Casagrande, Marco

Born May 7, 1971 in the city of Turku in a wealthy Finnish-Italian Catholic family ^[1] . He spent his childhood in Ylitornio , in Finnish Lapland, he studied at school in Karja, in a small village in southern Finland.

After serving in the Finnish army in 1993, he served as a volunteer in the Bosnian-Croatian defensive forces . Under the name of Luca, Mokonesi wrote the book Mostarin tien liftarit (Hitchhiking on the Road to Mostar, WSOY 1997) about his experience in the Bosnian Civil War. The book caused a wide discussion ^[2] . Based on the description of war crimes committed by the main character in his autobiographical book, he came under suspicion as a possible war criminal. In his defense, he later stated that the book was in fact a work of art ^[3] and Kazagrande personally was categorically intolerant of any war crimes: “These troops know that they are acting incorrectly. This is the exact opposite of a constructive society and team spirit. Anyone can understand that these are by no means military-effective measures, breaking into the homes of older people . ”

Kazagrande has been lecturing at the National Defense University of Finland since 2006 on courses in strategy and leadership. ^[four]

In 2001 he graduated from the Faculty of Architecture of the Helsinki Polytechnic Institute .

From the early stages of his career, Casagrande began to mix architecture and other disciplines of art and science with a number of environmentally conscious architectural structures around the world. ^[5] Having become finalists in the 1999 Architectural Review's British Emerging Architecture competition, ^[6] Marco Casagrande and his then partner Sami Rintala were invited to the Venice Biennale . : Venice Biennial ) 2000. Their project, “60 Minute Man,” was described by the New York Times reporter as his personal favorite at the Biennale. ^[7] In the project, Casagrande and Rintala planted an oak forest on an abandoned barge. The soil for the trees was composted human waste produced by Venice in 60 minutes. Casagrande's architectural work covers the areas of architecture, urban planning and environmental planning ( English en: environmental planning ), environmental art, circuses and other artistic disciplines. ^[eight]

Casagrande is in search of subconscious architecture, reality and the connection between modern man and nature. He believes that stress, economic problems, online access to entertainment and information should not blind a person. All that is real is valuable. ^[9] Casagrande's works and teaching freely move between architecture, urban planning, environmental design and science, environmental art and the circus, folded in the interweaving of architectural thinking “сomedia dell'architettura”, a broad vision of the created human environment is associated with social drama and environmental awareness. Nature, in his opinion, is the only reality that exists. ^[5] Casagrande was appointed professor of environmental urban planning at Tamkang University after the creation of the Treasure Hill project, in which Casagrande turned the illegal settlement of local farmers into an experimental laboratory for environmental urbanism. ^{[10] The} capital reconstruction had a mixed reaction from the community.

Casagrande sees cities as an organism with complex energy, in which different intersecting layers of energy flows determine the actions of citizens, as well as the development of the city. By combining environmental architecture ( English en: environmentalism ) and urban planning, Kasangrande develops methods for manipulating urban energy flows in order to create environmentally sustainable urban development towards the so-called third generation city (post-industrial city). ^[11] Casagrande used acupuncture principles in urban planning. This therapy treats blocked points, promoting relaxation throughout the body. Being more direct and sensitive to the needs of society than traditional large-scale institutions, Casagrande believes that urban renovation interventions should not only meet local needs, but also take into account how urban systems worked and how they came together in one node. The goal is to relieve pressure at strategic points, spread it throughout the city. ^[12] The theory of the “Third Generation Cities” considers post-industrial urban conditions as a mechanism destroyed by nature, including human nature and architects, as shamans-designers who only interpret what the highest natural force sends . ^[13] This organic mechanism is undergoing a lengthy and spontaneous process of extermination by citizens, whom Casagrande calls "gardener anarchists", with the help of the urban economy, ^{[14] the} illegally built architecture ^[15] and urban acupuncture. ^[16] This element of “ruins” is seen as something created by man and has become part of nature. ^[17] The theory was developed at the independent interdisciplinary research center of the Ruin Academy in 2010. ^[18]

The city of the third generation follows the first generation, where people peacefully coexisted with nature and the second, which erected walls, stone structures in an attempt to overshadow nature. In the third generation, however, nature, which can never be truly excluded, grows back through the ruins, through cracks in the wall, absorbing human nature back into nature of a broader nature. The third-generation city focuses on local knowledge and “urban acupuncture,” rather than on centrally regulated urban planning. ^[nineteen]

Casagrande describes urban acupuncture as:
[a] Cross-architectural architectural manipulation with the collective sensual intelligence of the city, which is regarded as an energy organism, a living environment. ^[20] This theory opens the door to uncontrolled creativity and freedom. Every citizen gets the opportunity to enter the creative process. “Do not hesitate to use the urban space for any purpose and develop its environment in accordance with the purpose.” ^[21] Agents of the Third Generation City are sensitive citizens who are aware of the destruction of nature by an insensitive modern machine, including the destruction of human nature. ^[22]
The position of architects and designers about organic knowledge is complex. We are not the ones who carry this collective genetic memory, but we are in a better position to interpret and negotiate with it, step by step, like a shaman to receive answers from the organic side. However, everything can easily go completely wrong when an architect begins to copy fragments of local knowledge within his ego. I think it would often be enough to create a platform for accidents based on organic knowledge, start cooking, and find your own forms and dynamics. Design is not required here and it should not replace reality, while knowledge of organic matter is close to reality, nature. ^[23] Casagrande's works were selected three times for the Venice Biennale of Architecture, in 2000, 2004 and 2006. ^[24]

Casagrande & Rintala - Marco Casagrande and Sami Rintala is a group of Finnish architects and artists creating architectural structures (1998-2003 ..) for international venues of contemporary architecture and art. Their work moves between architecture and environmental art. ^[25] In one of their landscape installations, “1000 White Flags” (summer 2002), artists decorated with white flags the ski slope in Koli National Park, Finland. Flags are made from used sheets from psychiatric hospitals. Casagrande and Rintala thus wanted to draw attention to the madness of entrepreneurs who cut down ancient forests. ^{[26] A} work by artists entitled “Land (e) scape” was awarded in 1999 by the British magazine Architectural Review's Emerging Architecture Award ^[6] and selected by the 2000 Venice Biennale. The New York Times architectural critic, Herbert Mushamp, chose their project, entitled “60 Minute Man,” as his personal favorite of the Biennale. ^[27]

Casagrande and Rintala designed and built all their works on their own. The design process continued during construction work.
“The work itself usually changes its shape or takes on more layers during the construction process. We are open to changes in work. When she finds her form, she usually begins to tell us about herself. ” ^[28]

Land (e) scape

Land (e) scape (1999), an architectural installation by Finnish architects Marco Casagrande and Sami Rintala, on an abandoned field in Savonlinna ( Fin. Fi: Savonlinna ). The work is devoted to the process of relocation of the rural population to cities.

Three abandoned wooden huts were “expelled,” as the architects explained, to the point where they were supposed to “make their alliance with the soil.” Lonely huts, standing on their "legs", sway towards the southern cities. ^[29]

The work was awarded the Architectural Review magazine at the 1999 Emerging Architecture competition and was selected for an exhibition at the Venice Biennale in 2000. The Land (e) scape project has opened the international career of Casagrande and Rintala. ^[7]

A work of art was set on fire in October 1999. ^[30]

Land (e) scape introduced Finland at New Trends or Architecture in Europe and Japan in 2001. ^[31]

Redrum

Redrum (2003) - An exhibition of architectonics ( Eng. En: architectonic ) in Anchorage ( Eng. En: Anchorage ), Alaska, created by architects Casagrande and Rintala. The project was commissioned by the Alaska Design Forum. ^[32]

3 tankers for oil transportation were cut into 12 parts, forming the structure of the temple building opposite the Anchorage Federal Building. The interior is painted bright red for contrast with a rusty, rough exterior. The floor is made of 3500 kg of oyster shells. ^[33]

“Redrum” - reading the opposite - “murder” (English murder). Designers wanted to comment on the relationship between oil, war and the environment. Local media perceived the installation as "a slap in the face of Alaska."

Potemkin

Potemkin is a steel architecture park created by Casagrande & Rintala for the Kuramata village in Japan in 2003. Steel mixture between the machine and the temple. ^{[34] The} work consists of indoor and outdoor spaces for post-industrial meditation. ^[35] Potemkin was commissioned by the Japan Triennial of Contemporary Art ( Echigo-Tsumari Contemporary Art Triennial ) in 2003. ^[36]

Potemkin stands like an Acropolis, serves as a post-industrial temple to think about the connection between modern man and nature. I see Potemkin as the disposal of scrap metal located between ancient rice fields and a river with a direct axis to the Shinto Temple. ^[37]

The site is a former illegal dump turned into a park by the river. ^[38] The park's architecture was drawn on a 1: 1 scale in steps in the snow and then built when the snow melted. ^[39]

Park facilities are made of one inch thick steel and recycled municipal and industrial waste. The plot is 130 meters long and 15 meters wide with a series of outdoor and indoor spaces. ^[40]

Other projects

• 60 Minute Man, installation-architecton, Casagrande and Rintala, Venice Architecture Biennale, 2000
• Uunissari Summer Theater, temporary architecture, Casagrande and Rintala, Helsinki, Finland 2000 ^[41]
• 1000 White Flags, environmental architecture, Casagrande and Rintala, Koli, Finland, 2000

^[42]

• English en: Quetzalcoatlus , exhibition, Casagrande and Rintala, Havana Biennale, 2000

^[43]

• English en: Bird Hangar , installation, Casagrande and Rintala, Yokohama Triennial, 2001 ^[44]
• Exhibition 1: 2001, public exhibition, Casagrande and Rintala, Florence Biennale, 2001 ^[45]
• Dallas-Kalevala, art tour, Casagrande and Rintala, Eng. en: Demeter medium art, Hokkaido, Japan, 2002 ^[46]
• Chain reactor, installation-architecton, Casagrande and Rintala, Montreal Biennale, 2002 ^[47]
• Anarchist gardener, play, exhibition, Puerto Rico Biennale, 2002 ^[48]
• Water Sauna, Temporary Architecture, Casagrande and Rintala, Norway, 2002 ^[49]
• English en: Treasure Hill , residential area, Tai Pei, Taiwan, 2003
• Industrial Post Navy, Naval Architecture, CREW * 31, Venice Architecture Biennale, 2004
• Post-Urban Room 104, Exhibition, Taipei Museum of Modern Art, 2005 ^[50]
• Pavilion of the Future, Design Exhibition in Taiwan ^{[51] [52]}
• CityZenGarden, exhibition, Casagrande, Rintala and 3RW Architects, ^[53] Venice Architecture Biennale, 2006 ^[54]
• Chen House, Taiwan. World Architecture Award 2009 ^[55]
• English en: Ruin Academy , city center, Tai pei, Taiwan, 2010 ^[56]
• Cicada, Tai Pei, Taiwan, 2011 ^[57]
• English en: Red Dot , 2012 award ^[58]
• English Sandworm Triennial en: Wenduine , Belgium, 2012 ^{[59] [60] [61]}

• Kohuttu palkkasoturi päätyi arkkitehdiksi - Turun Sanomat January 27, 2001 (Finnish)
• The mind of a fanatic - Helsingin Sanomat, 18 September 2001
• taiteen palkkasotureita - Voima 4/2002 (Finnish)
• Anttalainen & Vasaramäki, Casagrande (KALPA, Maanpuolustuskorkeakoulu, 2011), 38-41.
• Architektur zwischen Landart und Konzeptkunst - Hochschule Munchen 6/2011
• [1] - Architectural Review 12/1999
• [2] - Adam Mornament: When Attitude Becomes Form Contemporary -magazine 2003
• [3] - Thurrock: A Visionary Brief in the Thames Gateway General Public Agency 2004
• [4] - Berkeley Prize Committee and Jury University of California, Berkeley 2007
• Architektur zwischen Landart und Konzeptkunst - Hochschule Munchen 6/2011
• [5] - Atelier 3: Treasure Hill 10/2003
• INTERVIEW WITH M. CASAGRANDE ON URBAN ACUPUNTURE - Laurits Elkjær, Bergen School of Architecture 4/2010
• Urban Acupuncture - Urban Applications - Community + Design Placemaking 2013
• [6] - Marco Casagrande: Cross-over Architecture and the Third Generation City Epifanio 9 2008
• The Community Gardens of Taipei - P2P Foundation 2010
• Illegal Architecture in Taipei - Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan, Architizer 2011
• Anarchist Gardener Issue One 安 那 其 建築 園丁 - Nikita Wu: Anarchist Gardener 2010
• Chen House by C-Laboratory - Dezeen 2009
• Ruin Academy - Landezine 2010
• Returning Humans to Nature and Reality - Nick Couson, eRenlai 2011
• Urban Acupuncture: Revivifying Our Cities Through Targeted Renewal - Kyle Miller MSIS 9/2011
• Ruin Academy - Marco Casagrande Epifanio 14 2011
• Compost City - Guoda Bardauskait p. 30-31, Sustainable Urban Design Journal 1 2011
• An alternative learning platform: Ruin Academy - Anarchist Gardener - Mizah Rahman, Asian Urban Epicenters 2012
• Change from organic city - M. Casagrande, International Society of Biourbanism 2013
• [7] - World Architecture Community
• [8] - World Architecture Community Contemporary -magazine 2003
• [9] - Biennale de Montreal: Casagrande & Rintala (Finland) 2002
• [10] - Architectural Review 12/1999
• [11] - New York Times 2000
• [12] - ARCH'IT: Casagrande & Rintala 2001
• [13] - The Architectural Review: A dramatic architectural installation designed to draw attention to the plight of the Finnish countryside., 12/1999
• [14] - Adam Mornament: When Attitude Becomes Form Contemporary -magazine 2003
• [15] - The Architectural Review: Burning Passion., 12/1999
• [16] - Catalog 1: Participating Architects (New Trends of Architecture in Europe and Japan 2001), 2001
• Alaska Design Forum
• Camp for oppositional architecture 06.25.2004
• Ditmars, Hadani (2003-06-21), Artfully pushing the boundaries in Anchorage, The Globe and Mail, retrieved 2007-12-14
• [17] - Tamkang University: 卡馬 可 Marco Casagrande 2004
• [18] - Camp for Oppositional Architecture 2004
• [19] - Echigo Tsumari Art Triennial 2003
• [20] - Archi-Europe: Potemkin
• [21] - Japan-Guide: Echigo Tsumari Art Triennial Festival Highlights
• [22] - Landezine: Potemkin - Post Industrial Meditation Park by Casagrande & Rintala
• [23] - Architecture News Plus: Potemkin - Post Industrial Meditation Park
• [24] - Architectural Review: Little Top
• [25] - ARCH'IT: Casagrande & Rintala
• [26] - Architizer: Quetzalcoatlus
• [27] - Yokohama 2001: Artist Data Sheet
• [28] - Firenze Biennale Press Release 2001
• [29] - Demeter: Dallas-Kalevala (2002)
• [30] - La Biennale De Montreal: Casagrande & Rintala 10/2003
• [31] - Camp for Oppositional Architecture, 2004
• [32] - 6th Cycle of 20 + 10 + X Architecture Awards, 2010
• [33] - Human: Greetings from London
• [34] - Epifanio: Human Layer_Taipei, 2005
• [35] - Taipei MOCA: Chamber of the Post-Urbanist 104, 2005
• [36] - Taipei Times: Design Expo Attracts Curious, 2005
• [37] - C-LAB: The Art of Taiwan in Psychosis, 2005
• [38] - 3RW Architects: Urban Farmers, 2006
• [39] - Taipei Representative Office: An Architect Takes Care of a Stone Garden in a City of Water, 2006
• [40] - World Architecture: Winners / 4th Cycle, 2009
• [41] - Dezeen: Bug Dome by WEAK !, 2009
• [42] - Daily Tonic: Bug Dome at the 2009 Biennale of Urbanism / Architecture by the WEAK !, 2009
• [43] - Designboom: c laboratory: ruin academy, 2010
• Marco Casagrande's Gorgeous Bamboo "Cicada" Pavilion Snakes its Way Through Urban Taipei - Lori Zimmer, Inhabitat 2012
• Marco Casagrande's bamboo pavilion Cicada wins the RED DOT AWARD 2012 - Finnish Architecture, 2012
• Marco Casagrande Sandworm - Beaufort 04, 2012
• SANDWORM / Marco Casagrande - Diego Hernandez, Arch Daily 2012
• Marco Casagrande's Sandworm - Katrina Tan, Trendland 2012