# THE OCCUPATION OF A PALACE

BY A JUBILANT CROWD IS A COMMON IMAGE OF REVOLUTIONARY EXCESSES. IT HAS BEEN WITNESSED IN VARIOUS FORMS THROUGHOUT THE AGES, DEPENDING ON THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT. THE FACT THAT THE IMAGE KEEPS RECURRING MAKES IT A RITUAL AND NECESSARY REPRESENTATION, AN INGREDIENT OF THE REVOLUTION ITSELF. IT EMBODIES THE HOPE FOR JUSTICE THROUGH THE FAIR REDISTRIBUTION OF SPACE. OCCUPATION IS THE ARCHITECTURAL EXPRESSION OF A SOCIAL VISION.

METACITY/METAVILLA ATTEMPTS TO PUT THIS COLLECTIVE MOVEMENT INTO PRACTICE. THIS EVENT IS TO A CLASSIC ARCHITECTURAL EXHIBITION WHAT IMPLEMENTATION IS TO A CONCEPT. THE PUBLIC CAN EXPERIENCE THE ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN DISPLAYED THERE, AND PARTICULARLY ASSESS THE PRACTICAL IDEAL BEING PRESENTED, NOT JUST AS A UTOPIAN THEORY BUT AS A CONCRETE ACTION THAT NEEDS TO BE ACCOMPLISHED. IN OCCUPYING THIS NATIONAL EMANCIPATED PAVILION AND OPENING IT UP TO THE PUBLIC IN THIS UNUSUAL WAY, AN ARCHITECTURAL ACT IS BEING PERFORMED. PROBABLY THE ONLY SUCH ACT THAT CAN BE MADE IN THESE TIMES OF INSECURITY AND UNDERLYING TENSIONS OF WAR. THE WELCOME OF STRANGERS, IMPLACABLY "OTHER", IS MORE THAN EVER A RELEVANT ACT. HAPPILY THE JOYFUL CITY ON SHOW IN THE PAVILION REALLY DOES EXIST, HERE AND ELSEWHERE. THIS EXHIBITION IS JUST A POINTER.

## DEL SUD.

THE CITY AUTHORITIES IN BOGOTA HAVE EMBARKED ON A PROGRAMME OF PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT THAT HAS RESULTED IN A STRONGER SENSE OF CIVIC PRIDE AND BELONGING AMONGST BOGOTANOS, OLD AND NEW. A CENTRAL PLANK OF THIS SOCIAL INITIATIVE HAS BEEN THE CONSTRUCTION OF 52 NEW SCHOOLS SINCE 1997 THAT HAVE MARKEDLY IMPROVED THE LEVEL OF SCHOOL ATTENDANCE BY CHILDREN IN PERIPHERAL HIGH-GROWTH AREAS TO OVER 92% AND REDUCED TRUANCY RATES TO 3% IN LESS THAN A DECADE. A SIMILAR INVESTMENT IN READING AND LEARNING FACILITIES HAS CREATED A GENERATION OF WELL DESIGNED LIBRARIES – FOUR LARGE MULTI-FUNCTIONAL DISTRICT BUILDINGS AND 52 SMALLER LOCAL LIBRARIES – USED BY OVER SEVEN MILLION PEOPLE A YEAR, ONE OF THE HIGHEST LIBRARY USE RATES IN SOUTH AMERICA.

FOR AN ETHICS
OF RESPONSIBLE
MOBILITY

ACI's renewed mission translates an established means of conveyance – the automobile – into an innovative message: responsible mobility. The concept builds on the essential link between mobility as an expression of personal freedom and mobility as an expression of people's relations with the surrounding environment.

The automobile – yersterday an icon of personal freedom, today a tool of responsible mobility – requires a new kind of “driving capability”.

2. Mobility should be seen not a factor for success in a competitive world, but as a stimulus to programmatic relations and sharing.

3. The increasingly necessary ethical perspective must transform mobility into a sustainable-development project that involves the whole of society.

4. Protection of mobility rights should translate into a guarantee of service provision, thanks to new environment-friendly solutions.

5. It's not enough to change mentalities, habits and vehicles; we also need a new culture of the territory, associated with a coherent redesign of infrastructure.

6. The technological platform of mobility needs to be integrated with the communication platform to increase safety and steering possibilities.

7. Responsible mobility requires systematic convergence among practices and operators, associations and institutions, by dint of purposeful analyses.

8. Responsible-mobility ethics stems from a system of generally accepted rules that motivate rather than condition.

A network system able to enhance the operational potentialities related to its nature as a global service, and able to express both individual and collective interests, ACI aims at promoting the value of responsible mobility within its own organization and in the social, political and institutional world.

OULU - VENICE OF THE NORTH

Oulu is the largest city in the northern part of the Nordic region. This coastal city has some 130,000 inhabitants and its economic zone has a population of over 200,000. Oulu is an international centre of high-technology industries with a long history of administration and education. It is also the location of a school of architecture, which has been a national centre of excellence in art since 2007. In Oulu, visions are focused on its role not only as an existing international centre of high technology but as a cultural city of international interest and a northern centre.

Oulu is situated in a low-lying flat coastal area. Land uplift is continuously changing the shoreline of the city, which is in a river estuary. The Oulujoki River connects the city with the inland and large forested areas.

Oulu was founded 400 years ago by order of the King of Sweden. The first plan for the originally wooden town was prepared in 1651 as a grid plan in accordance with the urban ideals of the Renaissance, which obliterated the medieval urban fabric. In the 18th and 19th centuries the international success of Oulu was based on trade in salmon and tar and seafaring. The town was influenced by classicism and the Gustavian style of Sweden. During the years of Russian rule Empire became the style of town planning, followed by renewal via influences from Sitte and Howard and functionalism to the present day. For several decades, general plans have steered the development of the growing city to receive new inhabitants. Oulu has been damaged and destroyed on several occasions by fire and war, but it has always been rebuilt according to the ideals of urban planning of the period of building. The founding of the University of Oulu launched an active period of growth that is still continuing. In this situation, the city has sought to promote high-quality urban planning and development and to respond to the challenges of growth through the careful study of the issues at hand. Urban planning is supported by the city's own programme of architectural policy.

THE ARCHITECTURAL POLICY PROGRAMME OF OULU

In keeping with European objectives, Finland has adopted a national programme of architectural policy and in accordance with its recommendations several regions and cities have begun to prepare their own programmes of architectural policy. The Oulu programme was drawn up in 2002 as the second of its kind in Finland, and it is already being continued by follow-up working.

According to the programme, the built environment is a recognized and central aspect of the cultural and welfare society and the programme tells how the residents of the city feel their shared environment should be planned and built. It gives planners, architects, developers and decision-makers instructions on how the future of the city should be developed. The challenge is to make Oulu a residential and living environment promoting cultural diversity, a light-spirited atmosphere and a creative urban spirit. The preparation of the programme includes a large number of expert residents of the city and it has been officially approved by the municipal government. There has been commitment to the programme and it has been followed in the media. It is felt in Oulu that the city cannot afford to be without an environment and architecture of high standard.

The architectural policy of Oulu concerns the city's identity and architectural heritage, the quality, guidance and supervision of design and construction as well as related training, research, information and interaction. The programme notes that local identity stems from the northern dimension and emerges via education and culture. Northern nature, the river and the sea, the rising land, the flat landscape and wide open scenery are the basis of architecture. Identity is forged by the open skies and the clear light of the north. The historic grid plan is the soul of the urban fabric of Oulu and its streets, squares and houses create a distinct and unique context that is continuously receiving additions and growing as a rich environment for its inhabitants. Local architecture is defined as creative and inventive while also being sensible, durable and economical in an overall sense. The programme of architectural policy contains 32 proposals for measures for which specific responsible bodies have been designated. Follow-up and monitoring are used to ensure that the matters at hand will progress.