SummerAssem-bly

Information document 003easa010MANCHESTER

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EASA: European Architecture Students Assembly.

EASA was established by students and tutors of Liverpool University in 1981 as a way to bring talented students together to discuss the issues facing both the profession and urban environments.

Every summer since then around 400 of the brightest students from every part of Europe have come together for 2 intense weeks of; workshops, lectures, exhibitions and events, in the name of exchange of ideas, culture and experience.

Following a year of preparation and organisation, a UK team comprised of students from Manchester and Brighton Schools of Architecture successfully bid to host the 30th EASA summer assembly in Manchester in 2010.

This document is a brief introductory overview to the summer assemblies and the recent history of these events.

OVERVIEW

1981 Liverpool England Starting up the EASA experience

1982 Delft Holland Uncertain future

1983 Lisboa Portugal social spaces

1984 Aarhus Denmark turning point

1985 Athens Greece Interpretation and action

1986 Torino Italy Architecturi Latenti

1987 Helsinki Finland Architecture and nature

1988 Berlin Germany Dimension between

1989 Marseille France Heritage et Creative

1990 Karlskrona Sweden Exploration

1991 Kolomna USSR Regeneration

1992 Urgup Turkey Vision 2000

1993 Sandwick Scotland The Isle

1994 Liege Belgium Consommer l’Incinsumable

1995 Zamosc Poland Beyond the borders

1996 Clermont l’Herault France Dream Builders!

1997 The Train Scandinavia Advancing Architecture

1998 Valetta Malta Living on the edge

1999 Kavala Greece Osmosis

2000 Antwerp/Rotterdam Belgium/Holland Dis-similarities

2001 Gokceada Turkey No theme

2002 Vis Croatia Senses

2003 Friland Denmark Sustainable Living

2004 Roubaix France Metropolitain-Micropolitain

2005 Berguen Switzerland Tran Trans Transit

2006 Budapest Hungary Common Places

2007 Elefsina Greece City Index

2008 Dublin - Letterfrack Ireland Adaptation

2009 Darfo Italy SupermARCHet

2010 Manchester UK Identity

HISTORY

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The main focus of all summer assemblies is the workshops. The only common element of the workshops is they relate to the theme of the event in some way, as such there are a huge range of workshops that could, and have, been undertaken at easa assemblies. That said all workshops, broadly speaking, will fall into one of three categories:

Theoretical, usually requiring little more than a few lap tops and bundles of paper.

Theoretical with a built output, these aim to design and build some sort of structure all within the two week timeframe.

Large build, these are predesigned by the tutors and are generally more ambitious in scale. After a school year of theory and drawing some participants want nothing more than to get their hands on some tools and build.

WORKSHOPS

As the workshops vary so does output that they create. Some achieve investigations only possible when you bring together such varied experience and outlooks, whilst most create physical structures of all sizes. These structures vary between:

Temporal: only existing during an event or exhibition, as with nomadic instamatic in Ireland which used a single building element to create various structures during a walking tour through the national park.

Temporary: the results of theoretical workshops are so unpredictable that they often create pieces that are of a small to medium scale in the pavilion tradition. These pieces whilst not generally weather hardy can be moved to form parts of exhibitions after the event.

Permanent: EASA has a fi ne tradition of making provision for larger scale builds that remain in position after long after the event has moved on. Among many examples of this are a bridge built in Switzerland and a smoking shelter built at 008 Ireland.

OUTPUT

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Key to the success of a summer assembly is the spirit of togetherness that emerges over the two weeks of the event.

A summer assembly is not a holiday and this is particularly refl ected in the accommodation provision. The best way to prepare a participant for easa is to tell them to expect camping conditions. Participants sleep in a shared communal space, generally on scaff olding. Despite the initial surprise of some it is this arrangement that brings people together through a shared experience.

Each nation is included in a rota of duties. Typically twice during the event each nation will be called on to complete a duty; either serving meals or cleaning the accommodation. Despite the need to get up early or eat late, the duties are always respected and are seen to connect the participants with the event.

AND DUTIESACCOMMODATION

EVENTSAs well as workshops each assembly includes a variety of other events, again related to the theme, in order to reinforce the experience and maximise the potential of the assembly. The events vary depending on the resources of each assembly, but generally include:

Lectures: given by leaders in various fi elds related to the theme or the architecture of the host nation in general.

Exhibitions: key to the assembly is the communication between workshops so an importance is placed on presentation of work produced during the two weeks. The last Saturday is dedicated to the fi nal exhibition of the workshops along with short presentations by the tutors to describe the fortnights work.

National evenings: EASA assemblies create a unique situation of bringing together representatives from all the corners of Europe together which provides one of the defi ning dynamics of the events. To make the most of this it has become tradition to hold a number of evenings where countries can showcase foods, drink and culture typical to their nation.

Spontaneity is one of the most engaging aspects of easa is the vitality of the event. As a result of having such a variety of diff erently skilled creative people in an environment of production, as workshops progress they may take unexpected twists and turns, resulting in spontaneous events occurring throughout the assembly fortnight.

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EASA takes its name from the summer assembly, but there is more to the network than the two week event.

INCM (intermediate national contacts meeting) is a series of meetings lasting one week which generally take place in November. These meetings are a chance for the NCs (National Contacts) of each nation to come together and discuss issues surrounding the network and the hosting of future summer events. In recent years they have been held in:

005 Brighton, United Kingdom

006 Moscow, Russia

007 Motovun, Croatia

008 Nicosia, Cyprus

009 Lichtenstien

BEYOND THE SUMMER

The UK team is proud to be able to bring an event of such international stature and enduring vibrancy to the country that started it all in 1981.

easa010 will be a city centre assembly with a keen focus on urbanity, social integration and legacy.

The urban setting will provide a vibrant setting for the assembly; with Manchester’s dynamic history acting as inspiration to a generation of young architects looking to the future in uncertain times.

The decision to bring the assembly to Manchester was in part made due to the city’s excellent track record for embracing positive events and innovation; as such EASA and Manchester will have a profoundly positive eff ect on each other. To ensure that EASA and Manchester get the most out of this opportunity events and activities are being organised to connect many aspects of Manchester society with the assembly. Local artists and professionals will be invited to contribute to workshops, lectures, debates and events, whilst residents will have the opportunity to engage with the assembly at events and exhibitions that have started well before the two week assembly and continue afterward.

easa010

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