Since 2008 the world has changed. The economic system has undergoneall kinds of system failures. So far we have seen the meltdown of the housing industry, bank savings, big organizations, companies and so on. But we have also witnessed new initiatives that are based on alternative financial models, informal currency systems and community based sharing models. In Spain the organization of ‘the informal’ has always been fairly well developed. In The Netherlands we are discovering all this right now by experimenting with vacant real estate objects and finding ways to implement new approaches in existing structures and organizations.

The workshop is based on two strategies operating within the existing system:

Vacancy – new approaches to deal with real estate and their position and potential in the city.
Self sufficiency – empowerment of citizens about food issues, energy and fabrication as a complement towards the staked system.

Does a combination of the two strategies exist: Self sufficient real estate?

The four days workshop will take place at Valldaura Labs (5km outside Barcelona) and will be filled with lectures from keyspeakers from Barcelona and the Netherlands, workshops and a public presentation in IAAC. Lectures will be from: Manuel Gausa (IAAC), Nuria Díaz (Valldaura Self Sufficient Campus Director), Don Murphy (VMX Architects), Leo Versteijlen (SITE urban development), Carolien Ligtenberg (ZWIRT), Indira van ‘t Klooster (projectleider Architectuur Lokaal), Ana Martínez (IAAC), Rodrigo Rubio (IAAC).

Jaula de los Elefantes is a four-day workshop on how to learn from both Spanish and Duch strategies. 8 Spanish and 8 Dutch architects and devellopers will participate.The workshop takes place from 15th till 18th of November in Can Valldaura.

Valldaura Labs is a project promoted by IaaC (Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia) for the creation of a self-sufficient habitat research centre. Located in the Collserola Natural Park, in the heart of the metropolitan area of Barcelona, it has laboratories for the production of energy, food and things, and develops projects and academic programmes in association with leading research centres around the world. Valldaura Labs is an opportunity to learn directly from nature in order to bring that understanding to the regeneration of 21st-century cities.

Subscription is open from 22 of October till 8 of November. There is only room for 8 participants. For subscription please contact Silvia Brandi at [email protected] or 93 320 95 20.
For more information contact Indira van t Klooster at: [email protected]
Full program on request

Costs 180,- euro (stay and meals included)

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