Folie n°36 is a research-action to enhance the rich territory of La Villette and transform it into a unique place of fertile and sustainable manufacturing. Folie n°36 maps the park’s ecosystem: its plant and animal species, materials, technologies from its fablabs, educational gardens, restaurants, beehives and livestock, etc. It is the starting point for the future development of local manufacturing units based on plant and animal materials also produced locally. On the 7 of April, during the Action, Andrea and Eugenia will present the research La Folie n°36 to a series of actors active inside the Parc of La Villette. The objective of the meeting will be to critically discuss the findings of the research, and the initial productive scenarios presented in La Folie n°36. It will be a moment of confrontation which should allow the participants to discuss how the hypothetical scenarios could be relevant for La Villette and how they could be implemented with a long term vision. During the Action, the public will be able to discover the potential offered by the diversity of the existing infrastructures and to think about a future development of more sustainable production in situ by setting up experiments of different kinds. This cultural and educational research will be presented by the two designers through a video projection that will illustrate its different stages as well as the proposal of some objects that could be produced thanks to the mapped elements.
Superlocal
Syntropic Production At La Villette (PARIS, FR)
In the context of the exhibition “Infinite Creativity for a Finite World” we are happy to present the first collaboration between Superlocal 0 Miles production, a project by Andrea de Chirico, and Syntropic Materials, a project by Eugenia Morpurgo. Superlocal offers a methodology for engaging with the production potential of a specific context, from mapping to prototyping, making visible existing networks and activating new ones. Syntropic Materials with its database offers a wide overview of geolocalised plants and the materials they can be transformed into with the goal of expanding the biodiversity of resources which are commonly used in production processes. For “Infinite Creativity for a Finite World” the centre of analysis has been the Parc de la Villette. During the show the designers will present a preliminary research done online, in contact with local potential partners, which allowed them to map the locally sourceable plant and animal based materials and productive infrastructure present in the area of La Villette, and draft potential local production scenarios with locally sourceable materials. When in 1982 Bernard Tschumi won the competition for Parc de la Villette his vision was to create “a term in constant production whose meaning is never fixed and is rendered irresolute by the multiplicity of meanings it inscribes”. Every architectonic space had to be seen as an autonomous space not characterised by any function, on the contrary, open to any possible use. The gardens, unlike in traditional landscape design, were thought as spaces where “cultural invention rather than natural re-creation was encouraged”, making La Villette a space in constant production and continuous change. Forty years later La Villette is home to a rich variety of activities and institutions, reflecting the complexity of the contemporary cultural, natural and technical sphere. From Fablabs to educational gardens, from shopping malls and restaurants to bee houses and sheeps. Such a rich diversity of purposes in an urban context, already devoted to experimentation, create the perfect fertile ground to suggest further experimentations in the field of urban manufacturing responding to the new necessities dictated by the current environmental crisis. Moreover, thanks to its cultural and educational characterisation local findings have the ability of gaining easily global relevance. Therefore with the project la Folie n°36 they fully embrace the vision of the design of La Villette, using the tool of superimposition to create further connections and meanings between the technical and the natural sphere of La Villette.
Folie n°36 presents an analytical analysis of:
• The species growing in the different Jardin of La Villette associated with the potential materials they can be transformed into. Resulting in a list of 16 plants and 1 animal, and 14 materials typologies.
• All the tools, machinery and technologies available in the 3 Fablabs present in La Villette area. Out of this analysis few production scenarios which combine species, materials and technologies are suggested.
These suggestions are also influenced by a reflection on the current activities which characterises the rich and diverse program of La Villette.
The designers see this as a first step which could potentially lead to a long term project where the scenarios which are now only hypothetical would be implemented.
Contextual research during a pandemic
Superlocal projects always start with a contextual 2 phase research of a location: first one from the distance, while the second one is “in loco”. This project happened during a pandemic so the goal was to create the conditions for a future contextual research, with a post-pandemic perspective. The designers are well aware of the fact that they are dealing with a complex system including a vast number of elements, human and non-human, each one playing a role and contributing to the La Villette community which are graspable only with research in loco.
