THE GREAT INDOORS AWARD 2011
http://www.the-great-indoors.com/2011/EducationProgramme
Gabrielle Sallé-Osselin – Giacomo Piovan – Daniela Dossi – Chaim Becker – Karianne Rygh
The student fraternity Circumflex, located on Capucijnenstraat, Maastricht, was not intially welcome in the neighbourhood four year ago. The neighbours feared excessive night time noise and opposed the fraternity renting the old cloister. Through an ongoing dialogue, an agreement was reached that the students would have to ensure that the street was kept quiet at night. It was a pact of silence.
Instead of opposing this rule, the fraternity adopted the restriction as an addition to their many pre-existing rituals. A student bouncer sits on a bar stool on the pavement every night ensuring that the members walk down the street in silence. The students are not allowed to stand still, talk, drink or smoke on Capucijnenstraat and have to instead make the walk in silence to the main street.
By being present on the street every night, the fraternity bouncers offer an additional security to the neighborhood of Capucijnenstraat. We wished to honor the students´ contributions while at the same time making a visual statement that although the individual students´ time in Maastricht is temporary, the presence of students in the city is permanent. They are as much a part of the community as the children attending the school next door and the rest of the residents on the street. We wished to show how a social group has been willing to meet the community half way by instructing their 700 members to be silent.
Therefore, we have called them the “Saints of Silence”, designed a permanent baldachin structure to mark their place in the neighborhood, and re-designed their jackets to communicate security and care for the other residents. Combined these simple changes have made the community more aware of the contributing qualities that this fraternity has on the community and offered a greater sense of belonging to the students of Circumflex.
Photo/editing: Nichon Glerum
PEOPLE WE MET FOR THE PROJECT
Charlotte, ‘T Brandweep Art Gallery. “I am used to recognise the members of the fraternity from their posh outfit. Last night they paraded along the street with their characteristic suits.”
Herman, designer at Marres. “ Maastricht was famous for its beer factories. Accordingly, Marres was originally one of the biggest breweries of the city. Thus, it’s possible to notice the ruined sign of the beer shop just on the street wall.”
Cyrille, Cinema Lumiere. “ The Lumiere proposes an alternative cultural programme. We have not many people from the student fraternity. Since several years there is a risk that our activity will be moved in another area of the city. I hope it will stay here in the neighbourhood.”
Saskia and friend, neighbour at Capucijnenstraat. “ I live just in front the fraternity entrance. During my personal experience I have never been affected by noises from the fraternity’s activities. On the contrary, the students give a quite comfortable feeling to the street.”
Maria, neighbourhood’s activist. “ After several discussions, the neighbourhood finally came up with an agreement together with the Circumflex. There are no complains anymore. In fact the student community starts to be involved with the residential life. Anyway, a phone line was settled in any case of complains.
Olivier is in charge of the organisation committee at Circumflex. He makes sure that the fraternity rules are honoured by the members and takes part to the organisation of events which the fraternity initiates.
MAPPING / PEOPLE FLUX
MAPPING / NOISES
MAPPING / ACTORS
CLOCK : SHIFTING USES OF THE STREET
NOTES FROM SITE VISIT: CIRCUMFLEX
Monday 17th October
1st years – evening to get better acquainted, could join 2nd years after 11pm.
Appearance
- fraternity has a female majority
- guys wear jackets and tie
- people can form sub-fraternity groups and have matching sports jackets
- guys were also wearing rugby shirts or yacht/rowing shirts same hair cut
- girls don’t wear high heels, mainly because of possible student playful fight during the night (and maybe also to not make too much noise)
Site
Sofa area
- two second years open and close door to fraternity (play games while waiting,use nail polish, mobile phonesand, are not allowed to drink
- this group can easily become bigger ( till 8 peple were in that square room/entrance)
- they don’t wear any visible uniform ( one of the girl showed a t-shirt but well hidden under her informal jacket)
- this area can become one parties hub
- they recognize every face
- they use duvet sometimes
Cloakroom
- every student has to leave mobile, bag and jacket in the cloakroom
- the cloakroom is fully covered by jackets and bag
At the Door
- bouncer sat on bar stool outside on the street
- bouncer whispered when we spoke to him
- strict regarding sound
- the stool is quite broken
- they easily communicate with whom enter and go out
- they use their mobile a lot (seen one of the girls being on facebook)
- they said an umbrella is enough in the rain since the shift last 30 minutes
- there is only one complaining guy in the front bulding
The silent walk
- students had to be silent when exiting the fraternity until they reached Grote Gracht
- when walking in silence, people greeted each other in silence.
- one of the group carried handmade cakes, result of their evening sub-group activity
- two guys say hello each other with their hands
- most of the students roll a cigarette if they are heading to the smoking corner
Smoking area
- smoking corner on Grote Gracht is not just one spot
- students sit and smoke in 3 different spots according to the amount of students are already there and where there are places to sit on the windowsill
- in each smoking area they can do whatever they want
Bar area
- music is not played to emphasize socializing
- you cannot stand with your back to the bar out of respect for your fellow students who are running the bar
- broken glass needs to be paid for (when glass falls everyone shouts “Piek”, the old word for Guilder)
- first years collect empty glasses when the bell is rung
Knowledge about the area
- students are not so familiar with the lower end of the Capucijnenstraat
- very little knowledge about Marres
- some students go to Lumiere
- students are very aware that there is elementary school activities during the day
- students are very aware that their behavior on the street directly impacts their liberties
Fraternity
- students seem to join due to the good atmosphere, events and good organization of the fraternity
- hazing occurs in the acceptance of new students (work camp, parties etc)
- there is a very good bond between the students of every year and this bond is encourage through the fraternity students have a strong sense responsibilities. In addition to their student life and their independence they learn about gathering money for charities, and run the fraternity organization.
ONE PERSPECTIVE
O
VEHICLE OF SILENCE
Next door to the fraternity is a school. During the day, pupils are taught to be quiet in the class room and often, at the end of the day when the parents come to pick them up, they erupt in high levels of noise, laughter and chit chat.
With the fraternity students, the opposite happens. Night falls and the students enter the fraternity to have fun, to party and socialize but when exiting the building they have to abide by the rule of silence until they round the corner of the street. It is on this corner that the students are allowed to gather to smoke and socialize since it is not a residential street.
In this sense, the street in day-time is full of action, but at night it becomes a vehicle of silence, a quiet space only used for transit, monitored by the guards of the fraternity.
THE INTERIOR OF THE STREET
The client, the student fraternity Circumflex, have developed a system of bouncers, working in shifts, who make sure that their guests are quiet outside the venue. Sitting on a bar stool outside the fraternity entrance, the guards also have a secondary effect of being the eyes on the street and thus keeping the neighborhood safe.
To better understand which social groups benefit from this unintentional security, we investigated the area to see who resides on or occupy this street. We concluded on focusing on selected main groups, which are:
- The residents of the street
- The students in the fraternity
- The pupils at the neighboring school and the parents picking them up
- The visitors and staff of Marres
- The restaurant guests
- The ‘Lumiere’ cinema guests
In the theme of ‘In between’ the street is essentially our interior, the space between the buildings that hosts the overlapping activities of the previously mentioned actors.
Student fraternities run on a framework of rules, rituals and secret common knowledge. In the same manner, we wish to utilize these tools to create a better system for the interior of the street so that the different social groups can interact in a contributing manner. Our aim is to design a structure which can emphasize this interaction between the different social groups in order to collectively contribute to a better security on the street.
In developing concepts in line with this aim, we are currently gathering sources of inspiration.
WATCHING THE STREET
Different outfits for different roles.
SITUATION SKETCH OF CAPUJINENSTRAAT
We have been asked to develop a “Security Booth” for the student fraternity Circumflex. In the last four years the fraternity has nested itself in an old priory. The building is situated in the center of Maastricht on the Capucijnenstraat 120.
The neighbourhood wasn’t too happy with the fact that the students (and their infamous culture) were moving into the old priory. As a result, a pact was formed with the students, based on a strict set of rules and a dialogue was started. The students assured the neighbourhood that they wouldn’t cause any trouble and formed their own vigilance service to control the Capucijnenstraat at night.
The fraternity members have set up their own rules to prevent outsiders from entering. The members have to follow specific rules when entering and leaving the building. One can only enter and exit the street from the city side (Grote Gracht) and they have to be as quiet as possible and have to keep moving until they reach the main street. Smoking is only allowed around the corner on the Grote Gracht. When you don’t follow the rules you risk being expelled from the fraternity building for a number of days, weeks or even months. A third year member of the fraternity sits on a barstool outside (in all types of weather) and makes sure everyone follows the rules.
Footnotes on drawing:
*1. You can only enter (and leave) the street from the city side, or risk a penalty!
*2. “Bouncer” keeps the peace at night. Members of Circumflex take 30 minute shifts.
*3. “Bomber Jacket” worn by the bouncers.
Kick-off - NAiM / Bureau Europa & Design Academy Eindhoven
“The Great Indoors Award is the third edition of the biennial, international interior design event that will take place in Maastricht from Thursday 3rd until Saturday 5th of November 2011.
This year´s edition, titled ‘In Between’, has been developed around the issue of the excessive speed with which shop interiors undergo change. This acceleration in change not only makes a parallel with the fashion world´s system increasingly explicit; it also shows just how complex the issue of sustainability is in relation to the pursuit of change.
Policymakers and others commissioning work are being forced, partly due to the current economic crisis, to seek unorthodox approaches more and more frequently. One approach involves the use of temporary solutions. In light of such developments, The Great Indoors questions the extent to which interior designers are able to link the discipline´s excessive dynamics to the social context of the temporary of the temporary. After all, the very notion of permanence has long been abandoned in interior design, as the temporary has become an integral part of assignments.”
As final year students in the Social Design Masters department of the Design Academy Eindhoven, we are participating in the Education Programme of The Great Indoors Award 2011. In collaboration with the mentors Jannetje in ‘t Veld and Toon Koehorst from the graphic design practice ‘Koehorst in ‘t Veld’, and the client Circumflex Student Fraternity, we will be developing an interior concept for the city of Maastricht, based on the theme of ‘In Between’.
THE TEAM:
Chaim Becker
Daniela Dossi
Giacomo Piovan
Karianne Rygh
Gabrielle Sallé-Osselin
