Liminality / SACES November Workshop 2017

2017 NOVEMBER WORKSHOP Digital Documentation

WHO ARE SACES? The Society of Architecture and Civil Engineering Students (SACES) is a non-profit organization situated at and recognized by the University of Malta. Our job is to represent all students of the Faculty for the Built Environment.

The society was set up 41 years ago by a group of architecture students at the time, with the aim of defending students’ rights. Since then, SACES remit has developed and expanded to cover a good number of activities, which help foster a great sense of community between the students at the faculty and give them more opportunitesfor hands-on experience, which is otherwise unattainable within the lecture hall. The activities include a number of woskhops, exhibitions, debates, seminars and even site visits.

Such effort and enthusiasm over four decades has built SACES into one of the most respected student organizations on campus.

THE SACES TEAM Thomas Mifsud - President Mattea Ciantar - Treasurer Susannah Farrugia - Vice President Gregory Buttigieg - Events Coordinator Alannah Xuereb - Events Coordinator Sara Dimech - Events Coordinator Edward John Zammit - Public Relations Offcer Samuel Ciantar - Public Relations Officer Sephora Schembri - Social Policy Officer

LIMINALITY concept introduction

Liminality (noun /ˈlɪmɪn(ə)l) - a transitory, in-between state or space, a threshold, which is characterized by indeterminacy, ambiguity, hybridity, potential for subversion and change.

This year’s workshop focused on the concept of liminality. This liminal, “third space” of cultural enunciation constitutes inherently uncanny “alien territory”, which not only becomes productive of new meanings, social relations and identities, but also disrupts and subverts established entities.

In Manuel Aguirre’s understanding, the effects of terror in the Gothic novel are due to the diegetic (textual) constitution of a threshold between a “domain of rationality […] and the world of the Other, the Numinous”. This threshold, or limen, expands and becomes an unhomely space of its own in which protagonists are caught up and subsequently attempt to escape.

“First, the threshold is characterized by a potential for disorder; second by asymmetry; third by instability.” (Aguirre 31)

Event in Collaboration with

PLANNING AUTHORIT Y The event could not have taken place without the support of our main sponsors. The collaboration reflects the authorities’ belief in assisting students to maximise their full potential not only academically but also through events such as this.

SACES would like to thank the Planning Authority for their continous support throughout the years.

LIMINALITY & the 2017 Workshop This years’ workshop concept dealt with experimentation with “interim spaces”. The idea is to explore the potential within the spaces, mental states and philosophies that bridge between different well-defined states of the same notions.

This idea of a “Transitionary State” was explored both metaphysically and spatially in both cases, the ambiguity and hybridty of the state/space lead to very interesting thought experiments and artistic representations.

“This interstitial passage between fixed identifications opens up the possibility of a cultural hybridity that entertains difference without an assumed or imposed hierarchy” The installations aimed at realising the concept of a boundary: the “space in-between space”. Whereas every room tends to have an atmosphere of its own: corridors, stairwells, and passageways tend to be seen as unstable “thresholds” in which identity is a hybrid of all that lead to them. Redefining the idea of a “path” meant examining the ritual of travelling through these undefined territories and understanding the transition in space and psyche.

LIMINALITY outcomes

We believe that the examination of the characteristics of the “in-between� spaces could be highly beneficial to anyone who studies within the field of design. In practical terms, understanding the role of spatial bridges will lead to a holistic, interlinked design mindset.

The concept could be applied to anything from Spatial Planning to large-scale urban design. Giving importance to the transitory parts of architecture leads to more efficient interaction between the functionality and spirit of different spaces. To a certain extent, upon close examination of transitionary states, the design of various separate spaces could be thought of as interstitial and intracommunicative.

Besides introducing the aforementioned concept, the workshop also provided students with an opportunity to work hands-on on projects which strengthened their knowledge on materials, tools (both digital and physical) and creative representation.

Workshop Groups The workshop was divided into 9 Groups - each comprising of 12-15 members.

The groups were each led by two group leaders and 2 architect tutors. Each group explored and developed the concept in their own way and the final result was 9 different interpretations of liminality:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

No Matter What (Stephan Borg and Debbie Cassar) Storungz Frequenz (Martin Grech and Adam Micallef) Somnia (Julia Attard and Elena Gauci) Option. N/A. (David Mifsud and Stefan Borg) Backlash (Joseph Farrugia and James Cutajar) Purgatorju (Kristina Critien and Andrew Vella Zarb) Public Space in the age of Uncertainty (Mike Zerafa and Andrew Borg Wirth) Synthesis (Emma Attard Navarro and Elena Pace)

“Storungs Frequenz” - Martin Grech, Adam Micallef

“Synthesis” - Emma Attard Navarro, Elena Pace

“No Matter What” - Stephan Borg, Debbie Cassar

“Synthesis” - Emma Attard Navarro, Elena Pace

“Backlash” - James Cutajar, Joseph Farrugia

“Option N/A” - David Mifsud, Stefan Borg

Lunch Break - The workshop provided each participant with three meals a day.

Final Presentations.

Final Presentations.

Use of recycled fishing nets for the installation projects

Waste Reduction Campaign A more sustainable workshop

For this years’ november workshop, SACES teamed up with Zibel, Greenskips, Wasteserv Malta and Malta Surplus and Adventure Store to reduce, reuse and recylce waste and materials. This campaign was realized in several ways: • Waste Separation bins sponsored by Greenskips Malta • Discounts on mess tins and camping utensils from Malta surplus and adventure store, in order to reduce waste generated from disposable plates and cutlery.

• Use of recycled materials for the workshops, sourced with the help of Andrew Schembri from the maltese project “Zibel” and Wasteserv.

We are proud to say that through these efforts, we managed to significantly reduce the use of new materials and only produced 10 garbage bags of waste, compared to 23 garbage bags last year. Moreover, recyclable waste was separated in separation wheelie bins and organic waste was collected to convert into compost.

Discount on Camping Utensils to reduce waste.

Use of recycled wood pallets to reduce timber material use.

Planning Authority Collaboration Facebook Poster

Workshop Tshirt (Front)

Zibel - Waste Reduction Collaboration Facebook Poster

Workshop Tshirt Shwoing Sponsor Logos (Back)

Social Media Campaign

Branding, Collaborations and Marketing Throughout the weeks leading up to the workshop, SACES promoted the event heavily on Facebook and Instagram. Besides posting informative posts about the workshop, our PR Team worked on several posters to announce sponsorships and collaborations for the event.

Facebook Event Cover

C O N TA C T U S 79444283

/sacesonline

info@sacesmalta.org

@sacesmalta

www.sacesmalta.com