Next Stop Tokyo
From Ljubljana to Tokyo. There will be the next DoCoMoMo conference in 2020. As DoCoMoMo celebrate 30 years, we took this opportunity and discussed about the future with the co-founder of Docomomo international Wessel de Jonge and the chair of Docomomo Slovenia Nataša Koselj.
Wessel de Jonge restored one of the icons of post war modern architecture the Orphanage in Amsterdam by Aldo van Eyck. | Photo via ArtChist
“I had to negotiate and came out with good arguments why to rethink cultural heritage”, explains de Jonge when he talks about restoration. He thinks that DoCoMoMo is a good bridge between university and practice, “if you need a lot of money, you need to formalize yourself and become bureaucratic organization with financial commitments. We try to avoid that to stay flexible. We don’t have ties and responsibilities; therefore we can say and do whatever we want.”
DoCoMoMo shall attract young people; Wessel de Jonge at the workshop with students from Ljubljana’s Faculty of Architecture. | Photo by Martina Canziani
“Demolishing the building and build new one is a profitable business model which is not necessary better for the community,” is convinced de Jonge. His story about coffee explains why: “twenty years ago we made coffee in a filter. We used paper and we were sustainable. Today we use these cups and produce a lot of waist to make one cup of coffee. It is ridiculous. This is also with buildings. I would feel it is important to take a better look of what we have and try to make a proper use of that. That is a sort of responsibility that I feel as a professional.”
The Jean Prouvé’s Buvette for Evian.| Photo © Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Jean-Claude Planchet / Georges Meguerditchian
Nataša Koselj, the chair of DoCoMoMo Slovenia. | Photo by Martina Canziani
How long did the organization of the conference last and what was your main focus as an organizer?
Nataša Koselj: The first invitation to organize this conference came from Cankarjev Dom already in 2012. Serious preparations started in 2014 and in 2016 an elaborated concept was presented in Lisbon. Many unexpected events were changing the planned conference program from day to day, but Jože Plečnik, Edvard Ravnikar, Alexander Tzonis and Liane Lefaivre were in the core of my program from the very beginning.
Jože Plečnik’s Urban Plan for Ljubljana (1928). | Photo via MGML
Our educational system, one of the very little that still keeps some remains of the socialist spirit, is one of the best in the world – and we are not aware of this. In this moment, the free education is one of the key issues in the international academic debate, especially in England and the States – so I thought we should be proud on what we have inherited and present it to the broader international audience in the 15IDC Student Workshop, with the focus on the design principles and problems of renovation of the Emil Navinšek’s corridor-free primary schools, with the venue just next door to Cankarjev Dom.
Student teams proposed sustainable interventions and extensions for the Majda Vrhovnik Primary School. | Photo via Dessa gallery
In 1963 Carlo Scarpa received the order for the restructuring of the Revoltella Museum in Trieste. | Photo by Bostjan Bugarič
What is the purpose of DoCoMoMo tours? Can these tour function as a media for presenting different problematics to the professional audience?
NK: Yes, of course – this was the case in presenting post-war neighborhoods in Ljubljana and visiting Rozzol Melara in Trieste for example. This comparison gave the participant explicit insight information about main characteristics of post-war Slovenian neighborhoods. They were influenced by socialism and Scandinavian principle of mixing population inside the neighborhood – so, there was no class division in Slovenian post-war neighborhoods, which we cannot say for Rozzol Melara in Trieste, built in the same period. Of course there are lots of other problems especially regarding the recent façade renovations here, where we definitely loose comparison to Italy.
Rozzol Melara in Trieste is far away from its idealistic housing concept. | Photo by Roberto Conte
What is your message after such an experience (to experts, professionals, wider audience)?
NK: The experience of being the main architect of such a complex international event is quite unique. It shows how the role of architect can overlap with the role of producer, screenwriter and director for example. At the same time I was also designer for all the items related to the conference from the badge belts to the website. But I did all these before, just not in the same scale. In a way it is easier for me to work on a whole from the very beginning. This is why I really like to be an architect – this is all about the parallels of life and art. It is also about bringing people together, which can be so rewarding.
The Temple of Monte Grisa, a conspicuous landmark, is located at an altitude of 300 metres on the edge of the Karst Plateau in Trieste. | Photo via Montegrisa
Greeting from Ljubljana and see you in Tokyo. | Photo by Martina Canziani
