Modern crisis, caused by wars, climate catastrophes or social and economic precarity, force people to flee. In this context borderlands have to be seen as new typologies of space often limiting transit flows of migration. One of the urgently discussed issues of our time is the refugee crisis in the Mediterranean Sea. This maritime borderland has become a space of political trials of strength, causing state crime and the violation of human rights. Our main idea was to make this crisis visible by designing a buoy that can be seen as a space of rescue but also as a memorial.
"Mind the Gap" is the winning entry of the CBDX competition B(OR)DERL(AND)S.
KOOZ What prompted the participation in the Borderlands competition?
CF | JS Our main interest was to work on a project that looks at architecture not only as build space produced by neoliberal determination but also as a field of discourse, questioning current political, economic and social tendencies. In 2014 and 2015 Germany witnessed thousands of refugees fleeing from the Syrian civil war, seeking for German asylum. For us, it became very clear that society in general, not just politicians, but also like in our case architects have to deal with this crisis. The question we thought about a lot was how we as architects could become part of the political discourse of borderlands and how could we intervene in these liminal spaces. The announcement of the competition about borders curated by CBDX gave us the motivation to become part of this specific socio-political discourse.
Our main interest was to work on a project that looks at architecture not only as build space produced by neoliberal determination but also as a field of discourse.
KOOZ What is for you the value of the "conceptual" architecture competition for the discourse?
CF | JS Architecture is often bound to many rules and regulations. In a spatial and political discourse, conceptual work allows you to enhance the limits of physical implementation and to give space for more exaggerated and radical thoughts. This is the moment where design can communicate a vision, pushing the former boundaries and transcending the current meaning of architecture and its contribution to the discourse about the future. Even though working on a conceptual level the architectural idea can trigger a new way of looking at actual politics and crisis and find possible solutions.
The freedom in the design process, meaning being able to design a quasi-utopian approach to the refugee crisis, allowed us to provoke a more critical perception of the maritime border of the Mediterranean Sea. An outcome that is hard to reach if you just focus on the practicability of the architectural implementation.
KOOZ What questions does the submission seek to raise and which does it address?
CF | JS Wars, political riots, economic crisis, and the climate change are forcing people to leave their home countries, leading to huge refugee movements now and in the next decades. The question we seek to raise with our submission is: Who is a part of this catastrophe and who is responsible to act and intervene in borderlands in favor of both sides? The refugee crisis has to be seen as a part of the European history too. The European Union must act as a Union. Currently, southern European states like Spain, Italy and Greece are left alone with the mass immigration. The EU is limiting the transit through treaties like the Dublin Regulation. The point is: the people who flee won´t stop at fences, if you look at Ceuta or Melilla for example, and if the whole Mediterranean Sea is filled with drones and ships by FRONTEX, the people will still flee.
The question we asked ourselves was, how we as European architects can contribute to the discourse of the refugee catastrophe. Our submission was not intended as a solution. It was rather meant to show that this catastrophe is still going on with no prospect of change on the part of the governments.
In a spatial and political discourse, conceptual work allows you to enhance the limits of physical implementation and to give space for more exaggerated and radical thoughts.
KOOZ How does the project approach the role and definition of "border" and "monument"?
CF | JS Oceans are geographical and political borders at the same time. Not like national borders the Mediterranean Sea doesn´t show conventional typologies of exclusion like fences, checkpoints, cameras and security guards.
Maritime borders seem like a blurry space between states. At this point the question arose, how we can intervene in such a space of division. And: how can we design an object that is not only aiding people in distress but also giving this space of transit a critical connotation, as tens of thousands of people died trying to reach the EU in hope for a better life? Therefore, we designed a type of rescue buoy, that is located in large numbers in the Mediterranean Sea on the main sea routes, creating a huge guidance system between the African and the European continent. The buoy can be seen as a space of rescue on the one side, equipped with a SOS-system and care packages, and as a monument on the other side.
The buoy is meant to be the physical and metaphoric connector in this crisis. The main idea of the concept was not only to emphasize the relevance of the current situation, but also to create a space of resonance that is full of empathy and the will to act. If there should be a solution for a better and safer transit for refugees in the future, the buoys would still commemorate the past catastrophe.
KOOZ What is for you the power of the architectural imaginary?
CF | JS The interesting thing about Architecture is that the imaginary is always a part of its design process. Even if Newton´s Cenotaph by Boulée or the Tower of Babel are just utopian or dystopian imaginations. They often find their way into real life, nor in the same scale nor the same context, but as metaphors. The architectural imaginary crosses the supposed limits and enhances the perception of how we can see the world. That´s the reason why we think that architecture is more than just the reproduction of space. It has to be seen as a medium or a different perspective enabling us to look at issues and problems from another point of view.
