10 day Erasmus Intensive Programme Student Workshop
Virtual spaces have become a major economic growth factor in many contexts. As a consequence, the design of experiential rooms opens up new opportunities to architects for work and employment on aesthetical and concept design of these virtual environments. Contemporary society demands flexible urban and architectural responds. Continuation of DIVE programmes addresses new contexts, new social and urban structures and new patterns which are avoiding the established concepts about scale and physicality.
Bringing the trilogy of DIVEs together it is time to address one of the elusive issues: "bridging the gap between physical and virtual".
A decade ago the informational era has shown glimpses of what the future might hold for us a unified and continuos world without divisions between physical and virtual envrionments. Couple of years later we are nowhere near that vision. What do we have to do to to bridge the gap? And are we still the believers? The IP is setting off in the direction of bridging the gap between physical and virtual, asking questions of what do we need to do, in which direction we have to act, and how can we connect the separate entities into one unified whole, not forgeting the achievements of recent DIVE IPs crossing scales and humanization of virtual environments - on the way.
Conecting the physical and virtual environments has proven elusive and undefined at best. The questions still remain: can we move beyond mere prototypes and concepts? Can we omit the word imagine and if and just make the transition from physical to virtual as real as we want it to be? What is phyisical and what is real, where are the boundaries, what defines them and can we bridge them? What does all that means for the users? Is the transition as smooth as they would hope it can be? Should they be aware of it or not? Is it possible and plaussible at all? How do the identity, culture and other means play the part in unifiying digital and physical worlds?
Second semester field trip to Holland in spring 2010.
The International Nicosia documentary Festival “Views of the World” is the biggest documentary celebration organized in Cyprus with a various projection programme and special guests from Cyprus and abroad.
Its mission is to present contemporary films stemming from the “documentary cinema”, the “direct cinema” or the “real cinema” as we mainly call it. This event makes the local cultural actions internationally known, while it functions as a bridge between Cyprus and the rest of the world. The programme focuses on the contemporary world’s views and mainly on themes such as human rights, minority issues, ecological issues, contemporary art, contemporary portraits etc. We tend to present films which activate nowadays people offering to them stimuli and contact with the esthetical, cultural and social evolutions, as they are recorded through the style and the opinions of the film-makers. We intend to discover and to meet directors/artists who risk, innovate and dare through new ways of expression in order to ensure the renewal of this cinematographic art genre. Their films become the medium through which ideas and opinions are recorded and communicated, an educational approach about issues that concern every modern and sceptic citizen who chooses the unprofitable and the active and dynamic participation at events around the globe. This festival is not only a cultural expression, it is also a place where all of us, organizers and observers, directors and spectators, “authors” and “protagonists” of this world, can discuss and be entertained through what is created out of us and also what creates us, meaning the Documentary Film.
International exhibition from 25 schools of architecture as part of the Visions; Beyond Media 2009
DArch Mytube installation, Mytube brochure
Press Release in greek.
Second semester field trip to Berlin in spring 2009.