IT IS: STUDIO OSSIDIANA

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Tradition

Tradition, translation, betrayal – we are happy that these words are connected. Tradition is a flow, not an origin: working in Holland and having studied in Italy, perhaps we have an advantage in our relationship with history. In Holland, the “tradition” is also that of a country that reinvents, redesigns, reconstructs itself constantly, and often what we bring is a reflection on how places are both their present and their past, how projects always take part in a context that is not just spatial but also historical and emotional. In this continual translation-betrayal there is always an idea of the future. For example, in Amsterdam Allegories each floating island presents new forms of urban rituals, new ways to live or to be together, linking back to types and natures of the past and present of the city and its territory: from the mountains of coal to the smokestacks that punctuate the port of Amsterdam, from the hedges of the Lusthoven – 18th-century pleasure gardens that were scattered in the Dutch countryside – to the lost architectures of cities, like the Paleis voor Volksvlijt – the Crystal Palace of Amsterdam – or the Obelt Bathhouse.

Invention

More than “in-venting,” we would like to talk about “be-coming,” the sense of discovery, of finding through searching and reaching something unexpected. In a context like Holland, where public space is strictly regulated, where you feel like you are walking inside a city planning manual, we work with topoi like the island, dunes, floating gardens. These “images” help us to create surreal and experimental public spaces, suspended and grounded at the same time, unexpected worlds to discover, in which people can again feel like they are explorers, sailors, cartographers, gardeners, birdwatchers, where it is possible to dig and collect, to fill your pockets with seeds, flowers and seashells.

Sharing

We think of projects, whether they are playgrounds, public spaces, cages or objects, as spaces to cultivate, to discover, able to generate new rituals. Our projects seem complete to us when other forms of life – plants, birds, human beings, minerals – begin to take possession of them in an unpredictable way: children and adults warming up in front of the flames of Firedune or climbing on the dunes; or our parrot Coco who plays and destroys the perches we have patiently built; or families of Canada geese that cool off in the water of the pond of Utomhusverket while human beings are doing yoga.

Responsibility

For us, responsibility means thinking about spaces and architecture that can be inclusive and mediate between human beings and other species, that can prompt us to observe, to notice and approach others. Responsibility means understanding not just protected species, but also invasive ones; not just species with a pedigree like royal swans, but also pigeons. It also means observing the “new natures” that surround us, which we have created – heaps of sand from construction, mountains of coal, the smoke of chimneys, sewage deposits – taming and creating spaces that can teach us to care for and to love “our monsters.”