CABAN UNNOS: IT'S NOW-OR-NEVER invited artists and other participants to collaborate on building a one-night-house in Berlin during the NEW LIFE BERLIN Festival in June 2008.
CABAN UNNOS: IT'S NOW-OR-NEVER asked what happened to the belief that the land is ours? Taking as it's outset the Welsh tradition, or Folk Law, of building a house in one night, it was believed that if this was done, without disturbance and with smoke issuing from the chimney by dawn, then the plot and the surrounding land that the house stood on would now be beholden to the builder.
Through a program of workshops and talks during the festival, invited participants discussed the practical aspects of clandestine building, vernacular architecture and issues of land ownership, followed by collaborating to build the one-night-house on Alexanderplatz in Berlin.
Building started at around 22:00 on Saturday 7th June and by 03:20 the finished house was standing with smoke rising from the chimney, as the old law prescribed as the standard for a finished "Caban Unnos". Around 50 participants contributed to it's construction, forming a productive, positive and eager community of interested parties. The spirit and energy of this group was strong and showed the positive effects of what can be achieved through communal action.
The house was designed and developed alongside No Fixed Abode by Architect Tony Broomhead (Amenity Space) and appointed Project Manager Dan McTiernan (Why Waste?).
In transferring the traditional rural one-night house into the modern setting of Berlin the team selected appropiate materials that would be freely available in the city. Palettes and plastic water cooler bottles were chosen as they would provide a standardised, abundant and re-usable building material. Alongside this there were various other scavenged and recycled materials from the various wastelands and empty plots of Berlin. Most notable was the oven and chimney constructed from reclaimed bricks, flagstones, metal and ceramic piping.
The house only stood for two hours before it was inevitably challenged. At 05:30 Sunday morning, Polizei arrived and demanded its instant removal. After a period of fruitless negotiation, No Fixed Abode finally complied and deconstruction of the house commenced at 06:30. Without any sleep or time to reflect on the achievement of the night's work, the house disappeared as quickly as it went up. The house exists as memory, a dream of the nights work. A true one-night house.
APPLICATION INFORMATION
1.) To apply for this project, you must have a WOOLOO.ORG account. Please click here to sign up for free.
2.) The application deadline for CABAN UNNOS: IT’S NOW-OR-NEVER is midnight May 30th, 2008. (Pacific Standard Time.)
3.) The application is FREE.
4.) CABAN UNNOS: IT’S NOW-OR-NEVER is part of the NEW LIFE BERLIN Contemporary Art Festival taking place from June 1st -15th 2008.
5.) Applications are open to anyone driven by the reality of building a one-night-house in Berlin. Advice and personal knowledge about any legislation and building issues is greatly appreciated and will receive official Festival accreditation.
6.) All participants of CABAN UNNOS: IT’S NOW-OR-NEVER will be credited as official Festival artists on the online Artists Program, as well as in all post-festival documentation material in both printed and other form.
7.) No Fixed Adobe will hold an opening workshop for all participants on Friday, June 6th 2008 at NEW LIFE SHOP, 10119 Berlin, Germany. At this workshop, participants will together decide how to proceed with the building of the one-night-house within the Festival period.
8.) You will receive an entry confirmation via email, as soon as your online application has been received by Wooloo.
9.) All applications must be made in English through your Wooloo account. Do not send physical material to us, as this cannot be returned.
10.) By submitting an application, you agree that this application and all its accompanying material can be displayed to No Fixed Adobe, as well as any other individuals or groups that Wooloo Productions deem appropriate.
11.) Wooloo Productions reserves the right to modify the project information at any time. Any modifications go into effect the day they are posted and apply to all individuals registered for the project.
DISCUSS THIS PROJECT
lindakanderson
NETHERLANDS
Apr. 29, 2008 04:31
I am wondering about the actual project. Will it be pre-organized? I've been invited to the meeting on the 31st and am curious to know if this means I will be in the whole project. I am looking forward to this. Should I plan to stay at a hostel? Any further information would be most appreciated.
Sincerely,
Linda Anderson
lindakanderson
NETHERLANDS
Apr. 29, 2008 04:31
I am wondering about the actual project. Will it be pre-organized? I've been invited to the meeting on the 31st and am curious to know if this means I will be in the whole project. I am looking forward to this. Should I plan to stay at a hostel? Any further information would be most appreciated.
Sincerely,
Linda Anderson
nofixedabode
UNITED KINGDOM
Apr. 29, 2008 10:51
Hi Linda,
All people are welcome to partake in the project and join in with the build. If you wish to do this by all means do. I'm not sure what the meeting is that you are talking about on the 31st May. This project does not exist in the festival until Friday the 6th of June. Do you know who invited you for this date? I emailed you previously but did not mention any dates.
Horatio Eastwood (No Fixed Abode)
basenorth
UNITED KINGDOM
May. 05, 2008 03:19
Hello we are BaseNorth and would like to apply for the CABAN UNOS project. We are coming to Berlin for an art research trip between the 1st June - 10th June. Does anyone know whether the actual building of the house will happen during these dates. I know there is a pre-meeting on the 6th June, however we dont want to apply if we are not gonna be in the country. Does anybody know?
Nicola
Basenorth
mariale
GERMANY
May. 15, 2008 10:39
Hello!
I looked at the application form and I cannot understand what is meant with "Description of your project". Should we describe a project of ours or should it be something that has to do with this project?
Maria Alevizaki
ambujablue
UNITED STATES
May. 16, 2008 21:49
Hi,
IS this project only for artist residing in Berlin ?
ambujablue
UNITED STATES
May. 16, 2008 21:49
Hi,
IS this project only for artist residing in Berlin ?
annrap
UNITED KINGDOM
May. 23, 2008 07:29
Hi to the Caban Unnos team project
I am arriving on the 30th May to participate in a writing project called Open Dialogues which is part of the festival . Can I just come along to the building of the house and would it be possible at any time to hear you talk about your project as I hope to write about your work during the time I am at the festival
best wishes
Ann Rapstoff
nofixedabode
UNITED KINGDOM
May. 25, 2008 06:32
Hey Guys,
In answer to all these questions.
The actual build will be happening on the night of saturday the 7th June. Anyone is welcome to come and lend a hand. At the moment though we are really looking for people to help out with running the space when it is built and people to act as Caban Unnos ambassadors.
The project is open to everyone anywhere although it may be difficult to contribute if you are not planning on being in Berlin at the time of the build.
If you are applying through Wooloo then the project description is to describe what you hope to do in connection to this project.
If you want to hear about the project come to the New Life Shop on Choriner Strasse 85 on Friday 6th when we will be presenting our research and also the following day when there will be a panel discussion.
Any questions feel free to email us direct at:
contact@nofixedabode.org.uk
Yours,
Horatio Eastwood.
No Fixed Abode
30dayscartographera
UNITED STATES
Jun. 10, 2008 04:18
Hello.
Where can I see the house?
nofixedabode
UNITED KINGDOM
Jun. 11, 2008 13:23
Hey,
The house was built on Saturday night, stood for two hours before the police came and took it down. In answer to your question then I am afraid you cannot go and see the house but there will be plenty of photos on wooloo soon.
Thanks for your interest.
Horatio and Terry.
No Fixed Abode.
nofixedabode
UNITED KINGDOM
Jun. 12, 2008 05:08
Hi there,
The house was built on Saturday 7th and completed at 3.20am. It was started at 22.00 and took 5 hours to complete. The structure stood for two hours before being challenged by the police. At 6.00am the work started on its dismantling. The house therefore no longer stands and existed as a one-night house in more than one sense.
Pictures and videos exist. Visit
http://www.tvbvideo.de/video/iLyROoafYgPQ.html
