Architecture

Step-by-step avant-garde

With their urge to change the world these two Raumtaktiker (spatial tacticians) have clearly dissociated themselves from architecture that only focuses on shapes, effects and the ups and downs of the market. Böttger and Börries are striving for a form of architecture that is “more than just a building”. The basis for their ideas is the confrontation with ecological and social realities, with climate change, commercialisation, more and more resource shortages and migration shifts. By analysing the related spatial phenomena, by developing a stance, by working out ways to intervene – this is how raumtaktik’s programmatic approach could be described.

Böttger and Borries, both born in 1974, are clever enough to know they can make it without adopting any revolutionary pretences. They represent a kind of step-by-step avant-garde. Being radical pragmatists, we work with updates,” says Matthias Böttger. “They are more realistic for our society. They are about step-by-step enhancements of the system. Each new version brings countless improvements, corrections, novelties and, unfortunately, new problems as well.”

“To make the world a better place ”

For the German contribution to the Biennale the two commissioners have selected 100 projects “to make the world a better place”. The emphasis is mainly on sustainability, ecology and social responsibility. Among them – as one of the few projects that have already been realised – the revolving solar house, Heliotrop, in Freiburg, a milestone in ecological construction in Germany. Rolf Disch built this residential and office building in 1994 with an in-built photo-voltaic power station that produces five times more electricity than the building needs. Alongside futuristic fantasies like HollwichKushner’s METreePOLIS – a city overgrown with a jungle of plants that supply electricity, there are also some up-to-the-minute design and research projects being showcased in Venice. For example, a project that enables plastic bottles to be put to further use. One of the first tasks for aid agencies when helping people in the world’s disaster areas and trouble spots is to get drinking water to them. In most cases plastic bottles are used for this that later have to be collected and then taken back to where they came from. Their idea to use the bottles as building bricks for emergency shelters has already led to prototypes being developed by the team of architects at INSTANT.