COMPETITION

BLUR BUILDING
Yverdon-les-Bains, 1999

Jurors' Description of the Project

World's Fair pavilions exist to showcase innovation. At the service of corporate, institutional or governmental entities, they typically foreground technological advancements or philanthropic largess. In the best of cases, they address both. Blur had neither and was the result of nothing: no program, no functional requirements, no size definition, no site mandates, no occupancy targets or public flow rates. The program was a series of words and phrases based in the counter culture of the 70s: love, me and the universe, altered states etc.

Similarly, our response was intent on delivering nothing. We gave the site back to itself disguised as architecture. In the 'cafe', visitors could drink the building (and thus the site) in the form of packaged water.  Instead of a media rich, high definition visual environment, upon entering blur, one can see nothing and hear nothing. The sound of the building being perpetually remade through 30,000 high-pressure fog nozzles was dominant. Vision was foregrounded as the paramount sense through its repression.

It is too soon to know whether Blur was a barometer of early 21st Century sentiment or a neutral response to the conditions of the site.  The lack of program allowed us to make our own which had nothing to do with a World's Fair and everything to do with our own practice. It allowed Diller and Scofidio to bridge the worlds of high art, installation art, and architecture, continue to research threads significant to the practice at the same time it presaged the change of the firm name from D+S to DS+R.
by Charles Renfro

Image Courtesy of DS+R

Image Courtesy of DS+R

Brief

Pipilotti Rist's , Artistic Director of Expo.01, Matrix of Associations / Expo brief 

Preamble: Association Expo 2001 has been charged by the Confederation with the task of organizing a national exhibition, Expo.01, intended not only as a laboratory for ideas but also a great festival of the imagination and emotion. It is scheduled to take place from 3 May to 29 October 2001 and will be held in western Switzerland at sites in four towns and three lakes. Five cantons are taking part: Bern, Fribourg, Jura, Neuchatel, and Vaud. Expo.01 will be sited on four arteplages (art beaches) located in Bienne, Morat, Neuchatel, and Yverdon-les-Bains. In addition, there will be a floating arteplage for the canton of Jura that roams from lake to lake. The four lakeshore arteplages will consist of an Expopark onshore and a forum on the lake.

A concept bursting with ideas: Expo.01 takes a searching look into the future. What lies ahead for our society, state, and economy in the new millennium? What changes will affect our lives and our environment? These questions will be explored by focusing on a number of juxtapositions: ''Power and Freedom'' at Biel-Bienne, ''Moment and Eternity'' at Murten-Morat, ''Nature and Artificiality'' at Neuchatel, '' I and Universe'' at Yverdon-les-Bains, and ''Meaning and Movement'' at the mobile arteplage of Jura. Within these overall juxtapositions, each arteplage offers matters of concern to our society for years to come.

The infrastructure: Built with the future in mind, Expo.01 aims to leave lasting cultural, social, and economic marks. It whishes to take into account the need for discussion about new ethical and moral standards, a new collective code of conduct, and innovative approaches to spiritual experience. The exhibition brings the visitor into a universe of five worlds, linked by common themes, juxtapositions, associations and questions. Each arteplage constitutes a world in itself, distinct from the others in form and content, character, mood, and color, a sense reinforced by sounds specific to each forum. One common thread is a strong attachment to the water. The corso, a theme trail leading from the railway stations and parking areas to the arteplages, serves to get visitors attuned to the spirit of Expo.01. Awaiting them on arrival are events, an extraordinary selection of foods, and the welcoming embrace of modular hotels. At the heart of each arteplage is the forum, a structure harmoniously blending high-tech design and environmental awareness. This is the focus for experiences far transcending the humdrum routines of everyday life. Here, the topics and themes invite visitors to dream and marvel, and to discuss and experiment. Visitors are transported from one arteplage to another by a fleet of IRIS catamarans.

A festival of the imagination: The project is a collective sculpture that seeks to excite the imagination and generate new ideas. It is intended not only to foreground progress but also to ask questions about quality, consequences, and the meaning of progress.  To this end, it invents stories and explores the realm lying between the normal and the possible with childlike abandon. Expo.01 encourages flights of fancy, multicultural encounters, and experiences of the senses; it displays bold discoveries, amazing interrelationships, and innovative products; it is punctuated by festivals and events. Expo is a platform for new ideas and new technologies that will live on: products will be developed for Expo, launched at Expo, and then go on to conquer world markets. Sharing in the creation of Expo.01 are thinkers from Switzerland and abroad.

Image Courtesy of DS+R

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JUROR

CHARLES RENFRO & RIC SCOFIDIO

Diller Scofidio + Renfro is an interdisciplinary design studio that integrates architecture, the visual arts, and the performing arts. Based in New York City, Diller Scofidio + Renfro is led by three partners who work collaboratively with a staff of 100 architects, artists and administrators.

Ricardo Scofidio, RA, a founding member of Diller Scofidio + Renfro, attended The Cooper Union School of Architecture and received a Bachelor of Architecture from Columbia University. Mr. Scofidio is Professor Emeritus of Architecture at Cooper Union.

Charles Renfro, RA, joined the studio in 1997 and became partner in 2004. He attended Rice University and received a Master of Architecture degree from Columbia University. Mr. Renfro has served as visiting professor at Rice and Columbia University.