ED and ACT - DIT EDucational and ACTivity space for everybody

For the About us! Festival in Zürich in 2019, we were able to build the ED and ACT pavilion! In collaboration with the Expo Transkultur and the Zuhören Schweiz, we developed a project "Together like bees". For this project, our hexagonal pavilion was a perfect match. So in a 2 weeks long workshop period, we built the wooden pavilion together with ca. 60-70 volunteers. We had some days with only 1-2 people on the construction site and some days we were many! : D For the pavilion finishing ceremony we were around 30 people : D
The walls and roof was another few days project.

In 2017, we managed to build the first prototype of our pavilion! Yuppieee!
Thanks Hello Wood team and amazing project team! In collaboration with Nicolas Ziesel from Architectes!

It is not necessary to make CAD drawings, but they can help to check details and to communicate the project in a more understandable way...

CAD drawings or hand drawings?! The goal is to make it real! For the Hello Wood Festival, we really had to check all the details before the building process! We too a pencil and made drawings! We checked all the building process steps, details and materials... We made lists, numbers, ...
And after all of the designing and planning we went to Csórompuszta to build the pavilion!

We kept applying for funds and festivals to build the first prototype of the ED and ACT! In 2017, we teamed up with the French office KOZ Architectes to build the prototype during the Hello Wood festival in Hungary! In collaboration with the amazing HW team, 8 students and Nicolas Ziesel (KOZ Architectes), we built the pavilion! Further details were developed, the flexibility of the space and structure was tested and we learned a lot again!

In 2016, we teamed up with the Swiss Adunic and the Swedish Elding Oscarson to apply for the "Opportunity Space" competition in Malmö, Sweden. Even though we didn't win, we learned a lot and developed our pavilion to the next level!
Check the winner project and the results of the Festival here: https://www.vanalen.org/projects/opportunity-space-festival/

Designing the ED and ACT - DIY EDucational and ACTivity space for everybody with the students of the Universiteti Polis during the TAW (Tirana Architecture Weeks) back in 2016 was not only fun! We had a super deep point during the design process! That was the moment when our "From the culture of waiting to the culture of care" motto and poster born! Never give up and learn from the difficulties and mistakes!

Thanks to our fellowship at the Architecture Platform in 2016, we were able to design the ED & ACT pavilion together with the students of the Polis University in Tirana, Albania! It was a very intense week, but at the end we managed to develop an amazing architectural design. We talked a lot about the programs the pavilion will host, the modularity, materials, ...! During the 1 week, the team had ups and downs, but at the end, there were super many happy faces! : D

In 2016, the municipality of Calais decided to demolish the informal camp of "the Jungle". Since they haven't offered any plan B for the "residents", we decided to write an open letter the save the camp as long as the municipality and government could offer a better option...

Open Letter from Architecture for Refugees: Save The Jungle Refugee Camp! - Architecture for refugees Authors: Nasr Chamma and Bence Komlosi “They left their country for a few weeks, months or years, driven …

Back in 2016, we wrote two articles to discuss the situation in "the Jungle" of Calais! The first one we wrote for the exhibition "Insecurities" of the MoMA The Museum of Modern Art .

Improving Refugee Settlements: Collaboration between Refugees, Architects, and Volunteers by Architecture for Refugees: Dennise Castillo, Nasr Chamma, and Bence Komlósi