Hey INCM people.  I have contact with a university in Northern Ireland, do you have a web site or anything to point them too.  I’m a pretty convincing guy but it’s quite a lot of money to ask people to pay for flights with only a Facebook page to prove it’s real…

I posted this so everyone can see and coment, but I’ll email you the contact details I have.

Three little pigs / Ronan Kenny ran a presentation thing in Cadiz about networks – we’re all part of EASA, which is a network, but most of us are also part of other networks back home.  So here are a couple of things EASAians might like to have a look at:

http://www.disparatemagazine.com

This is a magazine I started last year.  I don’t have creative input to the magazine, each issue has a guest editor, issue_05 is our very own Fran Rodriguez Perez!  Check it out, then please print it leave it where people can find it (and mail me a photo of it address on the website)

Also pretty cool are Blank Media Collective, the people that took over 43 Hulme Street aka easaHQ

http://www.blankmediacollective.org/news/comments/opportunity_the_title_art_prize

They have an art prize that is worth promoting, check it out, get something in and you could win money.  For real.

Let’s keep it going, add networks that you know about to this thread.

Zurich, July 20, 2011. trans is a semi-annual professional journal of the Department of Architecture at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology ETHZ and has been managed by an independent student editorial team since 1997. The journal addresses current issues in architecture and urban development from a variety of perspectives, such as the humanities, politics, philosophy and the arts. trans thus sees itself as a platform for interdisciplinary discourse.

In view of recent political and economic turmoil as well as increasing individualization, budding architects can quickly be at a loss to explain the influence and significance of their discipline. After the last issue of trans traced creative influence and explored the meaning of the term «composition», the questions of the significance and role of architecture will be addressed in its next issue, entitled «relevance». <trans20> will explore the self-image and public image of the discipline.

What is the relevance of architecture in the 21st century? Efficiency, productivity, and functionality seem to have become established as basic social maxims. Global phenomena such as migration, climate change, and economic instability require new approaches and solutions. Do today’s architects have appropriate answers? Is more pragmatism needed or is architecture developing into an abstract art form? Away from the context towards a focus on individual elements? From artistic value to investment value? Are Swiss architects losing their importance and becoming reduced to design consultants as they compete with specialists and general contractors?
The image of architects seems unclear and their role in society rather controversial. How can so-called laymen understand our passion? Is the ‘added value’ of an architect still worth something to them? What status do ordinary construction jobs have or is it only iconic star architecture that elicits excitement and appreciation? What significance is attributed to building and sustainability when everything is focused on constant renewal, and energy issues are being increasingly foregrounded? What role should universities assume as centers of innovation, and the ETHZ as a player on the international stage? What can architectural criticism contribute, for example the 20th issue of trans?

«Relevance» means being both important and significant in a particular context. This context is temporal and in constant change, just like the relevance of architecture and architects.

Who has answers that reflect what has gone before yet point forward – students, architects, everyone? Practitioners or theoreticians? Developers or planners? Artists or rationalists? We are interested in fostering discussion of different positions, directions, and perspectives. The form of your contribution to this discussion can be diverse, ranging from a scientific article, personal essay, comment, and portrait to illustrations, photo series, or collages, depending on the content.

We welcome a short description of your proposed submission in the form of an abstract. This should be no longer than one DIN A4 page or 600 words, possibly supplemented with a few pictures. Please send us your abstract by e-mail to the address below by September 18, 2011. The final contribution is due by December 18, 2011. <trans20> will be available in selected bookstores in February 2012.

pls spread it in your schools and offices. thanks a lot. yvy

transRedaktion

HIL D 32

ETHHönggerberg

8093 Zürich

trans(at) arch.ethz.ch
www.trans.ethz.ch

cross-posting from http://easa.antville.org
originally posted by monicator

Somone told me on friday: “ah, i know easa, but i will never ever EVER go there! it’s only people who want to get drunk all the time and meet other architects and f#ck them” .. i tried explaining how it’s quite a bit more than that, how most workshops are amazing and how the idea exchange that happens there can hardly take place in other environments, and what an amazing effort it has been to keep it running for 31 years now..

But none the less, dear EASA friends, let this be a constant reminder that EASA means more than that, and while we are not going to allow getting slut-shamed for participating, keep in mind that it’s at least us that should see more than that and not join easa solely for the hookups and the beer, and that we are indeed responsible for the image we give easa and the info we share with the world!

This is not an appeal to morality and decency, because we are free to do what we please, but i would like to remind the NCs at least, that the way we describe EASA has an impact on the people who join and on the future of the network itself. It should not be promoted as an insane debaucherous fuckfest for architects, but as what it really is – the platform that allowed so many of us to evolve beyond the indoctrination of our home universities and meet the people who will certainly be on future El Croquis ;)

Future participants should see that and not let the event degenerate into the dreaded big party, since it’s them that decide and shape EASA’s future.

I don’t want to be a party-pooper, because i have myself experienced the debauchery and i enjoyed it, dammit! But it hurt me to hear that someone had told this girl that EASA is nothing beyond orgies and alcohol, that that was the best thing about it, while the rest was irrelevant fluff.

We need some decent PR. And just another question, which platform are we using now? the easa.tk blog or easanetwork? they are both pretty silent..

Lots of love and hugs and nostalgia ..
xoxoxo
originally posted by monicator