It's docpoint week in Helsinki. It's a documentary film festival. And I could afford to buy a screening card for 5 films... But I've seen already 8 until today ;-) That's what I call effective! Well, today I've seen 6 Finnish short films in one session!
I thought it might be useful and maybe also interesting to others to write some short thoughts about every film... So here it is:
God Bless Iceland
Iceland, Sweden, Germany, 2009, 100min
(seen on Tuesday at Maxim)
the festival catalogue says:
"It has been said that the collapse of Iceland's national economy in the autumn of 2008 transformed citizens into activists. The global financial crisis hit the small island nation hard, making it a victim of turbo capitalism. Having lost billions, Iceland's three biggest banks went all bankrupt on the same week.
People venting their anger, disappointment and national shame patrolled the centre of Reykjavik for weeks, demanding the government’s resignation and new elections. The director documents the protesters, ordinary people making riotous efforts to make it in a bankrupt society. For many, leaving the country is the only choice.
The director also talks with young business sharks, trying to plumb their thoughts. The film emphasises the relativity of the meaning of money in a distressing way: to most of us it is a lifeline – to others it’s just a tool, mere numbers."
This is already a pretty good description, but I want to state was I was thinking while and after seeing the movie: For me it was at first a film about what money makes with people. It has become the key feature in our society! And the film kind of questions if this is good? It is a film about helplessness of citizens who are immediately thrown into a completely new situation of an economic crisis. It becomes very clear how different people react on this fact. In the end most of the people go out and demonstrate, demanding a new government. Especially the scenes of demonstrations go really close to oneself. There is this one scene I remember pretty good. It was stil in the beginning of the demonstrations when a demonstrant climbed the parliament house hoisting the flag of the icelandic cheapest supermarket (no idea about the name but remember the logo pretty good: rosa pig on yellow ground). Maybe that's not the most important scene of the film, but one that was really impressive to me: People show that there is something wrong with the system. Iceland has been a pretty rich country, but still they have to import almost all their food. So this supermarket becomes a sign of capitalism!
But there where other impressive scenes as well: the "architect of the icelandic bank system" talking about numbers instead of money (he doesn't see money as money, it's just numbers to deal with).
Nevertheless God Bless Iceland is also a film about new cohesion of citizens. They stood up demonstrating almost all together. And even the policemen stated more or less openly that they are on the people's side.
But it's also a film showing that this new cohesion doesn't last very long. Soon after new elections everyone went into his/her own problems, back to the own world. That's nowadays world.
And it is a film about emigration as the only way out for many Icelandic people.
So: go and see it, if you ever have the chance!
Kiri
Finland, 2009, 9min
(seen today at Atheneum)
the festival catalogue says:
"20-year-old Kiri has been a user for years. He stays busy by trying to find drugs and things to steal. As a Subutex addict, he knows everything about his “medicine” and ponders about his life and the future of many of his friends – but is incapable of doing anything to change it."
A film entirely in Finnish (even Finnish Helsinki-dialect subtitles), so I can't really judge. But what was most scary to me, how he lived. I don't know what I thought about life in Finland, but poverty, drugs (ans all these bad things) seem so far away from me at the moment, that I was really surprised. But surprised in a bad way...
Koti (English would be: home)
Finland, 2009, 13min
(seen today at Atheneum)
festival catalogue says (translated from finnish by me and google-translator):
Home is a reality to most of us, but not to everyone. Helsinki has more than 3000 homeless people. The short film describes Helsinkis exceptional homeless living environment. To the viewer's surprise the text is read by a child, telling a fairy tale.
Cold wind and snow create a strong contrast to the soundinnocent heat. The end result is a chillingly clever critique of society, which often overlook those who don't own homes.
And I pretty much agree with that. The little boy's voice was really surprising and a strong contrast towards the cold, windy (but still very poetic) winter pictures of Helsinki's seaside.
Marja-Sisko (English: Guardian Angel)
Finland, 2010, 19min
(seen today at Atheneum)
a film that really made me thinking about a lot of things... society, how I think, how I am,... all possible stuff... so a really really good short film!!!
festival catalogue:
Marja-Sisko follows Olli Aalto, former male priest of Imatra, now known as Marja-Sisko. The mellow scenes give a voice to the person behind the headlines. The priest tells her story calmly and openly – the grace of the voice is surprising, as hardships are not recounted with bitterness.
Marja-Sisko wants to live the life of an ordinary woman: use pantyhose and mascara. However, at church she experiences more than acceptance and neighbourly love.
Marja-Sisko felt like a woman from her childhood on. She wanted to get accepted all her life, just living the life of an ordinary woman. "Nothing special" she states more than ones.
What I noticed about myself seeing the movie: it starts with a close portrait of a man and it ends with pretty much the same picture accept that she uses make up now. Is this just a visual trick? Would it my perception have been changed in the same way if she wouldn't wear the make up in the end (and so to say, I am not exactly sure any more if she really wasn't wearing it in the beginning)?
This film is a lot about "societal inherent" perception of people? We see people as what we want them to see. And starting to think about Marja-Sisko, feeling herself as a woman, I came up with one thought: It is probably harder for a man feeling him/herself as a woman to get accepted than for a woman to get accepted as a man. Or is this just how I see the world? Do I just feel it would be easier for me to live as a man? I don't know... But this film made me really aware of many things. In the beginning I was even thinking: How can she have a wife? How can she have children, if she feels herself as a woman? But yeah, that's also something I just see her as what I want to see her. And the easiest solution for a man feeling as a woman is to be gay. But actually Marja-Sisko is not... You see: People see others as what they want to see them. I kind of agree with this statement.
Pääteasemana aamu (English: Destination morning)
Finland, 2009. 13min
(seen today at Atheneum)
festival catalogue:
The trains run around the clock. The night train speeds from town to town through the darkness. In the heart of the night the journey has rhythm, its own pace. The atmosphere is exceptional. The night leaves time for new thoughts and ideas, hopes and dreams.
Pääteasemana aamu a study of the night and work done at night. It criticises the nature of shift work. The film shows us the life of a night worker by using a train conductor as an example.
Basic questions of that film have already been mentioned pretty much: how does it influence our life's to work at night? Even though the train conductor shown in the movie says that he likes working at night time, the viewer easily sees how this effects his life also in a bad way. There are a couple of statements in his speech all the time...
But the film is for me also a movie the silence of night. Even though most people asked what comes first to their mind when they hear the word 'night' would probably answer 'darkness', I was asking myself the same question while seeing the movie. My answer was 'silence'. For me it is a film about the silence and the new hectic at nighttime, about silence that leaves room for ideas, dreams and fantasies. Regarding the darkness the film shows in a impressive manner how our perception changes at night due to the easy fact that there is a lack of light: Humans start seeing the world only in shapes and greyscale images.
It is a film touching also because of great (sometimes still) pictures!
Rudeboy
Finnland, 2010, 13 min
(seen today at Atheneum)
festival catalogue:
Rudy the cat was serverely injured after hitting the street following a six-storey fall. The options were few: the owner wanted to save her cat, not to put it down. Major surgery is expensive, so a group of friends started to raise money for Rudy's surgery.
The film raises the question of who can be helped, and who cannot. When a pet is in question, expensive operations are rarely an option.
Miten marjoja poimitaan (English: how to pick berries)
Finland, 2010, 19min
(seen today at Atheneum)
festival catalogue
The cinematography of How to Pick Berries is very precise: the way of composing the lights and colours of the forest is fascinating. Among the twigs, domestic and foreign berry pickers crisscross – and life together isn’t always peachy. They take our jobs and now our berries too. Both sides are suspicious of the other.
Finnish berry picking has also been recently admired at the world’s biggest documentary film festival IDFA.
especially interesting: poetic scenes and music
Vodka Factory
Sweden, 2010, 90min
(seen today at Maxim)
festival catalogue:
The film by director Jerzy Śladkowski, who also directed the sensational Swedish Tango, merges banal realism with Slavic melancholy. Valentina works in a vodka factory in a remote village and lives with her mother and young son. She dreams of becoming an actress. Life is hard in a small community where everyone knows each other. Valentina's workmates mock her tall dreams. Valentina's mother wants a change, too: she has reunited with an old crush and expects Valentina to bear the responsibility for her son.
Husbands are conspicious by their absence from the women's lives. Gossip, daydreams and weary quarrelling add substance to the grey days. Śladkowski's brilliant narration brings forth the Russian romanticism and the brutality of everyday life. Will the women be able to seize their dreams before they wither away?
Vodka Factory won the grand prize at the DOK Leipzig festival.
The last really great movie I've seen today! Actually entirely in Russian. And I even understood stuff :) yeah!
For me it is a film about honesty and openness of the local village community. But of course this is not only a quality. It shows Valentina, who wants to full fill her dream of becoming an actress. But in a pretty brutal way it also shows reality in Russian society: She has a little son and therefore not really a chance to go far away to Moscow to study. And it also shows her illiteracy (it's actually not that easy to become an actress), she is not at all aware of. It is a film about the absence of men in village life and how women can actually go along without their men.
And we are left alone with the pretty much worst and we can imagine: Valentina goes to Moscow leaving her little son at her mothers place. Thereby she does also effect on her mother's life a lot: She planned to move in with an old crush. In that way the movie shows how much our life's can be effected by others decisions.
Another really good film!
Summing up: 3 days, 8 films, out of which at least 6 were really good! That's probably only possible in Helsinki (my love)! There are still 2 other movies waiting to be seen: Saturday and Sunday it's gonna be movie time again!! :)
Jan 28, 2011
Jan 21, 2011
project: searching (for) umbrellas
searching (for) umbrellas from suse miessner on Vimeo.
Here is what I did during last week's "interactive cinema" workshop with Chris Hales. "searching (for) umbrellas" uses apple's sudden motion sensor to navigate through the film. The user needs to find and follow the umbrella for a certain time to get to the next movie sequence.
Actually I managed to randomly chose 3 out of 11 sequences and play them. Processing checks constantly if the umbrella is inside or outside the user's screen (I recorded the it's position in a semiautomatic process > clicking as fast as you can ;-) ). If it's inside it adds a point to your "score" and if you have reached a certain value you will get to the next sequence. That's actually the idea...
I still happen to have some debugs in playing the movie: Especially when running a lot of other programmes (and recording) it often skips some frames of the movie. The result is that the counting system doesn't work any more... Well, there is something left to improve!
Further ideas for experimenting: sound (adding what the umbrellas/people think) and trying to get this working on a mobile device... that should be possible using iProcessing and a openFrameworks-library to access the motion sensor (sms-library doesn't work on iThings).
That's it for the moment...
Any ideas for improvement? Especially about the debugs in playing movies? Ok guys, thanks for reading (just in case you really read ;-) )
Jan 18, 2011
found my publication online
having taken part in a project called "Stadtquartiere der Zukunft" (Neighborhoods of the future) I just found the pdf of the publication online when updating my CV for some applications for a summer job.
Here is the pdf: http://www.isr.tu-berlin.de/sqz/Files/pdf/SQZ-Studierende_entwerfen_2050.pdf (sorry, only German provided)
and here the weblink: http://www.isr.tu-berlin.de/sqz/studierende_entwerfen_2050.html
great that I found it again... am happy!
Here is the pdf: http://www.isr.tu-berlin.de/sqz/Files/pdf/SQZ-Studierende_entwerfen_2050.pdf (sorry, only German provided)
and here the weblink: http://www.isr.tu-berlin.de/sqz/studierende_entwerfen_2050.html
great that I found it again... am happy!
Jan 17, 2011
happy new year
already late for that, but well we Germans say: "besser spät als nie" so... here it is!
should write about first week with interactive cinema during next days... and I will... seriously. It was a fun week, although my little interactive film didn't work as expected. I worked on it the day after final presentation, now it is a lot better than at that time... I'll try to capture a video of "playing" the film... u will see it here as soon as possible!
ah yeah: it's time for handball world championship... probably noone in Finland cares, but I care!
should write about first week with interactive cinema during next days... and I will... seriously. It was a fun week, although my little interactive film didn't work as expected. I worked on it the day after final presentation, now it is a lot better than at that time... I'll try to capture a video of "playing" the film... u will see it here as soon as possible!
ah yeah: it's time for handball world championship... probably noone in Finland cares, but I care!
Dec 12, 2010
tries learning Finnish again
I hate you Finns for inventing so much wordtypes.
Minä vihaan Suomalainen koska he keksivät paljon sanatyyppi! (hopefully that's the part with most mistakes already):
Me keskustellemme suomalaisesta oluesta. - We discuss about Finnish beer.
Me keskustellemme kevyestä ruoasta. - We discuss about light food.
Me keskustellemme tehokkaasta lääkkeestä. - We discuss about effective medicine.
Me keskustellemme kauniista kuningattaresta. - We discuss about the beautiful queen.
Me keskustellemme kuolleesta eläimestä. - We discuss about the dead animal.
Me keskustellemme puhtaasta vedestä. - We discuss about clean water.
Me keskustellemme työttömästä miehestä. - We discuss about the unemployed man.
Me keskustellemme parantumattomasta sairaudesta. - We discuss about an incurable illness.
Me keskustellemme vaarallisesta huumeesta. - We discuss about a dangerous drug.
Me keskustellemme tuntemattomasta tulevaisuudesta. - We discuss about the unknown future.
Me keskustellemme lyhyestä kirjeestä. - We discuss about a short letter.
Me keskustellemme mahdottomasta tilanteesta. - We discuss about an impossible situation.
Me keskustellemme onnistuneesta kokeesta. - We discuss about a successful test.
Me keskustellemme rikkaasta yrityestä. - We discuss about a rich company.
Me keskustellemme kadonneesta soittimesta. - We discuss about a lost instrument.
Me keskustellemme ystävyydestä ja rakkaudesta. - We discuss about friendship and love.
Me keskustellemme älykkäästä laitteesta. - We discuss about an intelligent device.
and I've tried to correct the little text about my life... (still mistakes?...please tell me, if you read. I will have to learn it by heart to have any chance to pass the exam)
Minulla on vähän vapaa-aikaa.
Mitä tahansa minä pidän nukkumisesta paljon, erikoisesti talvella, koska ulkon on hyvin pimeää.
Tykkään nauttia minun vapaa-aikana ulkon: Menen kävelemään metsään, kaupunkiin ja meren rannalle, pyöräilemään ja käymään lenkillä. Minä olen urheilija. Minä rakastan urheilemista. Talvellä minä nautin hiihtämisestä ja lumilautailemisesta. Lisäksi joka viikko minä haluan uida. Ulkona uiminen on hauskaa jopa talvella.
Minä vihaan Suomalainen koska he keksivät paljon sanatyyppi! (hopefully that's the part with most mistakes already):
Me keskustellemme suomalaisesta oluesta. - We discuss about Finnish beer.
Me keskustellemme kevyestä ruoasta. - We discuss about light food.
Me keskustellemme tehokkaasta lääkkeestä. - We discuss about effective medicine.
Me keskustellemme kauniista kuningattaresta. - We discuss about the beautiful queen.
Me keskustellemme kuolleesta eläimestä. - We discuss about the dead animal.
Me keskustellemme puhtaasta vedestä. - We discuss about clean water.
Me keskustellemme työttömästä miehestä. - We discuss about the unemployed man.
Me keskustellemme parantumattomasta sairaudesta. - We discuss about an incurable illness.
Me keskustellemme vaarallisesta huumeesta. - We discuss about a dangerous drug.
Me keskustellemme tuntemattomasta tulevaisuudesta. - We discuss about the unknown future.
Me keskustellemme lyhyestä kirjeestä. - We discuss about a short letter.
Me keskustellemme mahdottomasta tilanteesta. - We discuss about an impossible situation.
Me keskustellemme onnistuneesta kokeesta. - We discuss about a successful test.
Me keskustellemme rikkaasta yrityestä. - We discuss about a rich company.
Me keskustellemme kadonneesta soittimesta. - We discuss about a lost instrument.
Me keskustellemme ystävyydestä ja rakkaudesta. - We discuss about friendship and love.
Me keskustellemme älykkäästä laitteesta. - We discuss about an intelligent device.
and I've tried to correct the little text about my life... (still mistakes?...please tell me, if you read. I will have to learn it by heart to have any chance to pass the exam)
Minun elämä
Minun nimi on Susanne Miessner. Mutta minä en pidä Susanne-niemestä ja sen vuoksi kaikki sanovat Suse.
Minä olen syntynyt Neuruppinassa. Neuruppin on Itä-Saksassa, 80 km:n päässä Berliinistä. Se on pieni kaupunki järvenrannalla.
Minulla on veli. Hänen nimi on Micha.
Kun olimme lapsia, me asumme Neuruppinassa, mutta usein me menimme mummolle. Mummo on asunut kylässä. Se oli ihanaa aikaa: Me leikimme paljon ulkona. Maanantaista perjantaihin me kävimme koulua ja nautimme vapaa-aikana. Minä tykkäsin pelata käsipalloa ja ratsastaa. Kun olin 12-vuotias, minä päätin mennä lukioon. Minä opiskelin vielä ja minun lempiharrastus oli käsipallo. Se on ihana urheilua, mina todella rakastan pelata käsipallo!
Kun olin 18-vuotias, minä valmistuin lukioosta. Minä en halunnut opiskella Berliinissä ja sen vuoksi minä päästin opiskella Weimarissa. Minä aloin opiskella arkkitehtuuria 2006.
Minä valmistuin kandidaatiksi viime vuonna. Sitten minä aloin opiskella diplomi arkkitehtuuria mutta minä olen keskittynyt kaupunkteihin. Nyt minä opiskelen Helsingissä, TAIKissa. Opiskelen uutta mediaa. Se on erilainen mutta minä pidän TAIKissa opiskelemisesta!
the text about free time is the next one to correct:
Minulla on vähän vapaa-aikaa.
Mitä tahansa minä pidän nukkumisesta paljon, erikoisesti talvella, koska ulkon on hyvin pimeää.
Tykkään nauttia minun vapaa-aikana ulkon: Menen kävelemään metsään, kaupunkiin ja meren rannalle, pyöräilemään ja käymään lenkillä. Minä olen urheilija. Minä rakastan urheilemista. Talvellä minä nautin hiihtämisestä ja lumilautailemisesta. Lisäksi joka viikko minä haluan uida. Ulkona uiminen on hauskaa jopa talvella.
Mutta mina rakastan myös sita, kun en teen jotakin mitään. Tykkään lukemisesta, piirtämisestä ja askartelemisesta.
Minä voin nauttia elämästä.
Dec 10, 2010
Dec 1, 2010
Minun elämä - yeah, it's Finnish!
Minun nimi on Susanne Miessner. Mutta mina en pitää Susanne vuoksi kaikki puhuvat Suse.
Minä olen syntynyt Neuruppinassa, Neuruppin on Itä-Saksaa, 80km päässä Berliinista. Se on pieni kaupunki järven.
Minulla on veli. Hänen nimi on Micha.
Kun olimme lapset, me asumme Neuruppinassa, mutta usein me menimme mummolle. Mumo asut kylässä. Se oli ihanaa aikaa: Me leikimme paljon ulkona. Manantaista perjantaihin me kävimme koulua ja nautimme vapaa-aikana. Minä pidin pelata käsipalloa ja ratsastaa. Kun olin 12-vuoden, mina päätin kävin kuntosali (form of high-school). Minä opin vielä ja minun lempiharrastus on käsipallo. Se on ihana urheilua, mina todella rakastan pelata käsipallo!
Kun olin 18-vuoden, mina valistuin kuntosalilta. Minä en halunnun opiskella Berliinissä, vuoksi mina päästin opiskella Weimarssa. Minä alkin opiskella arkitektuuri 2006.
Minä valmistuin poikkamies viime vuonna. Sitten mina alkin opiskella diplomiinsinööri arkitektuuri mutta mina on fokus kaupunkien. Nyt mina opiskelen Helsingissä, TAIKassa. Opiskelen Uusi Media. Se on toisin asia mutta mina pidän opiskelen TAIKassa!
Nov 29, 2010
seems that this has become my all-time favorite collection of quotes concerning architecture
seems that Finnish architecture books are full of a lot of good stuff...
seems that Finnish architects are aware of the fact that architecture is not only about building houses! especially Reima Pietilä
"Perhaps it is still reasonable to allow that the Classicism of the 20s stands [...]as a pause after Saarinen and a period of preparation for Aalto, in the internationally famed endeavours of Finnish architecture." - Henrik O. Andersson
“In Mies van der Rohe’s warning: ’We don’t need new architecture each Monday.’ I could recognize the gauntled thrown down. Young architecture was to surge forward like a spring flood, silencing the voice of the old. And I suppose the same goes today. And now too, I’m a voice of the old.” - Reima Pietilä
“Neither form, nor space, nor structure can be the starting point when the design method consists of a culturally oriented holistic design.” - Reima Pietilä
“Creativity has been so abused as a cultural term, that it has become a mere empty platitude: ‘creative artist’, ‘creative architect’. Creativity is seen as a kind of ability to find the truth granted only to a few. The idea of Prime creation, of man as demiurge, superman, superior in vigour, is also closely related to this. He is an artist-prince of the late Renaissance and Baroque eras. That is why I avoid the word ‘create’ like the plague. An architect doesn’t CREATE, he SKETCHES, he DESIGNS or 'DRAWS A LINE'." - Reima Pietilä
“Creating architecture is a multi-media process. It involves verbal programming and directing, visualization by sketching floor plans, sections, elevations; spatialization with the help of a scale model; materialization by building. Both words and pictures are used to explain architectural form. Neither on nor the other alone is enough to make architecture as a phenomenon sufficiently comprehensible.” - Reima Pietilä
“Architecture is a particular type of spatial art, a volumic structure of a mega sculpture experienced by moving around and within it.” - Reima Pietilä
“It [Architecture] begins to speak in the language of a synthesis of contextual meanings. But before built architecture can speak for itself, one must speak and communicate on its behalf by using a meta-language of design.” - Reima Pietilä
“An architect who elaborates on the quality and particularly the artistic nature of his architecture soon becomes abstruse, becoming entangled in words. His difficulty being that many important ideas are visual already when they are born, and have developed into specific form through drawing, in other words by non-verbal means. The speaker is compelled to interpret the architectural object-idea indirectly with words. That is no small problem!” - Reima Pietilä
“What can be said, can be said precisely; about that which we cannot say, we are silent” - Wittgenstein
“I think in my native language Finnish. I talk whilst I draw – the rhythm and intonation of Finnish govern the movements of my pencil. Do I draw in Finnish? My language rhythm influences my drawing shapes, phrases my lines, outlines my surfaces. The local cases and regionalistic vocabulary of the Finnish language are the elements of my genuine way to express topological architecture and space.” - Reima Pietilä
“how does architecture function as an element of genius loci and as a part of the natural environment? And the answer is short: as in Dipoli and Suvikumpu. This is of course my individual nature-philosophical anwer, a precedent naturally!” - Reima Pietilä
“The colours and light of the surrounding forest landscape continue in to the architecture. Suvikumpu is ‘naturalistic architecture’. It stimulates nature.” - Reima Pietilä
“It [Dipoli] is contrary to the tried and accepted rules of composition. Defends the right to be different, yet is architecture, and believes that architecture is more than just one (architect-favoured) type of building.” Reima Pietilä
“’The only essential difference is that a car, if proven unsuccessful, will be replaced by a new one, whereas apartments will remain standing for decades to remind future generations of mistaken syntheses’” Pinomaa
“’We can have standardized doors, windows, kitchens, and apartments – the only thing lacking is a standard family of occupants.’” Pinomaa
“It was even assumed that by the year 2000 helicopter vehicles would become common, and for this reason an area for a heliport and service facilities was proposed near the traffic roundabout.”
seems that Finnish architects are aware of the fact that architecture is not only about building houses! especially Reima Pietilä
"Perhaps it is still reasonable to allow that the Classicism of the 20s stands [...]as a pause after Saarinen and a period of preparation for Aalto, in the internationally famed endeavours of Finnish architecture." - Henrik O. Andersson
“In Mies van der Rohe’s warning: ’We don’t need new architecture each Monday.’ I could recognize the gauntled thrown down. Young architecture was to surge forward like a spring flood, silencing the voice of the old. And I suppose the same goes today. And now too, I’m a voice of the old.” - Reima Pietilä
“Neither form, nor space, nor structure can be the starting point when the design method consists of a culturally oriented holistic design.” - Reima Pietilä
“Creativity has been so abused as a cultural term, that it has become a mere empty platitude: ‘creative artist’, ‘creative architect’. Creativity is seen as a kind of ability to find the truth granted only to a few. The idea of Prime creation, of man as demiurge, superman, superior in vigour, is also closely related to this. He is an artist-prince of the late Renaissance and Baroque eras. That is why I avoid the word ‘create’ like the plague. An architect doesn’t CREATE, he SKETCHES, he DESIGNS or 'DRAWS A LINE'." - Reima Pietilä
“Creating architecture is a multi-media process. It involves verbal programming and directing, visualization by sketching floor plans, sections, elevations; spatialization with the help of a scale model; materialization by building. Both words and pictures are used to explain architectural form. Neither on nor the other alone is enough to make architecture as a phenomenon sufficiently comprehensible.” - Reima Pietilä
“Architecture is a particular type of spatial art, a volumic structure of a mega sculpture experienced by moving around and within it.” - Reima Pietilä
“It [Architecture] begins to speak in the language of a synthesis of contextual meanings. But before built architecture can speak for itself, one must speak and communicate on its behalf by using a meta-language of design.” - Reima Pietilä
“An architect who elaborates on the quality and particularly the artistic nature of his architecture soon becomes abstruse, becoming entangled in words. His difficulty being that many important ideas are visual already when they are born, and have developed into specific form through drawing, in other words by non-verbal means. The speaker is compelled to interpret the architectural object-idea indirectly with words. That is no small problem!” - Reima Pietilä
“What can be said, can be said precisely; about that which we cannot say, we are silent” - Wittgenstein
“I think in my native language Finnish. I talk whilst I draw – the rhythm and intonation of Finnish govern the movements of my pencil. Do I draw in Finnish? My language rhythm influences my drawing shapes, phrases my lines, outlines my surfaces. The local cases and regionalistic vocabulary of the Finnish language are the elements of my genuine way to express topological architecture and space.” - Reima Pietilä
“how does architecture function as an element of genius loci and as a part of the natural environment? And the answer is short: as in Dipoli and Suvikumpu. This is of course my individual nature-philosophical anwer, a precedent naturally!” - Reima Pietilä
“The colours and light of the surrounding forest landscape continue in to the architecture. Suvikumpu is ‘naturalistic architecture’. It stimulates nature.” - Reima Pietilä
“It [Dipoli] is contrary to the tried and accepted rules of composition. Defends the right to be different, yet is architecture, and believes that architecture is more than just one (architect-favoured) type of building.” Reima Pietilä
“’The only essential difference is that a car, if proven unsuccessful, will be replaced by a new one, whereas apartments will remain standing for decades to remind future generations of mistaken syntheses’” Pinomaa
“’We can have standardized doors, windows, kitchens, and apartments – the only thing lacking is a standard family of occupants.’” Pinomaa
“It was even assumed that by the year 2000 helicopter vehicles would become common, and for this reason an area for a heliport and service facilities was proposed near the traffic roundabout.”
Nov 27, 2010
Nov 21, 2010
Learning Finnish... writing texts...
Miten minä vietän vapaa-aikana?
Minulla on vähän vapaa-aikana.
Mitä tahansa mina pidän nukkumisesta paljon erikoisesti talvissa, koska ulkolla on pimeä paljon.
Tykkään nauttia minun vapaa-aikana ulkolla: Menen kavelemaan metsässä, kaumpungissa ja merin vieressä, pyöräilemaan ja käymaan lenkillä. Minä olen urheilija. Minä rakastan urheilemisesta. Talvissa mina nautin hiihtämisestä ja lumilautailemisesta. Lisäksi joka vikko mina jodun uimaan. Ulkolla uiminen on hauskaa edes lalvissa.
Minä voin nautia elämä.
Minulla on vähän vapaa-aikana.
Mitä tahansa mina pidän nukkumisesta paljon erikoisesti talvissa, koska ulkolla on pimeä paljon.
Tykkään nauttia minun vapaa-aikana ulkolla: Menen kavelemaan metsässä, kaumpungissa ja merin vieressä, pyöräilemaan ja käymaan lenkillä. Minä olen urheilija. Minä rakastan urheilemisesta. Talvissa mina nautin hiihtämisestä ja lumilautailemisesta. Lisäksi joka vikko mina jodun uimaan. Ulkolla uiminen on hauskaa edes lalvissa.
Minä voin nautia elämä.
Nov 9, 2010
yesterday night's fun
my first object-orientated stuff in processing, not useful but it works quite nicely...
Nov 8, 2010
city sets - urban visual identity _day 1
exploring Helsinki in a completely new way has started... let's see what the outcome on Friday will be... probably a film... ;-)
Nov 6, 2010
random thoughts and a book review
I've read Florians latest post "Wie sind die Vorstellungen von Deutschland?" and immediately started thinking: yeah, and what have been your expectations about Finland.
well, another thing first: I 've written the book review for my the "history of finnish architecture"-class today (only first part, still have to write 4 6-page essays on different topics... puh!). The book is called: WOOD, STONE AND STEEL Contours of Finnish Architecture.
Therefore I started thinking about what is the essence of architecture in their point of view. And I guess it is that in Finland architecture has always been more related to urban development and urban space than I ever heard at home. Something I have always missed! Great country! (see below this post for details about the book and what I mean in special - it's not a finished version more the first one... but I have to move on to other essays).
Back to Florians question: what is the expectation/imagination/prejudices about Germany?
ok first: we can repair everything. A prejudice that is especially popular among Estonians I guess... have no idea why.
second: everything is clean... and really, to hear that from a Finn is a funny thing... Probably the same thing Florian mentioned about Buenos Aires. In the mornings it is soooo clean and even in the evenings. Unless it is Friday or Saturday (when Finns always get other persons!!!).
third: it seems that everyone wants to live in Berlin... why in hell?? too big, too much people, too few green areas, too dirty! why I understand it: street art!, open-minded people (at least more then in other parts, but I guess its due to the size... ), there is only one city that can regarded to be a city in germany: berlin....
what I didn't think about Finns before I arrived...
1. they get REALLY crazy on Friday and Saturday evenings... there is no comparison in Germany at all....
2. that they really wear reflectors everywhere (especially since the clock was changed to wintertime last weekend)
and what I just noticed... there is a typical face for Finnish men (not all, but a lot) but not for women! (I haven't seen the typical Finnish women yet... probably that's why I am always considered to be Finnish... and how Vuokko said once: "You are not looking Unfinnish." -> ok!)
and the other thing about today: its Finnish and Swedish Pyhäinpäivää - All Saints' Day/All Souls Day - Allerheiligen. Finnish because it is celebrated on the 1.november everywhere else. But Finns do not like to have public holidays during the week (they would miss a working day) so they celebrate it on the nearest Saturday... And I did not notice it at all: I was wondering that the internet-journey planner did not offer me the normal bus-route to school (I had to go by bus 'cause my bike is broken since yesterday), but did not really think about it. So I took the suggested tram, right in front of my window and went to school, was even wondering on my way that there are so many people drinking on a Saturday morning (but I don't really think about that any more, since Finns just get more crazy then they are normally on the weekends). So I arrived school, wanted to go to the library: closed... didn't think why... there was a handwritten sign: closed on 5/11 from 5pm and 6/11... so wanted to print something at media lab... Of corse I did not know the code for my key so I was standing some minutes in front of the entrance. Then a teacher was coming, also wanting to go inside but did not know her code... and I was telling that I wanted to enter through the library.
she: it's Sunday today!
I: what?
she: All Saint's Day!
ok... I did not know this at all.. Later I tried to enter the shop to buy stuff to repair my bike: closed... normally shops are even open on Sunday... seems that Finns take All Saint's Day, also renamed as All Soul's Day, cause Finns are not catholic at all, very serious. On my way back I realized this lot of flags hanging everywhere... And when I say everywhere I mean everywhere: I also did not realize before that there are flagpoles all around me.. even on a lot of residential buildings (city district of Vallilla is the best example... but it's also a 1930th workers disctrict, so it makes some sence...)... that's what I experienced and learned today... looking forward to Finnish Independence day now... 6/12... I won't forget that!!! =D
well, another thing first: I 've written the book review for my the "history of finnish architecture"-class today (only first part, still have to write 4 6-page essays on different topics... puh!). The book is called: WOOD, STONE AND STEEL Contours of Finnish Architecture.
Therefore I started thinking about what is the essence of architecture in their point of view. And I guess it is that in Finland architecture has always been more related to urban development and urban space than I ever heard at home. Something I have always missed! Great country! (see below this post for details about the book and what I mean in special - it's not a finished version more the first one... but I have to move on to other essays).
Back to Florians question: what is the expectation/imagination/prejudices about Germany?
ok first: we can repair everything. A prejudice that is especially popular among Estonians I guess... have no idea why.
second: everything is clean... and really, to hear that from a Finn is a funny thing... Probably the same thing Florian mentioned about Buenos Aires. In the mornings it is soooo clean and even in the evenings. Unless it is Friday or Saturday (when Finns always get other persons!!!).
third: it seems that everyone wants to live in Berlin... why in hell?? too big, too much people, too few green areas, too dirty! why I understand it: street art!, open-minded people (at least more then in other parts, but I guess its due to the size... ), there is only one city that can regarded to be a city in germany: berlin....
what I didn't think about Finns before I arrived...
1. they get REALLY crazy on Friday and Saturday evenings... there is no comparison in Germany at all....
2. that they really wear reflectors everywhere (especially since the clock was changed to wintertime last weekend)
and what I just noticed... there is a typical face for Finnish men (not all, but a lot) but not for women! (I haven't seen the typical Finnish women yet... probably that's why I am always considered to be Finnish... and how Vuokko said once: "You are not looking Unfinnish." -> ok!)
and the other thing about today: its Finnish and Swedish Pyhäinpäivää - All Saints' Day/All Souls Day - Allerheiligen. Finnish because it is celebrated on the 1.november everywhere else. But Finns do not like to have public holidays during the week (they would miss a working day) so they celebrate it on the nearest Saturday... And I did not notice it at all: I was wondering that the internet-journey planner did not offer me the normal bus-route to school (I had to go by bus 'cause my bike is broken since yesterday), but did not really think about it. So I took the suggested tram, right in front of my window and went to school, was even wondering on my way that there are so many people drinking on a Saturday morning (but I don't really think about that any more, since Finns just get more crazy then they are normally on the weekends). So I arrived school, wanted to go to the library: closed... didn't think why... there was a handwritten sign: closed on 5/11 from 5pm and 6/11... so wanted to print something at media lab... Of corse I did not know the code for my key so I was standing some minutes in front of the entrance. Then a teacher was coming, also wanting to go inside but did not know her code... and I was telling that I wanted to enter through the library.
she: it's Sunday today!
I: what?
she: All Saint's Day!
ok... I did not know this at all.. Later I tried to enter the shop to buy stuff to repair my bike: closed... normally shops are even open on Sunday... seems that Finns take All Saint's Day, also renamed as All Soul's Day, cause Finns are not catholic at all, very serious. On my way back I realized this lot of flags hanging everywhere... And when I say everywhere I mean everywhere: I also did not realize before that there are flagpoles all around me.. even on a lot of residential buildings (city district of Vallilla is the best example... but it's also a 1930th workers disctrict, so it makes some sence...)... that's what I experienced and learned today... looking forward to Finnish Independence day now... 6/12... I won't forget that!!! =D
Book review
WOOD, STONE AND STEEL Contours of Finnish Architecture. Riitta Nikula. Keuruu: Otava Publishing Company Ltd, 2005. 208
In 2005 the art historian Riita Nikula published her first book trying to give “a general picture of building in Finland over the centuries”: “WOOD, STONE AND STEEL Contours of Finnish Architecture”.
Nikula has been professor in art and architecture history at Helsinki University and wrote her PhD about the Töölö region in Helsinki. She is regarded to be a generalist historian of Finnish architecture and has published books on several different Finnish architectural topics.
In her preface Nikula says she intends to readers who want to get an overview about the situation and the “crucial historical forces behind th[e] building work” in Finland. Her aim is to make the reader understand the countries architectural appearance, inspire them traveling around in Finland and explore Finnish architecture themselves.
The structure of the book follows natural order of centuries, although sometimes it is hard to differ history in that sense: Beginning with a widespread overview of landscape and history, which offers a basic understanding of external drivers, live and building technologies until the Middle Ages, Nikula goes on in chapters of centuries from 16th to 20th century. This is still an understandable structure but titling and content of substructures becomes confusing in some different manners: The main interest is obviously in the 19th and 20th century, which can considered to be natural in reviewing Finnish architecture, but at least similar main focuses for all the centuries and going more into detail where necessary (19th and 29th century) would have been helpful. Especially because of obviously “extra-chapters” such as “[The Vaasa of Carl Axel Setterberg]” already the table of content becomes confusing and the reader is left alone with the same feeling while reading through the book.
He also misses Nikula’s conclusion about what is the essence of Finnish architecture in the end. In the last paragraph she tries to lead the reader’s thinking into future: Nowadays Finnish towns grow but industrial jobs are being shifted to abroad, economy is still restructuring and agriculture a stable component of uncertainty. “All these will affect architecture in Finland in the decades to come.”
What makes it also hard to follow the steps of development is that building types, such as churches, are not treated continuously but within the order of centuries. One has to say that this comment questions the whole book structure, but since it is the decision between sorting things by time or by type, each variant has it's own strengths and weaknesses.
Content wise the chosen topics seem to be very suitable to give an overview about Finnish architecture in general: Nikula emphasizes town and urban development as a big part of architectural and social development throughout the whole book. To me it seems that is the big difference to architectural understanding in other countries: A lot of architects, urban designers and just normal people in other countries do not consider urban and open space in the way as it is emphasized in “WOOD, STEEL AND STONE Contours of Finnish Architecture” already since the 16th century and in Finnish society in general. This can considered being my personal essence of the book. In comparison to what I have learned about and seen in central Europe’s architectural history, urban development seems to be more in the focus of decision-making in Finland.
The way Nikula explains facts to the reader and relates them inside the subchapters is very easy to understand, even for a reader who is not familiar with features of Finnish architecture. At the same time she uses some architectural terms the reader has to know, but since architecture is a big part of everyday life one can consider the reader to know most of them.
For each chapter Nikula gives a broad overview of what happened in social life and technical development, and what that means to building and architecture, before leading to the subchapters. Whereas these descriptions are very short and therefore easy to keep in mind while reading through the chapter, the reader feels bombed with facts of building years in the subchapters: on page 41 there are mentioned seven churches and eleven years related to them. The exact dates might be interesting to historians, but to inspire “usual” readers exploring architecture it would have been more interesting to relate and compare the buildings as steps of development in a meaningful manner. Sometimes the reader even wished to get less but more detailed examples, but since this book is made to give an overview it might be ok that way. The most important point about that is that text and figures would have been more obviously related to each other. Since there are no figure numbers that could be mentioned in the text, it is hard to follow figures while reading. Nevertheless the reader enjoys having pictures and since architecture is a lot about visual sense making and I as a foreigner am not very familiar to Finnish geography, would have wished to have more maps explaining where several places are. For the reader who wants to travel through Finland because he has read Nikula’s book, it would also be good to have two more things: First footnotes for further reading and secondly a table of places in the end of the book, where he could find the mentioned places sort by city or region.
In general it can be said that in her book “WOOD, STONE AND STEEL Contours of Finnish Architecture” Riitta Nikula achieves the goal to make readers interested in Finnish architectural development. I have myself taken a lot of notes about places I want to see and why. Although for planning a tour through Finland the reader needs further information, Nikula’s book is a good starting point to get to know one’s own interests. Since it is not the book’s aim to be a tour guide through Finland, it can be said that Nikula succeeded although there are weaknesses in relating text to pictures and places to each other, and ordering the content.
Nov 5, 2010
my new project: Visualizing My Personal Movement in Helsinki
here is the first sketch for my new project for DVD (dynamic visual design).
I am going to visualize my everyday movement in Helsinki and even show if I went by bike, public transport or on foot. that's the example of today (home - otaniemi: bike; otaniemi - home: foot [my bike is broken]).
![]()
It's gonna be in different scales and I also want to add somehow how long I stayed in the places...
in the end (whenever it is) I will try to make an animation out of this. I found this very good one http://www.cartogrammar.com/blog/mapping-a-whole-darn-year/
but he is not considering scale. And I want to! And I would like to animate it somehow that you also see the order I did the ways (the line could be drawn...)... that's it at the moment... I am gonna continue trying to remember my ways during the last days.... =D
so I continued for a couple of hours... and here is what came out until now
scale 1
scale 2 _ var 1
scale 2 _ var 2
scale 3
I am going to visualize my everyday movement in Helsinki and even show if I went by bike, public transport or on foot. that's the example of today (home - otaniemi: bike; otaniemi - home: foot [my bike is broken]).
It's gonna be in different scales and I also want to add somehow how long I stayed in the places...
in the end (whenever it is) I will try to make an animation out of this. I found this very good one http://www.cartogrammar.com/blog/mapping-a-whole-darn-year/
but he is not considering scale. And I want to! And I would like to animate it somehow that you also see the order I did the ways (the line could be drawn...)... that's it at the moment... I am gonna continue trying to remember my ways during the last days.... =D
so I continued for a couple of hours... and here is what came out until now
scale 2 _ var 2
just imagine there would be different scales.. there are not yet, but different detailing in the plans and in the more detailed plans I can also visualize the speed of motion
Nov 3, 2010
SECRETS OF FINNISH LANGUAGE - PART 5
why in hell are Finns using:
Käydään mökillä BUT uidaan järvessä??
first käydään mökillä
käydään = let's go to the cottage... question: where to? so it should be illative or allative and since a mökki is a closed space (at least it should be) I would like to take illative: mökiin... why not?
second uidaan järvessä
uidaan =let's swim... question: where? so it should also be inessive or adessive and since a lake is a open space I would like to take adessive: järvellä
so: who explains???
Käydään mökillä BUT uidaan järvessä??
first käydään mökillä
käydään = let's go to the cottage... question: where to? so it should be illative or allative and since a mökki is a closed space (at least it should be) I would like to take illative: mökiin... why not?
second uidaan järvessä
uidaan =let's swim... question: where? so it should also be inessive or adessive and since a lake is a open space I would like to take adessive: järvellä
so: who explains???
Oct 30, 2010
Dead Drops: The Offline File-Sharing Network
http://popupcity.net/2010/10/dead-drops-the-offline-file-sharing-network/
http://popupcity.net/2010/10/dead-drops-the-offline-file-sharing-network/
Oct 26, 2010
Oct 21, 2010
book I want to have!!
Urban pioneers:
Berlin: Stadtentwicklung durch ZwischennutzungSenatsverwaltung für Stadtentwicklung, 2007
Skate parks in abandoned industrial zones, ponies grazing alongside the former Berlin Wall, flea markets in empty warehouses, music and fashion shows in hard-to-rent retail locations and climbing walls in development niches--scarcely a city in Europe has made such radically widespread use of "temporary use" projects as has Berlin in the last few decades. The idea of temporary use--which has been defined as "activity in spaces currently unsuitable or undesirable in mainstream economic cycles"--is of increasing strategic importance for urban development around the world, as individuals and government agencies pioneer new prospects at disused sites that defy traditional urban planning. Urban Pioneers documents more than 40 such projects in the city of Berlin, and comes with a series of essays and interviews that offer comprehensive, timely insight into the subject, proposing new guidelines for shaping urban development.
Oct 20, 2010
new secrets of Finnish language
Forms of verbs and nouns... just playing around with different sentence types I learned till now. So everything is made by just: You - Work (as verb or noun)... that's it basically! just some additions!
Sinulla on työtä. - You have work.
Sinulla on työpaikka. - You have a job (literally: workplace)
Sinä olen työssä. - You are at work.
Sinä teet paljon työtä. - You work a lot.
Sinä tarvitset työtä. - You need to work.
Sinun täytyy tehdä työtä. - You have to work.
Sinun ei tarvitse tehdä työtä. - You don't have to work.
Sinun ei tarvitse olla työssä. - You don't have to be at work.
wow Finns... that's everything I figured out that I learned it untill now! But don't think I did it by heart... I do have a good grammar book, made myself!
Sinulla on työtä. - You have work.
Sinulla on työpaikka. - You have a job (literally: workplace)
Sinä olen työssä. - You are at work.
Sinä teet paljon työtä. - You work a lot.
Sinä tarvitset työtä. - You need to work.
Sinun täytyy tehdä työtä. - You have to work.
Sinun ei tarvitse tehdä työtä. - You don't have to work.
Sinun ei tarvitse olla työssä. - You don't have to be at work.
wow Finns... that's everything I figured out that I learned it untill now! But don't think I did it by heart... I do have a good grammar book, made myself!
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