X-CHANGE culture

Workshop + Seminar

Seminar und Workshop fanden in der Woche vom 23.Februar bis 2.März 2002 in Teheran und Isfahan statt. Diente das zweitägige Seminar einerseits zur gegenseitigen Information der beteiligten Vortragenden beider Länder und eines interessierten Publikums, so bot sich insbesondere den späteren Architektur-Workshop-Teilnehmern aus ganz Iran Gelegenheit Standpunkte der Österreichischen Redner kennen zu lernen, um sich für eine der Arbeitsgruppen der späteren Architektur-Workshop-Leiter zu entscheiden.
So unterschiedlich die Probleme der beiden Städte Teheran und Wien auch sind, so wurde doch vom Iranischen Publikum mit großem Interesse verfolgt, welche speziellen Herausforderungen für die Stadtplanung in Wien existieren, bzw. welch interessante architektonischen Lösungsansätze neben der Mainstream-Architektur in Wien realisiert werden können, weil die Stadt auch unkonventionelle Wohnbau-Modelle fördert.
War die Kontaktaufnahme während des Seminars mitunter noch eher verhalten, so ermöglichte der Workshop das zwanglose Zusammentreffen junger zukünftiger iranischer Architekten mit Architekten aus Österreich. Anhand der Erarbeitung eines Kurzentwurfes trafen hier die unterschiedlichen Denkschulen aufeinander. Zum ersten Mal seit der Revolution 1979 war eine Gruppe ausländischer Architekten zu dieser Art Meinungsaustausch in den Iran gereist.

In dem Dokumentarfilm "4 Tage Teheran" wurde der Aufenthalt der Österreichischen Architekten in Teheran und Isfahan, das Seminar und der Workshop dargestellt und im Frühjahr und Herbst 2002 im Architekturzentrum Wien, bzw. in der Orientgesellschaft Hammer-Purgstall der Öffentlichkeit präsentiert.
Die Seminarbeiträge wurden in einer zweisprachigen (Englisch und Persisch)
Broschüre "4+7" zusammengefasst.

Info und Ablaufplan (pdf)

The project "Worshop & Seminar" took place in Theran, from February 23rd to march 2nd of the year 2002. For the first time since the revolution of 1979 a group of foreign architects entered Iran to have this kind of exchange. It enabled an open dialog between austrian architects and iranian students of architecture.
See more information in the emanating book: "4+7" (english and persian)
or the documentary "4 Tage Teheran" (german language!)

CITY CULTURES IN FOCUS

Cities are conglomerations of people, power and capital, creativity and communication, where a higher concentration and more differentiation of each of these elements lead to increased vibrancy of the city.

Each city, criss-crossed by travel routes and channels of infrastructure, is a complex system of residential and commercial buildings, structures with social, cultural and sacral purposes, pedestrian promenades, commercial and industrial zones, gardens and parks, as well as waste grounds, and exclusive and disreputable quarters. The individuality and diversity of these elements specifically define each city. They form the city's structural and typological skeleton, a framework that gives the freedom of a unique approach to life to each individual within the anonymity of the masses.

"Each city is a living organism in itself, which develops in its own way according to distinct rules" (Isabella Marboe). Based on its history and its architectural and topographic structures the city continuously re-invents itself out of the sum of the activities of all its inhabitants, users and visitors. With every step city dwellers etch traces into this 'city image', choose their own paths and develop a system of personal co-ordinates, made up of favourite places, meeting points and locations, through which they explore their city. The resulting web of countless superimposed paths reflects both individual and social modes of behaviour, which in turn are distinct to, and create the specific culture of, each city.

A close investigation of and reflection on this network is the primary aim of the inter-cultural project CITY CULTURES IN FOCUS, planned to take place in Bucharest, Ferrara, Hanover, Istanbul, Krakow, Milan and Vienna.

Specifically, the following questions (project modules) are to be investigated in the project cities:

How is the city perceived by its everyday users - inhabitants, workers, students, flâneurs, as well as men and women, the old-established and new immigrants, the rich and the poor? Are the various perceptions of the city sociospecific, and how do they differ from each other? Which everyday perceptions take place consciously, and which on an unconscious level? (Views of the city)

How is the city reflected in the work of local artists (along the lines of the 'city culture' outlined above)? What opportunities do these works offer to residents to experience their city and its culture afresh and anew? What kinds of 'calling cards' do these works represent for an audience from outside the city? (Multimedia exhibition)
· How do artists from the outside perceive an unknown city and its culture? Which approaches to penetrate a new city (or 'city culture') do they choose and find? What kind of new images of the city do these glances from the outside result in, and what do they reveal? (Diary)

In which buildings and open spaces do specific aspects of 'city culture' manifest themselves today (see above: power, capital, creativity, communication, hot spots, meeting points, favourite places etc)? In how far do architecture and urban design change these places? And to what extent do these disciplines correspond with or contradict the needs of the city dwellers? (Design workshops)

Which plans and visions for the future culture of the project cities can internal and external artists, authors, designers, architects and urbanists distil from each of their city reflections in a common discourse? Why are these different from city to city? (Presentation & discussion forums)

Download this information as pdf

LIVING TOMORROW

Due to rapid social change in Europe , many of the dwelling models that had been developed over the past two centuries now seem outdated. Well into the 20th century, residential planning was concerned primarily with the building of homes for inhabitants who, within a family structure, often lived and worked in one location for their entire lives. However, radical changes in employment (restructuring of working conditions, increasing flexibility, etc.), in social relations (changing gender roles, tendency towards growing individualisation, etc.), in demographic development (birth rate, migration, life expectancy, etc.) as well as within the family unit (single parents, one-person households, patchwork families, etc.) have led to the creation of new living arrangements in Europe . These have resulted in changing living needs which in turn require new housing forms and typologies. Despite having already been discussed for several years, satisfactory solutions to these transformations and their consequences are still rarely to be found. Moreover, the debate on how housing models and architecture can function in a globalised 21st century (in their concrete, material forms as well as in their impact on the appearance of urban conglomerates) is still in its infancy.

What contribution can architecture, design, applied arts and urban planning make to contemporary housing policies that take into account these changing needs?

This core question is the starting point for the planned interdisciplinary project LIVING TOMORROW (architecture, interior design, city planning etc.), which, through analysis of and reflection on various European living environments, seeks to supply initial answers to and visions for these challenges.

Follow the project on facebook
and on www.x-change.at/livingtomorrow (coming soon)

X-CHANGE culture-science

... realizes projects, that deal with the interchange of people and intellectual goods in fields of culture and science.
One of its priorities from the beginning is the promotion of international dialogue between Iran and Austria.
Therefore it has been put under the auspices of the Austrian Commission for UNESCO as an Austrian contribution to the 2001 International Year of Dialogue among Civilizations.

... has been conceived by Nariman Mansouri and Stephan Schwarz, both architects in Vienna.
Conceptually we subdivide the work into components, wich are realized independently from each other in cooperation with different partners.
One by one, like bricks they are being put together to form a stable building one day, in wich all participants are invited to work on establishing a sphere of mutual understanding.

... sets up priorities in establishing long term cooperation between civilizations in order to encourage wordlwide sustainable developement. Promoting dialogue we believe that learning from one another step by step means getting to know each other better.
Understanding the other ones culture enables one to look at things from a different point of view.

	Events 2001
	Programm folder	- Year 2001
	Scanning Teheran	- Plakat - Vortraege Plakat
	exhibition	- Flyer - Flyer farsi
	Excursion Iran01	- Zeitplan - Gruppenfoto
	Videoproduktion	- "Lernen vom Osten - Learning from the east. Ein Interview mit Roland Rainer"
	Moving Yazd	- Info-Plakat der Lehrveranstaltung - Poster - Info Gastvortraege - Infotext zur Stadt Yazd

	Events 2002
	Programm folder	- Year 2002
	workshop & seminar	- Flyer of persian partners - Flyer der Info- u. Diskussionsveranstaltung im Architekturzentrum Wien
	Future Architecture in Iran	- Exhibition poster
	Excursion Austria	- Zeitplan zur Exkursion der Shahid Beheshti Universitaet Teheran nach Wien
	Inlaendische Bananen	- Info-Plakat zur Lehrveranstaltung

	Events 2004

	Scanning Teheran 2	- Info zur Lehrveranstaltung
	BAM SCHOOL	- Konzept fuer eine Schule in Bam, Iran

	Events 2006

	Literatur für junge LeserInnen	- Flyer - X-Change präsentiert Fatmeh Radpour Zeitplan 1 Zeitplan 2
	Illustrations-Workshop	- Programm des Kinder-Literatur-Hauses (mit Fatemeh Radpour)
	Lectures: Yazd (Iran)	- Info about the lectures (Österreichische Orient Gesellschaft)
	Buchpräsentation "My Yazd"	- Programmfolder (Kunsthalle - project space)

	Events 2008
	Literatur für junge LeserInnen	- Flyer - X-Change präsentiert NayerehTaghavi Zeitplan 1 Zeitplan 2
	Traditionelle Wasserversorgung in Wüstenregionen	- Info zum Vortrag von Prof. Mondegari (Österreichische Orient Gesellschaft) - Vortragstext in deutscher Übersetzung
	Städteansichten: Wien - Wolfsburg	- Info zur Fotoausstellung in Bangkok (in Zusammenarbeit mit trans-urban)
	Vienna, city views from inside	- Informations about the photo exhibition in Lagos, Nigeria - Flyer

	Events 2003

	Scanning Teheran 2	- Info zur Lehrveranstaltung

	Events 2005

	Literatur für junge LeserInnen	- Plakat - Zeittafel X-Change präs. Abolfazl Hemati Ahoui

	Events 2007

	Literatur für junge LeserInnen	- X-Change präsentiert Behzad Gharibpour (Programmheft)

TV-REPORTS on the european children´s literary festival in Iran: . 4 TV-reports from the Iranian children´s TV
PRESS REVIEW for the european children´s literary festival in Iran:
. Shargh, Aug. 25, 2004 . Film, Hamvatan, Sept. 2, 2004 . Shaparak, Sept. 4, 2004 . Shaparak, Sept. 2, 2004 . Hayat, Sep. 14, 2004 . Aftab, Sept. 15, 2004 . Jam-e Jam, Sept. 15, 2004 . Khorasan, Gonbad-e Kabood, Javan, Sept. 15, 2004 . Tehran Times, Sept. 15, 2004 . Iran, Sept. 17, 2004 . Jam-e Jam, Sept. 18, 2004 . Shaparak, Sept. 18, 2004 . Ashti, Sept. 19, 2004 . Etelaat, Sept. 19, 2004 . Iran Daily, Sept. 19, 2004 . Javan, Mardom Salari, Jam-e Jam, Sept. 19, 2004 . Khabar, Sept. 19, 2004	. Javan, Mardom Salari, Film, Sept. 20, 2004 . Shapark, Sept. 20, 2004 . Tehran Times, Sept. 20, 2004 . Iran Daily, Sept. 21, 2004 . Tehran Times, Sept. 21, 2004 . Edalat, Sept, 22, 2004 . Hambastegi; Iran, Sep. 22, 2004 . Havat, Edalat, Sept. 22, 2004 . Khabar, Sept. 22, 2004 . Tehran Times, Sept. 22, 2004 . Toseeh, Resalat, Sept. 22, 2004 . Hayat, Sept. 23, 2004 . Hamshahri, Sept. 23, 2004 . Jam-e Jam, Etelaat, Sept. 23, 2004 . Khabar, Sept. 23, 2004 . Poul; Hamvatan, Sept. 23, 2004 . Ashti, Sept. 25, 2004	. Film, Hosban, Sept. 25, 2004 . Iran Daily, Sept. 25, 2004 . Jam-e Jam, Sept. 25 . Javan, Sept. 25, 2004 . Ketab-e Hafteh, Hamvatan, Sept. 25, 2004 . Tehran Times, Sept. 25, 2004 . Aftab, Sept. 26 2004 . Khabar, Sept. 26, 2004 . Aftab, Sept. 27, 2004 . Hamshahri, Sep. 27, 2004 . Iran Daily, Sept. 28, 2004 . Shaparak, Sept. 28, 2004 . Siasat-e Rooz, Aftab, Hosban, Sept. 28, 2004 . Iran, Sept. 29, 2004 . Hamvatan, Sept. 30, 2004 . Iran Daily, Sept. 30, 2004 . Jam-e Jam, Sept. 30, 2004 . Javan, Sept. 30, 2004	. Khabar, Sept. 30, 2004 . Etelaat, Oct. 1, 2004 . Film, Oct. 2, 2004 . Hemayat, Seday-e Edalat, Oct. 2, 2004 . Ketab-e Hafteh, Oct. 2, 2004 . Tehran Times, Oct. 3, 2004 . Tehran Times, Oct. 5, 2004 . Tehran Times, Oct. 6, 2004 . Shaparak, Oct. 7, 2004 . Tehran Times, Oct. 7, 2004 . Hamshahri, Oct. 8, 2004 . Javan, Oct. 8, 2004 . Tehran Times, Oct. 9, 2004 . Iran Daily, Oct. 30, 2004 . not specified . not specified . not specified . not specified . not specified . not specified . not specified . not specified