WEARABLE PORTABLE ARCHITECTURE BY MARY MATTINGLY: Call for workshop participants

WEARABLE PORTABLE ARCHITECTURE BY MARY MATTINGLY: Call for workshop participants

Wearable Portable Architecture / Workshop Background 
What could our urban surroundings look like if our built environment is designed to move? How can we use art and creativity to tap into new solutions for our everyday surroundings? What considerations need to be taken into account for designing, building, and dwelling in a mobile city?

Mobile structures acknowledge and plan for dynamic conditions (both human-made or natural). Beginning with conversations about architecture and buildings, art, and community, we will begin brainstorming and exploring strategies for flexible and modular sculptural interventions in the city through sketches and discussions, experimenting with soft architecture, camouflaging/patterning techniques, and answering questions such as: What are the advantages and disadvantages to modular building? What building materials are available in the local waste stream and what materials exist naturally in the Philippines that can be used? What resources are being lost from a common building and how can we harness these? How can we make waterproof or inflatable materials? Where can we deploy/exhibit these structures in public?

After these exercises we will begin designing and creating itinerant architectural interventions that can be assembled and disassembled with ease. Disassembled, parts of the units may be worn by the participant. (Each wearable unit can become the property of the participant who can design and fit the unit to their body.) Assembled together, the spaces become larger and are able to collect rainwater, solar energy, space for food production, and even have the ability to float. As an amphibious structure these sculptures can fit into a model for a future Philippines, reliant on mobile infrastructure. This project can also be a model for dwellings that rely less on centralized resources.

When and where?
The workshop will be conducted between October 1-25, 2012 at Green Papaya Art Projects in 41B T. Gener Street, Kamuning, Quezon City. The workshop will run for 3-4 hours a day and 3-4 days a week, final workshop schedule shall be posted soon.

Who may participate?
Public high school students, out-of-school youths (preferably Kamuning residents), Architecture and Fine Arts students, NGO/community workers and contemporary artists. There is NO workshop fee. Participants will be provided with workshop materials and snacks during the workshop. Number of participants will be limited to 20. 

Contact
Interested participants may contact +63999 3811217, or + 63921 6653943, or email smartpowermanila@gmail.com

For updates please log-on to www.greenpapayaartprojects.org