Radical Rituals: Studio forty five degrees Searches for Local Space-Making Practices Across Europe

Radical Rituals: Studio forty five degrees Searches for Local Space-Making Practices Across Europe

When talking about space-making practices, architects and urban planners are usually thinking about participatory planning and collaborative processes, often overlooking the ways in which the communities themselves can become their own agents of change. As the people poses an intimate knowledge of not only their environment, but also of social and cultural norms, the needs of their communities and latent opportunities within their surroundings, they are often the ones initiating actions, supporting their peers and contributing positively to their locality. Research-focused office forty five degrees set out to explore these grass-roots initiatives, to meet the locals and gather their stories in an effort to gain a better understanding of the complex and diverse cultural territories across Europe. Their journey, organized under the “Radical Rituals” project, follows the 45°N parallel line that transverses Europe from East to West. The office has been selected as part of ArchDaily’s 2023 New Practices, an annual survey aimed at showcasing those who adress the ever-growing challanges of our times and take architecture to new directions.

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The forty five degrees studio was founded in 2019 with the aim of investigating the built environment through research, design and artistic experimentation. Their activities and initiatives revolve around the central theme of ‘commons,’ understood as the lands and resources belonging to the whole of a community. Through this lens, they gather protocols and collective approaches and explore alternative ways of living and city-making models as well as novel forms of urban development. The team, comprised of Alkistis Thomidou, Giulia Domeniconi, Berta Gutierrez, Lea Hobson, Marleen Hahn, and Ninon Esclangon, collaborates with local experts, cultural institutions and creative agencies to expand the scope of research.

One of their main ventures is the ongoing exploration titled ‘Radical Rituals.’ This is an itinerary survey that follows the 45°N parallel to discover and gather spatial practices and vernacular rituals that strengthen the commons across Europe. The team travels to locations along this imaginary line to immerse themselves into the cultural landscape and to meet the locals who are initiating actions to address various issues faced by their communities. In many instances, these challenges mirror global concerns, yet the most effective answers are tailored to the specific local conditions.  

Our interest is in how space can be built otherwise, and that necessarily includes communities. – Berta Gutierrez, forty five degrees

The title of the project reflects the complex condition of these alternative practices. In typical architectural processes, spatial production is understood as a linear process, with a definite beginning and an end marked by the completion of the object. In contrast, the self-initiated practices explored by forty five degrees are circular, similar to the idea of rituals, but understood in a social rather than spiritual sense. These rituals are aimed at creating and maintaining various structures by applying protocols and creating spaces that are relevant to their aspirational goals. Without written rules, people collectively gather under the same understanding of their needs, and engage collectively in place-making practices.

The radical aspect comes from an idea initiated in the 1970s, a significant moment in design history when the industry sought to challenge the preconceived ideas of who a designer can be, explore alternative forms of practice and understand the process as an emancipatory one, empowering people to get involved in the modeling of their environment. Similarly, these practices are primarily based on the intrinsic knowledge of the local communities, working together toward a shared goal, but based on cyclical actions, not a hierarchical structure to dictate the activities. Reflecting this, the methodology of research employed by forty five degrees is more experimental than dogmatic, favoring interactions and active listening as the main sources of information.

The first chapter of the research took place during the summer of 2021 in the context of Romania. The journey explored varied geographies, from the East to West, trying to gain a situated understanding of people’s relationship with their surroundings. Through this exploration, carried out on-site by Alkistis Thomidou and Berta Gutierrez, a few overarching themes emerged, like the strong connection of most communities with water. Within this shared element, the approaches varied significantly.

Towards the eastern side of the country, in the Danube Delta opening up toward the Black Sea, efforts were carried out by individuals to help protect the expansive yet fragile ecosystem of the Delta. In the more western city of Cluj-Napoca, the accent was put on the social aspect involved in the connection to the river Someș, with groups of students and the larger community creating small temporary structures along the river to encourage citizens to rediscover the waterscape as a valuable public space.

The second phase of the research, conducted in the summer of 2022 in France, revealed new variations in space-making practices. While similar concerns emerged, like the important relationship with water, other values also painted a site-specific image of the local context, with more focus on activism, and political engagement, but also alternative pedagogies and involvement through learning practices. By using the 45°N parallel as an excuse for exploration, the team aims not to accentuate the dichotomies between regions, but to expand the understanding of what space-making practices can look like. The team aims to continue this iteration with an exploration of northern Italy next, to be followed by more journeys to Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Participation is one of the strategies [to involve communities], but there should be others, more strategies to enable practices that are not yet part of the global regulations to get involved and be embraced as part of our spatial culture and practice – Berta Gutierrez, forty five degrees

The findings of the research are materialized in travel-sized booklets that feature the local practices with their activities and methods. To add another layer of context, forty five degrees collaborates with local experts and researchers who contribute with essays and nuanced analyses of the cultural background. In this way, the office acts more as a curator of ideas and initiatives, collecting and giving a voice to every actor involved. The end result aims to be accessible to all interested in social, cultural and space-creating activities. The team aims to further develop this project through the medium of exhibitions and other community-involving activities.

Along with this project, the forty five degrees studio also carries out multiple projects and collaborations, all concerned with the idea of commonality. One other example is ‘The Studio,’ a practice-based project aimed at providing a space for creativity and collaboration for the Erasmus+ Youth in Action program. The project, which culminated in a public publication, was developed with design studios from Oslo, Paris and Berlin, all coming together to share knowledge around common values on eco-design, learning, and inclusion of youth in creative processes. Other projects include the ’30 years KW,’ an exercise in third space formation, ‘SpaceKraft,’ an experiment based on ‘learn-by-doing’ principles, and ‘Oslo in Action(s),’ an ongoing research project highlighting the diverse city-makers of Oslo and the networks the form and take part in.