A Playground for Non-Humans - Exhibition Guide

A

PLAYGROUND

FOR

NON-HUMANS

A Playground for Non-Humans

Monday 2 November – Sunday 8 November, 10–6pm daily

An exhibition in partnership with Japan House London

Contents About the Exhibition p.1

Japan House Exhibits p.5

Architecture for Non-Humans Exhibits

Visitor Guidelines p.22

Sponsors and Thanks p.24

p.15

About the Exhibition

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A Playground for Non-Humans An exhibition in partnership with Japan House London

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A Playground for Non-Humans is an outdoor exhibition with objects that confront participants to consider nonhuman inhabitation in all its various and diverse forms across the urban environment. The work shown is a combination of two initiatives. The first is Architecture for Dogs, an interactive event of architectural pieces designed for dogs currently on display at Japan House London, that will travel across some of the city’s most popular dog-walking sites and public spaces including the AA’s London premises, Bedford Square. The second is Architecture for Non-Humans, a competition and open call to the wider architectural community, launched by the Architectural Association (AA), from which the winning entry and runners-up have been fabricated and are on display.

The objects imagined by the AA community sit alongside the pieces designed by international architects and designers forming A Playground for Non-Humans at the corner of Bedford Square, London. The exhibit invites dogs and other creatures to interact with the installation in playful and unexpected ways, thus inspiring visions that instigate a discussion about alternative models of urban living that embrace all species living in the city.

In parallel to the exhibition, a round-table discussion and programme of events and workshops will run in collaboration with AALAWuN.

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For those not in London, or unable to visit the exhibition, a live stream is available to attend virtually for exploring the exhibits and observing the animals using them.

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Japan House Exhibits

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BEAGLE HOUSE INTERACTIVE DOG HOUSE

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Photo: Yoda Hiroshi

by MVRDV for Beagle

Today, with a large portion of dogs living indoors, their lives are interwoven with the lifestyles of the families that care for them. As people and dogs live simultaneously under one human-designed roof, there is no such thing as an architecture for dogs. Challenged to design architecture for these domesticated pets, our approach is quite literal, aiming to provide an update to the classical dog house design. Even Snoopy, the world’s most famous Beagle, lived in a similar home. Minimal transformation of this archetypal shape leads to an elegant and playful object that is both a hideaway and interactive toy for the beagle, intelligent and good-natured in personality, to play with. The curved shape results in a subtle rocking motion each time the dog enters or exits the house and the attached rope allows the structure to be easily moved by both dog and human.

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MVRDV was established in Rotterdam in 1993 by architects Winy Maas, Jacob van Rijs and Nathalie de Vries. In close collaboration, the three principal directors produce designs and studies in the fields of architecture, urbanism and landscape design.

ARCHITECTURE FOR LONG-BODIED SHORTLEGGED DOG

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Photo: Yoda Hiroshi

by Atelier Bow-Wow for Dachshund Smooth

Vertically challenged by short legs, it is difficult for dachshunds to see eye-to-eye with their master, whilst making the act of sitting on chairs an impossible task. To augment this canine limitation, we first considered stairs as a solution. However, after thoughtful consideration we were concerned that the act of climbing human size risers would prove a challenge to the dachshund’s longbodied physique, resulting in trips to the vet for spinal injuries. Eventually, we settled on a folded slope, shallow enough for a dachshund to easily climb and long enough for a person to lie down on; who doesn’t want to sunbathe with their beloved pet? The areas under the slope provide protection from the sun on those days when the panting is overwhelming. With other dachshund owners you can connect multiple units together, and as they stack vertically inside a space the short-legged pup can reach the second floor.

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Atelier Bow-Wow is a Tokyo-based firm founded by Yoshiharu Tsukamoto and Momoyo Kaijima in 1992. The practice has designed and built houses as well as public and commercial buildings in Tokyo, Europe and the US.

MOUNT PUG

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Photo: Yoda Hiroshi

by Kengo Kuma for Pug

Mount Pug is a mesh-shaped ‘mountain’ assembled of long, thin 600mm plywood pieces that act as ‘branches’.

The unevenness of each branch allows for a combination of hexagonal and triangle forms that provides a support system similar to cells of living creatures. This configuration provides enough structural strength allowing for the assembly to be done without nails or bonding agents. Pug is clever and mischievous, creating a mesh from which toys and snacks can hang from, and acts as a nest and play space for the pug.

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Kengo Kuma is the founder of Kengo Kuma and Associates, which has completed major projects such as Stage in Forest and Nakagawa-machi Batō Hiroshige Museum of Art as well as a number of ongoing projects including the Victoria & Albert Museum in Dundee, Scotland.

D-TUNNEL

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Photo: Yoda Hiroshi

by Kenya Hara for Teacup Poodle

As the Teacup Poodle runs up the stairs of D-Tunnel, and sits atop the structure, they come face-to-face with a person. The project aims to be a ‘scale-modifier’, creating an equilibrium between the scale of a dog with that of a human. The world dogs inhabit consists of steps, chairs, tables and doorways as well as homes and cities that are designed with the human scale in mind, and therefore, it is the non-human that must adapt to these spaces.

D-Tunnel is an architectural apparatus that challenges this world and elevates the dog, both physically and socially, to the level of human, allowing them to see eyeto-eye. As for those super small dogs such as the Teacup Poodle, who spend a lifetime looking up, do your neck some good and try D-Tunnel!

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Kenya Hara is currently the art director at MUJI and designed the opening and closing ceremonies at the Nagano Winter Olympics in 1998. He has curated exhibitions such as Re-design, Tokyo Fiber – Senseware and Japan Car and has published books including Designing Design and White.

Architecture for Non-Humans Exhibits

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Climb the Note Matis Barollier, Camille Bongard, César Jucker (Winning Entry) Climb the Note is a innovative journey experienced by squirrels who meander in front of the AA’s main gathering spaces. Our project allows the squirrels of Bedford Square to take part in the creative process of the school through music. Made of wood and semi-transparent materials, their movement becomes not only a concert but also a show of shadows. With the students currently unable to occupy the buildings, the animals are the only species in the area bringing life back to the school.

Bedford Square is a perfect entry point for the furry animals, and as they slide through wooden chimes music notes are generated, creating a different composition at each passage. At the end of the tunnel is the ultimate reward for the squirrels – a nut.

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COMPETITION PANEL Chair – Shin Egashira Judges – Henry Cleaver, Belinda Flaherty, Liam Green, Angel Lara Moreira, Manijeh Verghese.

Finalist(s) Selection –Toyo Ito

Runner-Up

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Worm-scape Alix Biehler, Zineb Lemseffer

Worm-scape aims to reveal life below the pavement. Today, a majority of our urban condition is covered by the pavement, which prohibits us from engaging with, caring for and maintaining micro-organisms that are fundamental to biodegradation. In fact, architects have been mostly oblivious to this subterranean level below the built environment as depicted in the meaningless hatches apparent in many a sectional drawing. In response to this neglect the project exposes the landscape below, for the worm and their co-inhabitants. The ambiguous topography displays different aspects of microbial life; their growth, their senses, their movements. Through textures and material treatment, the proposal blends with the existing ground, as if a crack has occurred in the pavement, bringing to the surface the life that lies below and inviting the passer-by to engage with the micro-scale.

Runner-Up

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The Playground in the Sewer Daniel Vladimir John Hambly

The volume and diversity of non-human life living in human waste is surprising and disturbing, from ferrets and eels to what we prefer to ignore. However, perhaps rodents are a perfectly valid form of non-human inhabitation; after all, vermin have evolved and changed their behaviours to suit city life. Their success is more of a reflection on our inability to deal with our own waste. The installation hacks into the manhole on the corner of Bedford Square for the insertion of an instrument that detects activity below. The structure consists of a CNC timber frame that slots together and supports a pulley system. Attached is a counterweight and bell, the movement of which indicates the presence of a creature concealed under the manhole. Our associations with the sometimes unsavoury life below is what the contraption forces us to confront, thus making us aware and perhaps uncomfortable.

The six shortlisted submissions are: Climb the Note Matis Barollier, Camille Bongard, César Jucker Winning Entry Worm-scape Alix Biehler, Zineb Lemseffer Runner-up The Playground in the Sewer Daniel Vladimir John Hambly Runner-up Pe(t)riscope Muhammad Iqbal Tawakal Runner-up Parrot City Hantao Li, Zhifei Liang Eel Murmur Mia Aleksic, Nicholas Lin, Elina Zampetakis

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Visitor Guidelines

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For those visiting the exhibition in Bedford Square it is important to follow certain guidelines to ensure safety for all participants, human and non-human alike. Dogs and other animals are welcome to interact with the exhibits.

The guidelines are as follows: • Please follow government guidance on social distancing by remaining two metres away from other guests • Please do not visit the exhibition if you have had Covid-19 symptoms during the last 14 days.

• All visitors must wear a face covering (unless you are exempt) • Only one dog /non-human at a time can interact with each individual display. Other visitors will be asked to wait in the socially distanced queuing area.

• All pets must remain on a lead and be kept under control at all times • Visitors are responsible for clearing up after their animals

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Sponsors and Thanks This exhibition has been produced in partnership with Japan House London as part of their Architecture for Dogs roadshow.

The exhibition in Bedford Square and the competition has been made possible thanks to the generous support of Maeda Corporation, Japan.

With thanks to: AA Audio-Visual AA Digital Prototyping Lab AA Duty Managers AA Facilities AA Hooke Park AA Print Studio AA Workshop Bedford Estates Camden Events Team (www.lovecamden.org) Counterculture LLP And all those who participated in the design competition

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Designed and edited by the AA Communications Studio

Friday 11th – Friday 18th June

10am–6pm, Daily