"The Giardini 'rest stop

The project "Szakállszárító" by six students from the Faculty of Architecture in Timișoara was chosen from 43 entries: Molnár Zsolt, Szemcsuk Franciska, Czáka Zoltán, Tóth Bertalan István, Benedek Tímea, Järger Zsolt. Their project, "Szakállszárító", includes the renovation of seven benches in the Biennale garden.

A construi/ Építés/ Building

The Hungarian pavilion's exhibition, entitled "A construi/ Építés/ Building", features photographs of buildings realized in Hungary and Transylvania, as well as models and drawings by the students taking part in the competition. It continues the idea of previous editions: BorderLine Architecture (2010), SpaceMaker (2012), this year's edition is a building exercise specific to the Carpathian Basin, involving drawing, modeling and building.

Throughout these main ideas, the most important is the design of the central element of the exhibition, which is the reception area, the Gate. This is a demonstrative construction, which - according to the architects' intentions - will be a possible way of showing the building's response to the basic issues - Fundamentals, the overall theme of the Venice Biennale.

Concept

In shaping the concept we considered it important to renew the habit of building and working in a claque. For this reason we chose a piece that is on the verge of extinction, belonging to Hungarian folklore, and tried to restore its importance. Taking into account the requirements of the given theme, we attached great importance to strengthening social interactions. Thus, we drew our inspiration from the tradition of building a resting place near the access to different enclosures, in Hungarian folklore called "szakállszárító".

A "szakállszárító" is a roofed structure with a resting place. They were built near the gates of fortresses, towns, churches or public buildings. Men and boys on their way to mass would spend their time in such buildings near churches. Here they would discuss various events, problems, politics, etc.

In Transylvania, especially in the Secuim and in the Saxon regions, this concept is very widespread, with such constructions being found even at the entrance of houses. We have tried to capture and recreate 'images' of those times, in order to revive the atmosphere of social interactions characteristic of the past. We have simplified this model, reducing it to the main idea of a place for socializing, thus emphasizing its character of forming small communities. Both the bench in front of the pavilion and the bench in the atrium were designed on this principle.

Project description

The use of clamps symbolizes the idea of building in a claque, thus each visitor can contribute to creating a unique character of the pavilion. Three different textures can be created with the clamps placed in different ways, each texture suggesting another element of Hungarian folklore.

The clamps attached to the sticks near the bench at the entrance of the pavilion suggest the wheat fields, which are present in people's everyday life, both directly and indirectly. I chose the wheat motif because it plays an important role in people's social life, from sowing to harvest. The wheat ear motif also appears inside the flag.

On the two sides of the gate we find horizontal metal wires tensioned. These are supported by other vertical wires, 2 mm in diameter, which are intended to hang other clams. Placed side by side, or one on top of the other, the clamps form a surface that rises skywards, just like the hanging plants. Visitors can interactively participate in the growth of the 'plant'.

Continuing along the trail, once through the gate, we see a couple of standing places on whose frame the third texture will be created. Here, we hang the clamps on horizontal wires, which resemble shingle roofs.

Main Task

The "Épités/ Building exhibition of the Hungarian Pavilion hosts various images, photos of buildings from Hungary and Transylvania, but also the scale models and drawings made by the other participants in the initial contest. Moreover, it continues the idea of the previous editions of the biennale - BorderLine Architecture in 2010 and SpaceMaker in 2012.

This year is put into practice the actual building process specific to the Carpathian Basin, which includes drawing, designing scale models as well as building.

Among these main ideas, the most important is designing the central element of the exhibition - the Entrance. This is a demonstrative construction, which according to the curators' objectives will be a possible way to show the response of the construction to the basic problems - the fundamentals, the main task of this year's Biennale.

The subject of the contest requires highlighting the symbolic power of building - creating actions that will help the communities in one way or another. By attaching the wooden clips, each visitor will be part of this mechanism/ process, while creating a unique feature of the pavilion. The clips used in different positions can be combined resulting resulting three possible types of textures, each texture suggesting an element that can be found in the Hungarian folklore.

Placed side by side or one on top of another, the clips form a surface which is ascending to the sky, as the climbing plants do. Placed on horizontal wires, the clips form a surface, which resembles the shingles roof.

Concept

We consider the renewal of the tradition of building and working together in groups to be crucial. That's why we chose an example from traditional architecture, a construction which is almost disappearing from the rural landscape. We are talking about a construction which belongs to the Hungarian folklore. Taking into account the requirements of this contest, we focused on strengthening the human interactions and relations that are taking birth in this kind of team works. Thus, we were inspired by the tradition of building a halt near the access point in various enclosures, which in Hungarian folklore in called "szakállszáritó".

"Szakállszáritó" is a covered construction equipped with a place to stay for leisure. These kind of constructions were built near citadel entrances, city access points, church entrances - in which case they were the place where boys and men were spending time before or after the religious ceremonies, discussing about different events, problems, or even politics.

In Transylvania, especially in Seclerland and the Saxon regions, this concept is widespread. We can find it even at the entrance of the houses. We tried to capture and design some of the images of those times for reviving the atmosphere of those human interactions characteristic for past times. We simplified this model, reducing it to the main idea of a social place and highlighting its ability of forming communities around itself. This was the principle for designing both the bench in front of the pavilion and the one inside the atrium.

Järger Zsolt, Szemcsuk Franciska: Our concept is based on the characteristic of teamwork in the traditional building process in some regions of Hungary, Transylvania and the Secession. This type of construction emphasizes both technical and social efficiency. We want to emphasize its power to create new human bonds and small communities.

S.S.: Can you develop an analogy between modern language and vernacular techniques, as well as between your project and the main theme?

J.Z., S.F.: Modern language has caused architecture to lose any connection with the vernacular, the traditional way of doing architecture, the basic need of a nation's identity. In this project, we took one of the most common vernacular buildings in Hungarian folklore and simplified it, using simple techniques, but kept the main idea, its function of bringing people together by helping them to make social connections. The building process plays a major role; it is a catalyst and people interact faster and easier. People get to know each other better and learn from each other. It is a reminder for people not to forget their traditions/customs and to bring architecture much closer to the needs of a community. Therefore, this is how we want to share our practical point of view about architecture through our performance of building with the public and also showing the importance of the building process.

S.S.: How did the Biennale audience respond to your approach?

J.Z., S.F.: The public responses to our practical approach have been diverse. It was quite unusual for an exhibition to organize a workshop as we did. Some were very curious, interested in our concept and excited by its honesty. Others were frightened by the sound of a hammer or drill and the image of us going up and down the ladder with long pieces of wood in our hands. We think we achieved our goal because visitors got involved in the process; many people helped us to put the pieces together, to pick up items that we could not lift ourselves. Those who didn't want to get their hands dirty simply contributed by attaching painted clamps to our installation.

S.S.: What other national pavilions would you recommend to visit at BAV 2014?

J.Z., S.F.: We would recommend a visit to the Latvian Pavilion, because of the message they sent and the very simple and elegant way they chose to do it (an ephemeral installation made from the pages of a book - ed. note). We also recommend you to visit the central pavilion in the Giardini, called "Elements of Architecture", for the information it contains and the very useful and efficient way in which you can learn more about each element. Here you can find both classic and high-tech solutions.

Järger Zsolt, Szemcsuk Franciska: Our concept draws on the team work characteristic to the traditional building process in some regions of Hungary, Transylvania and Seclerland. We want to highlight its power of creating new human links and small communities.

S.S.: Can you develop on your analogy between modern language and vernacular techniques as well as between your project and the main theme?

J.Z., S.F.: Modern language has made architecture lose any bond with the vernacular, the traditional way of making architecture, the basic need of a nation's identity. Within this project, we take one of the most common vernacular construction of the Hungarian folklore and simplify it, by using simple techniques, but we still keep the main idea, its function of bringing people together and helping them to make social connections. The process of building has the major role; it is a catalyzer where people interconnect faster and easier. People get to know each other better and learn from each other. It is a reminder for people not to forget their traditions/customs and bring architecture much closer to the needs of a community. Therefore, this is how we want to share our practical view on architecture, by our performance of building together with the public, and showing the importance of the process of building as well.

S.S.: How did the Biennale public respond to your approach?

J.Z., S.F.: The answers of the public to our practical approach were diverse. It was quite unusual for an exhibition to organize a workshop as we did. Some were very curious, interested in our concept and excited of its honesty. Others were frightened of the sound of the hammering and the sight of us climbing up and down the ladder with long pieces of wood in our hands. We think we reached our goal, because visitors got involved in this process; many people helped us to put the pieces together, to lift the elements that we could not lift by ourselves. Those who did not want to get their hands dirty simply contributed by attaching painted clips to our installation.

S.S.: What other national pavilions would you recommend as a must visit at BAV 2014?

J.Z., S.F.: We would recommend visiting Latvia's Pavilion because of the message that sends and the very simple and elegant way they have chosen for it. We also recommend visiting the central pavilion from the Giardini, named "Elements of Architecture", for the information that it contains, and the very helpful and efficient way in which you can learn about each element. There you can find both history and high tech solutions.