AUR 2014/15 City and Society: Selva Gürdoğan & Gregers Tang Thomsen [Superpool]

Pozivamo Vas na sedmo predavanje u okviru ciklusa Arhitektura. Utopija. Realizam. – AUR 2014/15: program gostujućih predavanja na kome će se predstaviti arhitekte Selva Gürdoğan i Gregers Tang Thomsen, osnivači arhitektonskog studija Superpool. Predavanje ‘INITIATE! Possible futures for an expanding mega city.’ pripada tematskom ciklusu Grad i društvo.

Dobrodošli!

Selva Gürdoğan & Gregers Tang Thomsen © Superpool

Superpool su 2006. godine osnovali Selva Gürdoğan i Gregers Tang Thomsen koji su se upoznali u studiju Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) koji vodi Rem Koolhaas. Superpool je lociran u Istanbulu, a njihovi radovi su izlagani širom sveta (Guggenheim muzej u Njujorku, Danish Architecture Center u Kopenhagenu, Museum for Angewandte Kunst Köln/ MAKK, Deutsches Architekturmuseum/DAM u Frankfurtu, 2009 Rotterdam Architecture Biennale, 2012 Istanbul Design Biennale, 2013 3rd Lisabon Architecture Triennale). Njihovi projekti i tekstovi su objavljivani u časopisima Domus, A+U, Mark Magazine, A10, Wallpaper and Wired.

Predavanje pod naslovom ‘INITIATE! Possible futures for an expanding mega city’ usmereno je na probleme savremenih gradova, kao i specifičan pristup koji Superpool koristi u svom radu i izazovima sa kojima se susreće na prostoru Istanbula.

POKRENI!
Moguće budućnosti za rastući mega grad.

Superpool više voli da posmatra prizor nego da bude deo njega. Umesto da bude unutar Istanbula i njegovog hiljadugodišnjeg iskustva, Superpool se vraća korak unazad da bi ga sagledao, da bi se setio i identifikovao svoja prava rešenja i ponovo ih uveo u život. Superpool je arhitektonski biro.

Istanbul, sa svojih 14 miliona stanovnika i godišnjim prirastom od 3,5 procenta, je motor procvata turske ekonomije. Sa početkom u 60-im godinama XX veka, rapidna urbanizacija Istanbula je imala nekoliko faza i od 90-ih godina je uložen vanredan trud da se izgradi stambeni prostor i infrastruktura za mase ljudi. Ovaj proces se razlikuje od ranijih faza zasnovanih na „samostalnoj izgradnji“ i većim delom je organizovan od strane društvenih agencija, u partnerstvu sa većim privatnim preduzećima. Istanbul je beskrajno gradilište.

Uz rizik da postane „propala“ arhitektonska praksa, Superpool teži da gradi dobre ideje pre svega, i ulaže najveći napor u negovanje istraživanja i debata. U saradnji sa slično orijentisanim praksama, misaoni pejzaž Istanbula biće plodno i vitalno tlo za testiranje budućih svetskih izazova.

INITIATE!
Possible futures for an expanding mega city.

Superpool prefers observing the scenery instead of being inside it. Rather than being inside Istanbul, within the city’s thousands of years of experience, Superpool steps back in order to see it, to remember and identify its genuine solutions and re-introduces them to life. Superpool is an architecture office.

Istanbul, with its 14 million inhabitants and a yearly growth rate of 3.5 percent, is the engine of the booming Turkish economy. Starting from 1960’s Istanbul’s rapid urbanization has had several phases and since 1990’s an unprecedented effort has been mobilized to build mass housing and infrastructure. This process differs from earlier phases based on “self-building,” and is organized predominantly through state agencies, in partnership with larger private enterprises. Istanbul is an endless job site.

At risk of being a ‘failed’ architecture practice, Superpool, aspires to building good ideas first and puts utmost effort to fostering research and debate. Built collaboratively with similar minded practices, the thoughtscape of Istanbul will be a fertile and vital testing ground for the future challenges of the world.

Uneven Growth © Superpool

Uneven Growth © Superpool

Gregers Tang Thomsen received an MA (2003) from the Aarhus School of Architecture in Denmark. In 2006, after four years at the Office forMetropolitan Architecture (OMA) in Rotterdam and New York, he relocated to Istanbul to establish Superpool together with Selva Gürdoğan. During his employment at OMA, he worked on Cordoba Congress Center, Beijing Books Building, and Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre in Dallas.

At Superpool, he has been in charge of many projects, including the Open Library (2006), Dragos Residential Towers (2008), and the exhibition designs for the UAE National Pavilion at the 54th Venice Biennial and 2nd Istanbul Design Biennial (2014). He has led the EU FP7 funded TailorCrete research project since 2009.

As of November 2013 he also co-directing Studio-X Istanbul, one of six urban laboratories established by Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation.

SUPERPOOL
Superpool is an international architecture practice based in Istanbul, Turkey. Founded in 2006 by its two partners Selva Gürdoğan and Gregers Tang Thomsen who met at Rem Koolhaas’ studio Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) in 2003, where they worked until establishing Superpool.

The work of Superpool has been exhibited at the Guggenheim Museum in New York, Danish Architecture Center in Copenhagen, Museum for Angewandte Kunst Köln (MAKK) and Deutsches Architekturmuseum (DAM) in Frankfurt, as well at various biennales such as the 2009 Rotterdam Architecture Biennale, the 2012 Istanbul Design Biennale and the 2013 3rd Lisabon Architecture Triennale. Projects and texts of Superpool have been published in various magazines such as Domus, A+U, Mark Magazine, A10, Wallpaper and Wired.

During 2012 Superpool was invited to participate in the Audi Urban Future Award (2012), to research mobility in Istanbul in 2030. The result was exhibited at the Spinning Factory, Istanbul, in October 2012. Most recently the office has been invited to contribute to MoMA ’s “Uneven Growth, Tactical Urbanisms for Expanding Megacities” exhibition curated by Pedro Gadanho. The exhibition is opening November 22nd 2014. Superpool was commissioned to design several exhibitions: the UAE National Pavilion for the Venice Biennale (2011) and Becoming Istanbul (2011 SALT, Istanbul ); Open City: Istanbul (2009 DePO, Istanbul); and Open Library (2007 Platform Garanti, Istanbul). Most recent Superpool has completed the TailorCrete project, a European Commission FP7 funded research project for incorporating robotics into concrete construction technology and as of November 2013 the duo is directing Studio-X Istanbul, one of six urban laboratories established by Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP).

Superpool has published the book Mapping Istanbul, a snapshot of istanbul in 2009 positioning the city within the global context of worldwide global cities, as well as its relation with the the region, the country and Istanbul within itself. Superpool has given numerous lectures and talks, among these at Bauhaus-Universität Weimar – Germany, IUAV Università di Venezia – Italy, Columbia University – New York and most recent at the TEDx Reset in Istanbul.

Mapping Istanbul © Superpool

TailorCrete © Superpool