UdK · BERLIN

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The Graduate School for the Arts is a international, post-graduate interdisciplinary program at Berlin University of the Arts. The Fellows in residence are highly qualified graduates from all artistic and academic disciplines who regard the communication and exchange with other disciplines as a prerequisite for their work.

The visiting professorship, in partnership with game designer Eric Zimmerman, revolved around the concept of playtesting. At regular meetings, the Fellows shared works in progress in order to spark critique and further development. In the spirit of playtesting, the works were not just discussed, but instead were experienced: feedback was based on the actual experience of a working project in progress.

In addition, the summer professorship included a requirement of presenting a public project during the residency. To this end, the project Starry Heavens was staged at the Play Publik festival in Berlin, in collaboration with Eric Zimmerman.

Don’t Follow these Rules! A Primer for Playtesting  is an essay written with Eric Zimmerman that was inspired by the experience at the University of the Arts.

It outlines best practices for a playtesting design methodology and is included in the collection play:test, published by the Graduate School of the Arts in Berlin.

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Visiting Professor

Academic Institution
UdK · Berlin University of the Arts
Graduate School of the Arts

Location
Berlin · Germany

Year
2012

 

EPIFANIO · ESTONIA

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Article
Performative spaces: the loose boundaries of architecture

Written by
Rebecca Jones
Nathalie Pozzi

Magazine
EPIFANIO 11

Rebecca Jones and Nathalie Pozzi met in the Watermill Center in Southampton, Long Island while working with theater designer and artist Robert Wilson.

Naturally, a discussion around theater and architecture developed – granting each of them a new understanding of their interests in the field.

An initial exchange regarding the work of architect Marco Casagrande led to the discovery of many other architectural projects that embrace performance in their design. This article is the beginning of their larger research into the concept of “performative architecture.”

 

RIISTINA · FINLAND

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As part of the Wood Program at the Helsinki University of Technology, the project team undertook the renovation of a birch bark roof and reconstruction of rail fences on the Pien-Toijola farm.

This traditional Finnish farm is located on an island in the Riistina parish, in the Eastern Finnish lake district, where the Toijonen family has practiced farming since 1672. The Pien-Toijola farmhouses illustrate building methods and styles that range from the seventeenth century up to the second half of the twentieth century. Finnish farm compounds typically consist of several family residences and their various associated storehouses.

The project work included the renovation of the horse stable roof and the reconstruction of rail fences which connect the main yard to the sauna and the servant’s house. New building materials were used to replace decayed elements, yet the restoration followed traditional Finnish construction methods of woodcutting, beam joining, and waterproofing, and contributed towards an ongoing maintenance program.

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Renovation of a birch bark roof and reconstruction of rail fences

Academic Institution
Wood Program · Helsinki University of Technology

Location
Riistina · Finland

Year
2003

 

Birch bark roof construction system

•  Existing pine joists
•  Underboarding of pine wood (mainly heartwood)
•  Rootpegs (from pine or juniper sapling roots)
•  3 to 6 layers of birch bark roofing
•  Weight beams of spruce or close-grained pine
•  Support railing of axe-hewn pine boards
•  Ridge beam and holder beams of pine wood

WOOD PROGRAM · FINLAND

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The Wood Program at the Helsinki University of Technology is a postgraduate program in architecture.

The program attracts young architects from all over the world and focuses on the aesthetic and technological qualities of wood, from forest growth to final engineered product. Study in the Wood Program includes the construction of original buildings, restoration of historical sites, investigation of contemporary production techniques, and the history of wood in architecture.

The 2003 Wood Program participants included Sevra Davis, Adam Guernier, Koji Hashimoto, Max Lönnqvist, Nathaniel Moore, Nathalie Pozzi, Isshin Sasaki and Peter Westerlund.

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Postgraduate Architecture Studies

Academic Institution
Wood Program · Helsinki University of Technology

Location
Helsinki · Finland

Year
2002-2003

 

"The Wood Program explores the technical and architectural properties of wood, providing a thorough and all-round view on the whole chain of wood construction, beginning with the tree in the forest and ending up with an experimental wooden building."

The images show the fabrication of a sauna. The wooden structure is made of pre-assembled elements, to be mounted on-site.