Magnitude 2010 30 July Final
Magnitude 2010 30 July Final
Magnitude 2010 30 July Final
Magnitude
2010:
Rebuilding
the
Future,
by
restoring
the
Past
Gaby
Sadowski,
Eindhoven,
the
Netherlands
Open
Innovation
Festival
2010
Op
In different countries all over the world festivals will be hosted. The program
of the festival will be put together by different cities themselves. These city
festivals will put emphasis on the strengths and identity of the city, based on
different kind of workshops; sessions, exhibitions, showcases, discussions,
networking events etc can be expected. The cities will be connected through
live-stream connections.
The goal of this memo is to ask for concrete contribution for the festival that
will take place from the 29th November until the 3rd December. We focus and
highlight one of the central projects with international allure, in which we
seek all kinds of contributions. The project is called: Rebuilding the
Future, by restoring the Past.
The context: Restoring the future, by rebuilding the past:
L’Aquila
L’Aquila
(ca.
73.000
inhabitants)
is
a
city
of
central
Italy,
capital
of
the
Region
Abruzzo.
It
is
situated
on
a
721
meters
hillside
within
a
narrow
valley
between
the
Gran
Sasso
d’Italia
(2914
meters)
(the
peak
of
Appenine
chain)
and
the
Velino-‐
Sirente
chain
(2487
meters)
and
their
homonym
national
parks.
The
history
of
L’Aquila
is
made
up
of
times
of
both
prosperity
and
decadence
due
to
the
alternation
of
conflicts
and
foreign
dominations,
and
times
of
flourishing
commercial
relationships
also
with
different
cities
and
countries
(e.g.
Florence
and
Venice
as
well
as
France,
Holland
and
Germany),
which
made
L’Aquila
the
second
city
of
the
Reign
of
Naples
after
Naples
itself.
The
foundation
of
a
University
in
1458
and
the
establishment
of
typography
by
the
Gutenberg’s
apprentice,
Adam
from
Rottweil,
in
1482
contributed
to
a
cultural
growth
throughout
all
the
Middle
Age
and
up
till
one
of
the
major
earthquake
the
city
suffered
(1703).
In
fact,
the
history
of
the
city
has
been
profoundly
affected
by
recursive
strong
earthquakes
(e.g.
1315,
1349,
1461,
1646,
1672,
1703),
which
brought
death
and
destruction
as
slowed
down
its
expansion
and
level
of
richness
imposing
to
the
citizens
enormous
efforts.
The
re-‐building
of
the
city
has
always
been
promoted
by
the
Church
or
the
States
it
belonged
to
for
its
strategic
position,
cultural
heritage
and
relevance
in
commercial
dealings.
The
reconstruction
of
destroyed
or
heavily
damaged
buildings,
churches
and
monuments
has
often
been
done
following
the
different
current
architectonic
techniques
allowing
the
stratification
of
styles.
During
the
night
of
April
6th
2009
at
3.32
a.m.
local
time,
an
earthquake
of
6.3
magnitude
struck
central
Italy
with
epicenter
in
L’Aquila.
The
existence
of
many
faults
in
its
underneath
geological
structure,
the
fact
that
the
city
lays
on
a
Pleistocene
lake-‐bed
that
amplifies
seismic
activity
and
the
age
of
the
city
(as
well
as
the
existence
of
modern
buildings
not
“quake-‐proof”)
made
the
event
of
greater
impact
on
people
and
infrastructures
as
well
as
its
cultural
heritage.
Several
buildings
collapsed,
308
people
died,
65.000
people
became
homeless
and
all
the
social
and
cultural
activities
suddenly
stopped.
The
city
center
(estimated
as
the
larger
historical
city
center)
was
declared
red
zone
and
the
access
to
it
interdicted.
The
same
happened
to
the
medieval
villages
in
the
surroundings
bringing
up
to
130.000
the
number
of
people
to
be
assisted
for
daily
necessities.
After
one
and
a
half
years,
the
city
center
of
L’Aquila
is
still
closed
though
Fire
Brigades
are
constantly
and
proudly
working
to
put
buildings
in
safety
with
the
most
modern
techniques.
Until
people
will
not
be
able
to
access
and
live
the
city
itself,
to
enjoy
its
cultural
treasures
and
meeting
points,
cinemas,
theaters,
narrow
medieval
streets
and
open
squares
and
till
they
will
not
be
able
to
live
their
daily
life,
they
will
remain
deprived
of
their
identity
and
background.
The General Idea:
While during the OIF festival every country is finding solutions for its own
challenges, it would be a great idea to combine forces all over the world in
order to come up with a solution for the enormous social and economical
challenge L’Aquila is facing for over more than one year now. Rebuilding
takes time, money and effort. The loss of a city (not forgetting about the loss
of people during the earthquake) brings along feelings of sadness and the
lack of hope.
Just imagine: is it possible for the world to put L’Aquila back on the map? Not
by sending money, but by making a real contribution. Combing our virtual
and physical forces? In a first and quick step we want to rebuild L’Aquila in a
virtual manner, using innovative techniques, however the main goal and the
main challenges is to rebuild L’Aquila’s publicly owned spaces.
While all the citizens of L’Aquila are now living outside their city (waiting for
L’Aquila to be safe again), they still feel strongly connected to their city. I use
the image of Alberto her. He was born in L’Aquila, he was raised there. He
now lives in Eindhoven and works as a post-doc researcher at the Technical
University of Eindhoven (TU/e). He carries around his notebook and Iphone
full with pictures of his hometown. How beautiful it used to be and how it
looks now: like a ghost town.
In order to give L’Aquila back to its citizens a first step would be: rebuilding
L’Aquila in a virtual manner.
Why? A virtual place can be a place where people of L’Aquila can meet each
other. Community building will take place. People can share their feelings
about the earthquake; people can share stories and pictures. It will give them
back a sense of presence.
A challenge for the Innovation festival would be: develop tools or mechanisms
to re-vivid this city in a virtual manner. Develop tools and mechanisms to
form communities in order to stimulate cooperation in L’Aquila.
So, another challenge within this project is to come up with innovative ideas
about the physical rebuilding of this city. A way to organize this is, would be
through a worldwide co-creation event: combing skills, expertise and power
from thinkers (students) from all over the world, with different backgrounds.
Keeping in mind the identity of the city (which you can learn from the virtual
community), keeping in mind the historical background of the city and
keeping in mind all the new insights about:
Besides, this area is fully publicly owned and requires no special supervision
by the Committee of Arts since there a no historicllay-vincolated buildings to
be found.
A focus on this are could increase chances of success in terms of municipality
commitment and streamline the collaboration between L’Aquila and other
municipalities like Eindhoven.
For that, of course, we need sponsors. Companies that are willing to lay down
some showcases in L’Aquila.
For companies this living lab will be a great surrounding to pitch their new
ideas and solutions. Experts from all over the world can show their latest
insights on construction and other themes.
I left something out, because I’m aware this is the biggest challenge: (but it
wouldn’t be fair to hide it) Internet access in and around L’Aquila is lacking or
difficult. Reaching out to L’Aquila using social networks will be extremely
difficult!
As you have seen this L’Aquila project contains many sub-projects. Please
think about what you can contribute to in order to rebuild this city: virtually or
physically. (In terms of ideas, hands of money)
Municipality of Eindhoven
Cebra.eu (virtuocity)
Politiek Online
De Roode Kikker
TU/e
For questions: