mounted when the cage came to' its final halt, functioned as a window between inside and outside and as a mediator between our identity and outer influences. The burning of our cage meant the destruction of the walls which protected but also isolated our own society from the surrounding environment to let new influences come in.

The workshop leaves us with a series of clear perspectives for the „Phoenix" project as a centre for international youth meetings:

Inside - outside: identity - dialogue

As a building it will form a type of centre which apart from creating a protective environment for youth meetings will interact with its environment. Spacially the building will comprise of three distinct elements:

1. A self enclosed core/centre common room, courtyard etc

2. Peripheral spaces which adress the surrounding environment workshops, gardens, terraces etc.

3. Outsourced spaces which allow small groups and individuais to explore and interact with the expansive landscape huts. decks. routes etc .

These three elements allow Phoenix as a meeting place to be integrated into the surrounding environment. The building will aid KAJA in identifying itself not only as a host for young people from different countries but also as an integral part of the local culture. lt will enrich the cultural activities ofthe region and hopefully will in return receive contributions from the people of the region.

At this point the issue of integrating the architectural space of Phoenix into the landscape will be mirrowed at a social level by the issue of maintaining its identity (inside) and simultaniously integrating itself (outside) into a found cultural environment

n e x t : PHOENIX I architecture workshops

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