TDCU IZZ
The chronicle of increasing isolation of a group of artists attempting to reach the World's most remote human inhabited place, the island of Tristan da Cunha.
THE VISIT
Meziara is a village in Northern Lebanon, where most of its residents do business in Nigeria for most of the year, before returning every summer. The suburb to an invisible city.
TORA BORA
The extraction and export of 'Jerusalem Stone' is one of the most lucrative businesses in the Palestinian Territories, and remains highly unregulated. Everyone wants a piece of the holy land.
MEMENTO LOCI
Souvenirs are tokens that help to perpetuate spatial narratives. Mass produced around the world, they serve as a vehicle through which power narratives are unfolded and displayed.
MEMENTO LOCI unpacks some of these strategies.
14th DISTRICT
Slavutych was built to rehouse the workers of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. It is made up of 13 districts, each inspired by a different Soviet city. With 86, we are building a new district based on Athens.
STOP OVER CITY
Moscow City is a decaying business district in Central Moscow. By linking it to the two largest airports in the city and giving it the status of 'international transfer zone' we would revitalize this vacant territory.
STATES, STATUS,
STATUES & STATUTES
VDNHk park in central Moscow is a spatial technology that serves to advance an imperialistic idea based on an old regime.
(re)appropriating (post)soviet narratives.
NATION STATE OF MIND
Nation State of Mind proposes an alternative understanding of the nation in a post-national world. What is the role of territoriality and locality in Ecumenopolis?
#mariupolwillnotdie
#itistheworldthatwillend
Mariupol is a mono-industry town in Eastern Ukraine. Its population has been shrinking since the collapse of the USSR. This is a manifesto to embrace its shrinking condition and work with it.
EXPEDITION TO ECUMENOPOLIS
Expedition to Ecumenopolis is a series of workshops that we deliver to different groups in order to collectively think about ideas evolving around contemporary urbanism in the age of hyper-globalisation.
VOCABULARY FOR ECUMENOPOLIS
In the era of Globalization and the Antropocene, we find that there are a new set of urban qualities/phenomena that take place globally. Here is a glossary that attempts to identify some of those.
METASITU
-beyond place-
future (at) metasitu (dot) com
METASITU is a collective for developing future urban scenarios, founded in 2014 by Liva Dudareva and Eduardo Cassina. Often finding solutions by shifting existing paradigms and subverting existing behaviors, re-directing existing systems towards other ends; METASITU’s projects are directed towards innovating strategies for resilience through building a body of knowledge and understanding about the way (urban) territories are inhabited. METASITU practice is framed within the precept of Ecumenopolis, the understanding of the whole World as one continuous urban fabric.
METASITU’s work has been exhibited at The Venice Biennale, tranzit.hu, Kunsthalle Wien, The Benaki Museum, Izolyatsia, The Strelka Institute and the Schusev Museum of Architecture among others
Liva Dudareva was trained as a landscape architect in Latvia and Sweden, before moving to London to work as a researcher at CHORA. She then continued her studies in landscape architecture at the Edinburgh College of Art, before joining the award-winning landscape architecture practice Gross.Max in Scotland, where she worked conceptualising, developing and managing projects world-wide. She then moved to Moscow to explore new ways of representation and urban research at the Strelka Institute. She co-founded METASITU, a collective devoted to the exploration of future tactics.
Eduardo Cassina is an architect and urban sociologist trained in the United Kingdom, Portugal, The Netherlands and China. He has worked as a researcher and exhibition designer for the Guggenheim museums in Venice and New York, as well as for the Netherlands Architecture Institute (NAi). After working as an urban researcher for Goldsmiths, where he developed new methodologies to visualise the sociological phenomenon of Chinese commercial landscapes in Southern Africa, he moved to Moscow to join the Strelka Institute, where he continued his exploration of representation of urban data in new and innovative ways. In 2014 he co-founded METASITU.
ONGOING/UPCOMING
PRODUCERS – spatial intervention and documentary ‘14th District’ // 86 + Tandem Ukraine, Slavutych [Ukraine]
RESIDENTS – Inemuri Domus // Tokyo Wonder Site, Tokyo [Japan]
RESIDENTS – Transfer North // Pikene pa Broen, Kirkenes [Norway]
2016
EXHIBITORS – solo show ‘METASITU: ECUMENOPOLIS’// tranzit, Budapest [Hungary]
RESIDENTS – BORDERS: walk&talk // Arc_Residency, Romainmôtier [Switzerland]
LECTURERS – ‘Welcome to Ecumenopolis´ // CCA, Glasgow [UK]
RESIDENTS – Transfer North // CCA, Glasgow [UK]
EXHIBITORS – video installation ‘Chapter 31’ // Gallery P21, London [UK]
CURATORS – exhibition ‘Are We Moving?’ // metamatic:taf, Athens [Greece]
LECTURERS – ‘Looking for Zerzura: Redefining Luxury in Dubai’s Palm’ // Benaki Museum of Islamic Art, Athens [Greece]
EXHIBITORS – video essay at ‘VDNH urban phenomenon’ // 15th International Exhibition of Architecture/ Venice Biennale, Venice [Italy]
TUTORS – workshop ‘Expedition to Ecumenopolis’ // TUMO Center for Creative Technologies, Yerevan [Armenia]
CURATORS – CTRL+T ‘Declinacion Magnetica’ // metamatic:taf, Athens [Greece]
CURATORS – Letters to the Mayor: Athens // metamatic:taf, Athens [Greece]
RESIDENTS – Expedition to Tristan Da Cunha // Rio de Janeiro [Brazil]
2015
CURATORS – CTRL+T ‘Elien Ronse’ // metamatic:taf, Athens [Greece]
TUTORS – Education Program ‘Hybrid Urbanism’ // Strelka Institute, Moscow [Russia] and Seoul [Korea]
CONSULTANTS – private land use // Cushman&Wakefield, Moscow [Russia]
CONSULTANTS – artistic directors // metamatic:taf, Athens [Greece]
LECTURERS – ‘The Growth of Shrinking Cities’ // Shcherbenko Art Center, Kiev [Ukraine]
TUTORS – workshop ‘Expedition to Ecumenopolis’ // CANactions School of Urban Studies, Kiev [Ukraine]
TUTORS – workshop ‘Consensus Urbanism’ // European Alternatives/TransEuropa Festival, Belgrade [Serbia]
EXHIBITORS – ‘Architecture Ukraine’ // Izolyatsia, Kiev + Mariupol [Ukraine]
RESIDENTS – ‘Heritage in the Digital Age’ // ASEF Summer University, Pune [India]
CURATORS - Education Program ‘Hybrid Urbanism’ // Strelka Institute, Moscow [Russia]
RESIDENTS – ‘Architecture Ukraine’ // Izolyatsia, Kiev + Mariupol [Ukraine]
RESEARCHERS – 'Global Souvenirs in Ecumenopolis' // Cairo [Egypt]
TUTORS – workshop ‘Expedition to Ecumenopolis’ // Strelka Institute, Moscow [Russia]
LECTURERS – ‘Welcome to Ecumenopolis’ // Architecture Department, EiABC/ University of Addis Ababa, Addis Ababa [Ethiopia]
EXHIBITORS – ‘Then&Now’ // Schusev State Museum of Architecture, Moscow [Russia]
CONSULTANTS – ‘Making Cities Together’ // Placemakers + INTI + UNHABITAT, Nairobi [Kenya]
EXHIBITORS – two video works ‘Interlaced Structures’ // das weisse haus / Kunsthalle Wien Extended, Vienna [Austria]
LECTURERS – ‘Memento Loci:souvenirs are power structures in space’ // das weisse haus, Vienna [Austria]
EXHIBITORS – ‘Best Short Film Alwan 3rd i Award –Finalists’ // Alwan Center for the Arts, New York City[USA]
RESIDENTS – theorists in residence // das weisse haus, Vienna [Austria]
CURATORS – ‘Welcome to Ecumenopolis’ // metamatic:taf, Athens [Greece]
EXHIBITORS – ‘Celebrating Democracy’ // Cape Town City Council, Cape Town [South Africa]
2014
RESEARCHERS – Jerusalem Stone Extraction // Beit Sahour [Palestine]
TUTORS – workshop ‘Emerging Public Spaces’ // International Symposium of Electronic Art (ISEA), Dubai [UAE]
PERFORMERS – ‘AquaUrban Routines’ // Beirut: Bodies in Public + American University of Beirut, Beirut [Lebanon]
CONSULTANTS – Ideas Camp // European Cultural Foundation, Marseilles [France]
EXHIBITORS – solo show ‘METASITU: The Urbanography Series’ // The Lighthouse, Glasgow [UK]
RESIDENTS – artists in Residence in Meziara // Temporary Art Platform, Beirut + Meziara [Lebanon]
TUTORS – workshop ‘Yantra’ // EASA 2014, Veliko Tarnovo [Bulgaria]
TUTORS – workshop ‘Performing data’ // Zarya Center for Contemporary Art, Vladivostok [Russia]
EXHIBITORS – ‘FACK MSUV’ // Museum of Contemporary Art Vojvodina, Novi Sad [Serbia]
CONSULTANTS – Revitalization proposal of heritage site // COALCO, Moscow [Russia]
EXHIBITORS – ‘Urban Routines’ // Strelka Institute, Moscow [Russia]
EXHIBITORS- ‘DO IT’ // Garazh Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow [Russia]
WRITERS – ‘How to give a voice to the other’ tour on app // Oggetti Rivisti, Venice [Italy]
EXHIBITORS – ‘Artikulacija’ // Hermitage Gardens, Moscow [Russia]
EXHIBITORS – ‘OFFICE NEXT’ // Gostiny Dvor, Moscow [Russia]
WRITERS – ‘Is an (image) worth more than a thousand words?’ tour on app // Oggetti Rivisti, Venice [Italy]
CONSULTANTS – Global Urban Strategic Investment // Cushman&Wakefield, Moscow [Russia]
EXHIBITORS – ‘VIDEOBARDO’ // V International Festival of Videopoetry, Buenos Aires + Mendoza [Argentina]
WRITERS – interview with Marco Casagrande ‘Ruins of the Future’ // Future Urbanism, Moscow [Russia]
LECTURERS – ‘The Future of Moscow City/ International Business Center’ // European Humanities University, Vilnius [Lithuania]
WRITERS – interview with AbdouMaliq Simone ‘The Urban Liaison’ // Future Urbanism, Moscow [Russia]
EXHIBITORS – Instants Video Poesie // Instants Video Art, Marseilles [France] and Milan [Italy]
WRITERS – interview with Clive Wilkinson ‘The Secret Behind Google’s Processor’ // Strelka Press, Moscow [Russia]
EXHIBITORS – ‘Space Inventory’ // Invisible Places Sounding Cities, Viseu [Portugal]
RESEARCHERS – Office Real Estate // Strelka Institute, Moscow [Russia]
future (at) metasitu (dot) com