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Francesco Cingolani | eu collaborators

Category: ⚐ EN+colaboradores+ecosistema urbano

Today we introduce Francesco Cingolani, one of our closest collaborators in the past couple of years. In the following post he explains some of his projects and interests, and his experience in Ecosistema Urbano.

Francesco Cingolani

Photo above by urban sociologist Andres Walliser, good friend and collaborator.

I have studied architecture and engineering and I’ve always been interested in the relationship between creativity and new technologies, more than in building. For the last 3 years I’ve been payed to work as an architect, professional blogger and creative project manager. Since 2012 I’ve been teaching parametric design in Paris at “École d’architecture de la ville et des territoires” in Marne-la-Vallée.

I recently started my first projects as entrepreneur: one is a creative cohousing in Madrid and the other is about going into Parisian apartments and create handmade Italian pasta; the project is called farine00 and I’m in this with Valentina, in the photo below. At the moment, people are just crazy about those projects but we still don’t get any income from them. Old story.

Farine00

Photo above by flo – flickr.com

I am 34, Italian and I have been living in Paris for 9 years. 3 years ago I quit my job at Hugh Dutton Associates to move to Madrid and work with Ecosistema Urbano, Basurama, Meipi and other amazing people from Spain.

In Ecosistema Urbano, I was in charge of the DIGITAL COORDINATION of dreamhamar, a network design and participation process in Norway. It was the most interesting project I participated since I am working. It was also the most stressful one. Old story.

Thanks to dreamhamar I’ve learnt more about complex systems and emergency phenomena.

I think that the most interesting shift in recent design experience is that we have passed from designing object to designing networks and processes. That’s why for dreamhamar we’ve developed a network design methodology. As a project manager, I also applied minimalism as a management tool for highly complex processes which often tend to information overload.

At Ecosistema Urbano I also was in charge of the development of Urban Social Design Experience, a network learning experience focused on participatory processes and sustainability.

Before that, I took part in some more architectural projects. I especially like this one with Ecosistema Urbano and Koz and the new Louvre in Paris with Hugh Dutton Associates, that is opening in September (photo below).

Département des Arts de l’Islam, musée du Louvre, Paris

Département des Arts de l’Islam, musée du Louvre, Paris
Client: Etablissement Public du Musée du Louvre
Architects: Rudy Ricciotti et Mario Bellini
Muséography: Renaud Piérard and Mario Bellini
Facade and Structure Consultants: HDA | Hugh Dutton Associés
Photo: “La couverture de la cour Visconti, département des Arts de l’Islam, musée du Louvre”
© R. Ricciotti – M. Bellini / Musée du Louvre
© photo 2011 Musée du Louvre / Olivier Ouadah

Since january 2012, I am trying to work no more than 3 hours per day and check my email box only 3 times a week. The italian newspaper “Il Corriere della Sera” featured my story as an example of downshifting in its magazine “Sette”.

I am a walker, and last year I realised intraverso, a slowlife and storytelling project in collaboration with the Italian magazine whymarche. The project included a slow, walking trip through Italian countryside and a digital journal.

Since 4 months ago I am moving through Europe and working remotely without a unique location, even if I consider Paris as my principal home. I don’t have a clear idea of what I am doing in the next future. Looking for new stories.

When writing for the Internet like this, I like sharing details of my physical location:

Montecanepino, (Italy), 11.47 AM August 8th 2012.

Here is a photo of my window right now.

Montecanepino, (Italy), 11.47 AM August 8th 2012.

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Shanghai Air Tree | Le premier projet d’architecture Creative Commons

Category: ⚐ FR+air tree commons+parametric

Nous reproduisons par la suite un article du blog français complexitys qui présente notre projet Air Tree Commons:

Nous avons le plaisir d’annoncer la publication du premier projet d’architecture entièrement Creative Commons par l’agence espagnole Ecosistema Urbano: il s’agit de l’Air Tree (Arbre d’Air) dessiné pour le pavillon de la ville de Madrid à l’Expo Shanghai 2010.

Cela signifie que désormais n’importe quel architecte, agence d’architecture, mairie ou institution, pourra librement télécharger tout les dessins d’exécutions de l’Arbre d’Air et ensuite modifier le projet, le construire et, bien sur, le revendre.
continue reading

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Guggenheim side effects and the Architects’ originality obsession

Category: ⚐ EN+architecture+open culture

In a recent coffee-break in Ecosistema Urbano we have been discussing the project for City of Culture of Galicia by Eisenman Architects and one of us used the expression “Bilbao effect”. Inevitably, this reminded me of a post I had written some time ago for the blog complexitys (HDA | Hugh Dutton Associés) and I would like to share my ideas with our readers:

A recent article on ArchDaily talked about our ‘in progress’ footbridge at La Roche sur Yon.
We’re pleased to be a subject of interest for a such an important architecture website, and what we appreciate even more is the public feedback and the list of comments left, which have inspired some interesting reflections about our work here at HDA.
I would particularly like to share some thoughts on the idea (or even obsession) of “being original” in architecture, the meaning of copying someone or something, and what this could imply nowadays, in a time when everybody is talking about copyright and how it’s changing with new communication technologies. continue reading

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#followarch HDA | Hugh Dutton Associés

Category: #follow+#followarch+architecture

Twitter’s users have got into the habit of selecting and suggesting someone interesting to follow. This action has become a weekly international event and it is called #followfriday.

As you probably already know, [Ecosistema Urbano] has been inspired by the Twitter #followfriday to create a new section known as #followarch focused on recommending interesting and innovative architecture offices.

Today we are glad to present the work of the French firm based in Paris HDA | Hugh Dutton Associés that we have been recently following trough their blog and through their twitter @HDA_Paris.

We especially appreciate their approach that focus on an intelligent and poetic combination of architecture and engineering.

In the last months, due to a big “network effect”, some of their projects have been widely published, as well as their recently inaugurated footbridge design in La Roche-sur-Yon, France in collaboration with Bernard Tschumi.

photo by © Christian Richters/VIEW continue reading

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Identidad (reputación) digital y comunicación estratégica

Category: ⚐ ES+ecosistema urbano+internet

En Ecosistema Urbano llevamos algunos años experimentando de manera cotidiana  procesos de innovación y estrategias de comunicación basados en el uso de nuevas tecnologías.

Hablando con muchos compañeros de trabajo me doy cuenta que esta labor de experimentación sigue siendo algo poco común en los estudios de arquitectura. Todavía hay mucha gente (y muchas oficinas) que ni siquiera sabe que es la web2.0, no conoce google docsflickrtwitter: en muchos casos el uso de Internet se limita a google para las búsquedas, youtube para los vídeos y facebook para comunicarse con los amigos. continue reading