YAP MAXXI 2014 finalist entry PICNICTOPIA takes picnicking to a new level
By Bustler Editors|
Tuesday, Jul 1, 2014
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Here's a summertime-friendly finalist entry from 2014 YAP MAXXI, the Italian edition of MoMA PS1's Young Architecture Program (YAP) for a temporary sustainable outdoor installation to host summer events in the MAXXI Plaza in Rome.
Designed by PKMN Architectures + Ciclostile Architettura, PICNICTOPIA was one of five finalists in the competition. The team's proposal looks to the universal pasttime of picnicking for its ziggurat-like design.
Dig into the project details right below.
Project description:
"Picnic stands for a traditional meal in the open air, in a touristic setting. It has a social and recreational function, not merely food related. In the past it was characterized by the pleasure of being in touch with nature and the participation of a group of people, individually providing food which was eventually shared, in a meeting that was not as official and pompous as other aristocratic banquets.
The etymology of the word comes from the compound French term piquenique which combines the verb piquer (grab, steal, and pinch) and the archaic noun nique (small thing of low value. It appears the word picnic began being diffusely used starting from the end of the XVII century.
"At first it was used in reference to the frugality of the event, which took place outside the official dining custom and consisted in few and simple food often stolen directly from the kitchen. During the XVIII century the aristocracy used to bring a following of servants who prepared outdoor tables at hunting sessions after which the preys were cooked directly on the spot.
In the XIX century picnic meant having a meal in a relaxed environment, either on a grass lawn or on a riverside or on a beach, where the desire for sociality leaves the place to a more intimate approach, an ideal context for courtship.
Tòpos is a Greek word which stands for a quality or a property of a certain thing or of a specific topic. In its literal sense it also means “place”. Topos is a dialectic or rhetoric line of argument used in relation to different disciplines. It can stand for a group of techniques and representations common to various artistic or literary trends which often bring to an evolution of the work of art. In classic rhetoric topoi were used to answer questions such as who, what, where, why, how and so on. Topos therefore is strictly linked to the work of art and can dictate stylistic rules."
"Picnictopìa is an installation which, through the iconic and representative use of a simple and direct module such as a picnic table, tries to recreate a place of relationships, passions, plays and dialogue. The interpretation of the artwork given by the visitors becomes an installation itself, or to be more precise a performance, a spontaneous flash mob.
The basic module of the project is a single picnic table. Spaces and picnic tables are part of our public memory recalling emotional and political bonds which come from the culture and practice of sharing and happily socializing. A simple element (a flat surface, two sits and some supporting elements) which can activate complex relations and implies an open and flexible spatiality.
Other than the basic module, more elements (kit) are used to evoke the natural experience linked to the picnic, as well as to satisfy the functional necessities of offering shading, seat, water and places to relax for the visitors of the museum as well as for citizens and users of the outdoor public space. Therefore pools of standardized dimensions will be placed between the picnic tables, filled with grass soil, water, simple walkways, parasol to provide shading."
"The artificial and wild nature of the waterfall will therefore welcome the visitors of the installation arriving from Guido Reni street, while those arriving from Masaccio street will be welcomed by a quiet and shaded space with parasols, a sort of urban beach in continuity with the existing topography of the steps.
Two multifunctional stairs, modeled as small urban hills, allow to shape different spatial configurations for the public of the events organized by MAXXI, while two central stages (main and secondary), framed by the stairs and facing Guido Reni street, are placed under the wide overhang of the building, indirectly absorbing Zaha Hadid’s architecture in the installation space.
The diversity of the spaces generated by the stair combines green areas and many more open spaces with unforeseen and spontaneous actions and events. During the events the proposed installation becomes a sort of arena where monumentality comes from repetition, a Temporary Colosseum able to offer the ideal set to whichever kind of show."
"In October, once the first life stage of the installation in the outdoor space of MAXXI comes to an end, the various modules will be disassembled and, depending on different cases, they can either be immediately reused in other places of the city or temporary put aside waiting for a new placement.
Rome has a very strong urban identity and a rich creative and social network: the transformation of PICNICTOPIA into new models able to activate different public spaces in the city is therefore an opportunity to give a voice to the citizens, valuing new forms of participation and enabling the development of a collective urban know-how."
All images courtesy of PKMN Architectures + Ciclostile Architettura.
Click the thumbnails below for more images.
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