'From Modernity to Tradition' is the new exhibition by Bureau A for the exhibition 'Orientations' which is taking place since the last 23rd of March to the 4th of April in Basel, Switzerland.

Those days we have been presenting the young swiss architects exhibition 'Orientations'. One of the teams which show its work is Bureau A, which has recently presented its new book 'Maidan Survey'. This time we bring you the opportunity to know better its installation 'From Modernity to tradition' as well as an interesting text about the currently situation in Kiev.

Maidan correspondance

15th January to 26th February

A
hey guys, how are you ? Is Kiev as bad as we see in the infos ? it looks quite scary hope you are ok.

Ø
Thank you, all of us is fine.
It's true the situation is very complicated. If you came here now you don't recognize city center! It's a battlefield.
Each day we are there, a lot of people there! And I hope we have a chance to change situation. In another way we should think about emigration.

Ø
If you know we have 5 dead for now, 2 of them shooted. All west Ukraine rise against. All East part sitting quiet, they frightened. There are  very strong influence of goverment and russian.

A
I hope you are doing fine. I just wrote a message to Sergey on FB concerning an exhibition that we have been invited to participate. It's a show called "Orientations, Young Swiss Architects” and it will present a new generation of architectural practices. 6 offices have been invited – we are one of them. We are seriously thinking about doing something about what's happening in Kiev and how "spontaneous" architecture emerges and is built in this sort of conflictive event. We want to build a sort of a tent made out of the typical shields that the berkut are using for the demonstrations. Inside the tent there would be a film with interviews of Ukrainian people that have lived the events. We would love to work with you guys for this to make interviews of the demonstrators inside the tents of Kiev and to have a better view of what's going on. We would also like to draw all possible devices that are used for the demonstrations and make a book out of this. Seeing your beautiful diagrammatic drawings we also think that this is something you could do with us.

Ø
In ideal way - we need to find real authentic stolen from cops shields. That guys have it on "Maydan", but I don't belive they give it to us a lot. One, maybe few in maximum (because this is not the end of protest). We need to ask.

A
Any possibility to buy them?

Ø
Tomorrow we try to call to the military factory. But could be that the possibility to buy it have only goverment organization or some other restrictions. Tomorrow we will check it.

Ø
Hi! Civilian couldn't buy shields on factory.
We have only one way to renting shields from Maydan. But before I ask there we should know how many we need.
I think a van could work. One shield is 1000x590 mm mass is = 4kg

Ø
Quite a lot. I will ask on the Maydan.

Ø
So I was on Maydan till now, and that the results of today:

1. I was talked with the chief of "Samooborona" (local defense of Maydan), and the deputy of commandant of Maydan. So they both think they could give us 20 shields, result will be today after 23:00, after meeting with the commandant.

2. Interviews. After today I have some news, according to situation in Ukraine, when government send in jail for 15 years a man who has few car tires in his trunk. Nobody knows what happen tomorrow. So not a lot people want to tell on camera that they build barricades or catapult, and I understand them. People afraid questions like "How many people were involved in the building?, What materials were used for the building? Where did you obtain them ?". So now the mood on Maydan os not so good for free talking. But we will try to make maximum possible interviews in our deadlines.

Ø
It's ok,

About shields.  Deputy of commandant, she tell me today that the groups of "local defense of Maydan" don't happy to give they "captured" "berkut" shields. Today she will try to push on the leaders of  "local defense", and after 23:00 she could tell me the result. Thats news.

Ø
Thank you for the letter. She on the meeting now (from 21:00) but I send to her SMS about your letter and how it's important for us. But I really worried about this idea with shields, because now every body think that the police will attack Maydan in monday, nobody knows how it will. I hope we will get it. This girl Deputy Commandant, she is quite adequate, she know about Museum of Basel and I realy hope she help us. Unfortunately I can't be on this kind of meeting.

Ø
This girl, she don't answer me. In half a hour I will call again.

I called to the metall diller company they told me for the list of aluminium 1200x4000 thickness 6mm (for 8 shields) price will be 8720 hrn (across 1000 dollars). It's without cutting in pieces.

Ø
Today is very important day, activation of the protests. All shield in use.

Ø
I was talking with Deputy of commandant. Bad news.

We can't get shields. All police shields in the Ukraine is own to the government. Any transportation even in Ukraine - criminal crime. And from Ukraine too. Even if we get the official letter from Museum and then try to move shields from Maydan we will be out of the law. Because previous owner was not legal. ( shields stolen from "berkut" so...) Thats the situation.

Ø
Military suppliers sell it only for police's and army structures not for civil using. If it was possible then all protesters was used them. I was phoned on that factory last week.
Lets look on the copies.

Ø
it’s now
I go

Ø
yes
i'm only from there
more than 200 wounded
few dead
maydan surrounded now
I'm hardly came in office

Ø
maybe tomorrow maydan will be cleaned

Ø
about 10 armored troop-carrier
cops have fire gun weapon

Ø
we was there - running from cops

Ø
it's online, journalist between maydan troops and cops
yes thanks I'm fine
we try to rest and go

Ø
just now 10 dead shot in head by snipers

Ø
Sorry "They don't give it - this shields save their lives"

Text from the exhibition.


FROM MODERNITY TO TRADITION (Installation). Exhibition at the Swiss Architecture Museum (S AM), Basel.

BUREAU A. Leopold Banchini, Daniel Zamarbide (CH).
With BURØ. Sergey Ferley (UA).
Photography.- BUREAU A.

"Orientations. Young Swiss Architects" exhibition curated by Hubertus Adam, director of S AM.

Venue.- S AM Swiss Architecture Museum. Steinenberg 7, CH-4051 Basel. Switzerland.
Dates.- 23.03 – 04.05.2014.

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BUREAU A. Founded in 2012 by the association of Leopold Banchini and Daniel Zamarbide. Architects by training BUREAU A is a multidisciplinary platform aiming to blur the boundaries of research and project making on architectural related subjects, whichever their nature and status.

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Leopold Banchini was born in Geneva in 1981 and is an architect graduated from the EPFL (Ecole Polytechinique Fédérale de Lausanne). He is also Master in Architecture from the University of Lausanne (2007) and graduate of the Glasgow School of Art (2004).

Is a visiting professor in the HEAD (Haute Ecole de Design et) in Geneva since 2010 and Assistant Professor at the EPFL since 2009. He has also been Archozoom project designer in 2009.

Has been placed in Lot / ek Architects (New York) between the years 2004/2005, as an assistant project Art Basel (Basel) in 2005, and as a project partner of the collective Atelier Van Lieshout (AVL) that same year in Rotterdam.

He has developed his work as an architect in b720 Arquitectos (Barcelona) during the years 2007 and 2008, and Group8 Architects (Geneva) in 2009.

In addition, since 2008 part of 1to100 Architects, and architectural collective based in Geneva. Its members have been active and decisive parts in projects such as the winning participation of Bahrain at the last Venice Biennale - RECLAIM Golden Lion 2011, exhibitions such as The Gulf - OMA-AMO's participation at the Venice Biennale 2007 and publications such as AMO-Rem Koolhaas's Al Manakh. Parallel to that, they conduce many different operations ranging from architecture, to journalism, until urban design. They have teaching positions at the EPFL and the University of Arts and Design in Geneva.

Its aim is to take position and initiate reflexions upon our contemporary environment.

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BUREAU, is the new project by Daniel Zamarbide. The practice hides under its generic name a variety of research activities. BUREAU makes things as an urge to react to the surrounding physical, cultural and social environment with a critical standpoint and with an immersive attitude. BUREAU is (in 2017) a furniture series, an editorial project, a design team, they are architects.

Daniel Zamarbide obtains his master degree at the Institut d’Architecture de l’Université de Genève (IAUG) in 1999. During his studies he followed the workshops of Christian Marclay, Philippe Parreno and Catherine Queloz at the École Supérieure des Beaux Arts in Geneva.

In the year 2000 he becomes one of the founding members of group8, an architectural practice that has acquired an important national and international recognition.


Daniel Zamarbide has developed through the years a particular interest in the protean aspects of his discipline and nourishes his work and research through other domains like philosophy, applied and visual arts as well as cinema.

As a guest lecturer and jury he has been invited at a diversity of international schools and institutions to present and discuss his work and research.

Since 2003 his interest in research and education has led him to be invited as an assistant in the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and as a professor (2000-14) at the Haute École d’Art et de Design (HEAD) in Geneva. In 2014, he integrates the team of ALICE Lab (Dieter Dietz) at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) as a guest professor and research director.

In 2012, Daniel leaves group8 to start a new practice with Leopold Banchini, architect. Their practice, BUREAU A has explored during 5 years the possibilities of architectural making in a great variety of formats, opening the practice to work in the fields of art, garden and landscape architecture, exhibition design, temporary architecture and object making.

In 2017, following the dissolution of BUREAU A, Daniel Zamarbide pursues his more personal research interests under the name of BUREAU. This new entity produces architecture in the continuity of BUREAU A and incorporates to his already prolific activities furniture design (with a design brand of the same name) and an editorial project, which launches the first publication in June 2017.

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