16th-18th May 2008
The Bauhaus Kolleg IX focused on border cities in the Baltic Sea region as places where a new Europe is being formed. The Baltic Sea region is one of the "laboratories" where the negotiations for a new Europe have been at their most dynamic since the end of the Cold War. It is one of the most multifaceted and contradictory regions, characterised by inequalities, discontinuities and conflicts, but also by intensive exchange, cross-border cooperation and migration. Here, openness, isolation, dynamic growth, industrial decline, radical free trade experiments, state-directed isolationism, new wealth, new poverty, transnational identities, and a new nationalism come together.
The contradictory mechanisms of European integration are particularly evident on the northern border. As such, the border cities of the Baltic Sea region are testing grounds for the project of Europeisation. How do the incessant exchange processes and migratory movements affect the cities in question? To what extent are new models of European urban life being formed? The Kolleg will base its examination of these issues on three border cities in the Baltic Sea region, which are confronted by the actuality of borders in different ways.
# 1
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# 2
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exploration of the spatial concept
of an archipelago of islandswith
the two projects Tallinn Retold at the harbour and Porta de Viru at Tammsaare
Park discussions with tourists and locals took place about the potential of
the spatial structure of Tallinn; people were encouraged to visit different
parts of the city and exchange stories about meaningful places;
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exploration of areas in transition
two very different areas,
Rotterman district and Balti Jaam Market, were chosen for integrative
projects; while Rotterman is a well designed new urban site with expensive
high brands but few social interaction, Balti Jaam Market is a very cheap
informal area that is very important for economically less fortunate locals.
Our project consisted of building up small market stands where we distributed
goods from the contrasting area in exchange for people’s desires. The intent
was to get local opinion about what has value in the further development of
the city;
In a subsequent project in the
evening, a projection regarding real estate speculation in Uus Maailm
community started a discussion about the topic of future city development and
whose city it is to develop;
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# 3
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#4
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activation of abandoned space
related to real estate speculation
many areas at the harbour are waiting for transformation but seem abandoned
at the moment. Through temporary structures installed in the space we wanted
to show that a different use of urban space is possible;
related projects used these spaces
for breakfast and dinner gatherings as well as an area next to Linnahall for
a temporary beach;
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cross border relations
a projection of people going into
a pedestrian tunnel was shown at a site in Viimsi where the future tunnel to
Helsinki will emerge out of the ground according to current planning; the
projection visualized the idea of social connections, beyond purely economic
and regionmaking desires for connecting the two border cities.
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# 5
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# 6
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public breakfast The aim was to explore potentials in Tallinn's
in-between space.
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information kiosks With this
intervention we tried to stimulate visions concerning the local urban space.
Printed material was edited to
allow people exploring popular as well as forgotten urban areas.
We distributed question-postcards
to send us back by post.
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