Connected has been primarily a research project of international collaboration between Zeppelin (RO), Archis (NL), Nordic Urban Design Association NUDA (NO), Fargfabriken (SE) and Eurodite (RO). The events within the project offered the opportunity for the inhabitants of Bucharest, Amsterdam, Stockholm and Bergen to experience cooperation and interaction in real time, regardless of distance.
Between 2013 and 2015 there have been four exhibitions launched simultaneously, lectures, a symposium, an online platform (citiesandpeople.eu), a booklet containing all the initiatives included in the project and a series of articles. Connected explored the idea of cities that, beyond being some technically advanced apparatus, are habitats for humans, who participate actively in the creation of urban content.
The project has managed to convey the stories of a new intelligent and creative society, from four different cities, overlapping experiences and defining common features. In Amsterdam, a community built a floating neighbourhood that regenerates a piece of abandoned polluted city. “Stockholm on the move” was, within the project, an example of democratic planning that has proven to be profitable. Bergen has offered stories about edible cities and parks for over 60 different communities. In Romania, the organizations involved innovated with cutting edge technology, created public spaces, educated future citizens, rescued heritage, built art, community and international networks.
Bringing together all these initiatives, Connected created a shared understanding of the operating and mutation mechanisms transforming the cities and their inhabitants. We are talking of smart communities, where technologies are used creatively and where bottom-up initiatives can generate large-scale effects.
The idea of interconnectivity and collaboration was represented in the Connected exhibition, held simultaneously in all four cities. Two installations, Robotic Pixels and Butterfly Effect, interpreted poetically the communities’ relationship with technology and mediated contact and communication between people who are thousands of kilometres away. In fact, the distance melted away and the effect of the action of a participant in one city could be instantly visible, concrete and tangible in all the other three cities.
Connected managed to give a transnational image of the common direction towards which cities and communities are heading, creating a consistent collage of local initiatives, encouraging them towards dialogue, thus fulfilling its promise: it connected.
Zeppelin team:
Curators: Cosmina Goagea, Constantin Goagea and Stefan Ghenciulescu
Assistant curator: Cosmin Caciuc
Graphic design: Radu Manelici
Production: Raluca Marțiș, Camelia Caciuc, Adrian Hariga, Gabriel Morariu, Mugur Grosu (Zeppelin), Andreea Vrabie (Ideaslab), Cristian Dorobănțescu
Exhibition production: Group Project Q, and Green Advertising and Production
Collaborators: Adelina Elena Albu, Diana Bejan, Sonia Lascu, Anastasia David, Diana Bădoiu, Horia Vîlceanu, Cornelia Turiac, Robert Jugănaru, Ștefan Păvăluță, Mihai Barbu, Ilie Vasile, Adrian Dobre
Archis team:
Curators: Arjen Oosterman and Lilet Breddels
Project manager: Martynas Mankus
Assistent project manager: Ion Alexandru Retegan
Video: Simone Eleveld (Tolhuistuin and Buiksloterham)
Nordic Urban Design Association (NUDA) team:
Project manager: Håkon Iversen
Proiect supervisors: Aslaug Tveit, Marion Højnes
Preliminary project assistants: Elin Syrdahl, Ralf Furulund, Aga Skorupka, Domantas Stukas, Gunnar Ridderstrøm, Moa Sundberg
Graphic design: Steve Andre Skog
Moderator: Tom Morgan
Fargfabriken team:
Project manager: Joachim Granit
Coordinator: Karin Englund
Video: Joachim Granit, Elias Lindén, Tina Johansson
Based on the project „Stockholm on the Move”
Eurodite team:
Meta van Drunen, Joep de Roo, Livia Morega
The Butterfly Effect installation:
Ioana Calen, Paul Popescu, Matei Popescu (Modulab)
Robotic Pixels installation:
Ionuț Anton, Dana Tănase (IDZ)
Investments:
Sponsors: Reynaers, Rockwool, Velux, Menatwork, BMW, ABB
Parteners: Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, The Royal Norwegian Embassy, Business Sweden, MNAC, Modulab, IDZ, Ideas Lab, BCR
Media partners: Zeppelin, Radio France Internationale, Radio România Cultural, Radio România Muzical, Observator Cultural, Arhitext, Designist, Igloo, The Institute, Tataia, Volume, Oris, Șapte Seri, Ring, Business Review, IQ Ads, Modernism, Moodboards, Cărturești
Project co-funded by the EU Culture 2007-2013
Cultural and editorial project supported by the National Cultural Fund Administration
Cultural project supported by the Order of Architects in Romania, from architecture tax
Cultural project funded by the Ministry of Culture
Supported by: Sentrum Bergen, Bergen Community, The Curiosity Bureau
