BERL 13/057
Installation at the Imagine Europe exhibition organized by BOZAR in Brussels that features a (slightly improved) replica of the office of the President of the European Commission allowing visitors a simulated experience of the power and pressure of governing the European project.
2016
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Housed in a single non-descript cell office, behind piles of documents, and a set of video and teleconferencing tools, the arguably most powerful European legislator is at work. Photo by Delmi Alvarez
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At the occasion of the Imagine Europe exhibition at BOZAR this installation offers a replica of the President’s office, BERL13/057, open to exhibition visitors to explore Photo by BOZAR
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Visitors can embrace both the power and the pressure that lies in this non-descript office that in its simplicity emanates some of the essences of the European project: professional, effec-tive, but also lackluster in creating an esthetical or symbolic ambition. Photo by BOZAR
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Included in the replica are a number of easter eggs for visitors to find; a safe with Plan B on it, a wink to doubts of the EU’s imminent prospect at the time, and a curated library that includes an idealized political reading list, amongst others. Photo by BOZAR
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Added to the original room is a mock-up of a large digital dashboard that shows the President the progress of integration: live feeds from the EU’s construction yards in science, legislation, culture, infrastructure, and the economy.
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The installation both appeals to the EU’s impressive slate of progress, while also confronting its inability to articulate its power in a form that is seductive and readable to the public. Photo by BOZAR
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The EU’s machinelike architecture is its most undervalued quality. The Berlaymont building is a by now rare example of an unapologetic modernity, which is both generic and heroic. The Berlaymont fiercely defies the dictatorial command of supposed playfulness: it facilitates tremendous innovation and creativity without Eames chairs, foosball tables and bean bags. It remorselessly delivers newly informed doctrines by a collective of 2.700 bright mostly young Europeans under tremendous pressures performing highly complicated and delicate duties. Despite and because of all difficulties, it performs and delivers. It’s a European machine that collectively:
- creates the infrastructure to reduce our energy dependencies, at current installing more than 4.000km of gas and electricity lines, energy storages and smart grid systems.
- dramatically improves European travel by building, upgrading and planning more than 6.500km of (high-speed) European rail tracks and roads, adding new border crossing tunnels, parking areas, funding traffic noise reduction, alternative fuel stations, effectively eliminating international bottle necks.
-enables Europe’s movie production from Italian grandeur of la Grande Belleza and Youth, English drama of Carol to Hungarian tragedy of Son of Saul with 11 EU supported movies receiving Oscar nominations and 7 Golden Globe awards in 2015.-
-supports researchers in the search for perfect solar panels (4 projects), windmills (3 projects), airplanes (5 projects), self-driving non-polluting cars (15 projects), encourages using the earth geothermal capacities (4 projects), carbon capturing (3 projects), reducing the footprint of our daily lives.
-keeps Europe an attractive destination, through heritage, agricultural policies, and providing facelifts in 54 urban capitals of European culture.
-It compensates some of the failings of our market economy: keeps banks from imploding and corrupting, enforcing paying taxes, open competitions.
-understands that Fortress Europe is unattainable, and tries to communicate this with its people.
AMO: Stephan Petermann, Rem Koolhaas
BOZAR: Iwan Strauven, Francis Carpentier