Shame teaches impolite drivers to park correctly

Some months ago Moscow internet-magazine “The Village” created a mobile application to struggle with wrong and illegal parking. In last Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival this project got the Lion and now I want to tell you about it.

In general, the Lion award is like advertising Oscar. Last year Russian advertising agencies became to receive prizes of this Festival and thanks to that reputation of Russian advertising industry became to grow up at the international scene.

The application “The Village: Parking” is very easy to use. If you see a car parking incorrectly you make a photo of it, chose its colour and a body type, and publish. All this is done in only one screen. It’s handy and understandable. But the main idea is not to gather information about breaches; the most important is to spread this information. For example, a man is reading Internet article, and suddenly the 3D picture of car is appearing. He points a cursor to the image and the banner darts out. This banner says that it disturbs you such way as this car in certain street. The banner shows cars-troublemakers which was photographed not far away, for example, near offices or in a court. Then people spread these photos in social networks.

Web-sites taking part in this project are The Village, Look At Me, FurFur. It’s about 2.5 million people every months and also the social networks. The Village creative director Ekaterina Bazilevskaya says that company wants to create an international platform, to unite all media not indifferent in this problem. The application is translated into some languages. People from Germany, USA and other countries asked The Village to develop its project abroad.

Ekaterina is sure that shame in this situation is the most powerful method to break drivers of bad habit to leave their cars at not appointment places. Through some months it will be possible to know how many people changed their behavior. The Village follows recurrences of every car’s breaches. Some project’s friends say that they became more conscientious.

Moscow has a lot of tools to overcome illegal parking. Young activists stick labels to cars “I’m parking like moron”. There are too high fines for incorrect parking. But sometimes nominally legal parking is not polite, for example, when one car takes places of three ones. And you should remember it.

by Valentin Ivanov

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Perpetuum mobile

Today we continue to review new energy efficient and ecologically appropriate buildings in North Europe. And now welcome to the smartest Swedish house.

Villa Akarp is the first house of the third generation in Sweden. It produces more energy than uses.

The house owner Karin Adalbert is physicist and has a great interest in “green” technologies. Her house is really stuffed by them. Now Villa Akarp has three functions: it is a house, a museum, and  an advertisement of this project’s partners and of the “green” movement in whole.

Akarp’s architecture is traditional in many aspects. And what is the difference between energy active house and a usual one? There are solar batteries (32 sq. m.) and suntraps (18 sq. m.) producing warmth. Suntraps are very simple: there are a lot of pipes full of special liquid which get the sun warmth. Later this energy goes to the house and heats it up.

Also there is a recuperator which gathers warmth from hot water. Warm air from house passes under the floor. Villa has a big hallway which economizes heat when the doors are opened. At the centre there is a decorated 2000 liter cistern of hot water. Also there is a stove to burn wood waste. Besides that Villa has a good heat insulation. There is a 0.5 meters of special material in the roof and in the walls.

So this cottage produces more energy than it uses. Remainders of energy go for sale. Every year it brings in big revenue of about 2,000 euros. The installation of new technologies costs 60,000 euros and probably this money will be repaid through 30 years.

But there is one disadvantage. Producing and consumption of energy must harmonize in time. For example solar batteries are effective in summer but house needs energy in winter. Or there is daily imbalance. Solar energy comes in the morning and the day hours but lighting is necessary at night too. Therefore the next step is to accumulate warmth and electric energy.

 

Such houses are supposed to cooperate with the local power grid. But sometimes the house gives energy and sometimes gets it. For electricity it is not profitable now. Probably next year Swedish legislators will pass a law according to which electricity network will pay for energy coming from buildings.

As for Russia such experimental projects is a dream of future.  Only experiments and open research can show advantages and disadvantages of the new building technologies. Our government can promote such projects not only like a good PR-action but also like a real thing which carries away people and investors.

Also it is necessary to make efforts to develop domestic production of recuperators, solar batteries and thermocompressors. Or the energy efficient houses in Russia will be too expensive.

And who can became a participant of experimental projects? For example in Denmark there is a group of companies – materials and technologies producers – which are ready to support ideas like “Villa Akarp”. Besides that the government clearly understands its own aim. Denmark wants to become a world leader in “green” technologies export. Russian developers and landowners think about innovations skeptically.

Russian experience of ecological settlements finds out an interesting fact. People with small budget use innovations more actively than people with a big one. And Stenlose South proves that it is possible to realize experimental project without essential government support.

by Valentin Ivanov

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Mayor as bait for tourists

Fifteen years ago citizens of a small Alaska town Talkeetna decided not to vote for any candidate to mayor. Instead of that they began to canvass for candidate named Stubbs. The plan worked: Stubbs took a majority of votes and won. He achieved success because of his great popularity. There were not blackmails, slanders and briberies. And at that political race he had an irrefutable advantage which the others didn’t have. He was a cat!

Stubbs achieved a political breakthrough in a very young age. Soon after the Nargleys, shop owners, found him and the other kittens in a box left at the door. Since then Stubbs became an unchallenged head of the town, he has been holding a post during last 15 years. Every day he makes the round of Talkeetna and visits local businessmen. Often sleeps at the restaurant tables and drinks… so, only water. According to citizens, Stubbs has never had conflicts with mongrels and other animals. Besides that, this mayor is famous by his devotion to the town: in 2002 he was the last who left the pizzeria which was in fire. Popularity of Stubbs grows every day and there is no word about a loss of confidence.

“He doesn’t raise taxes and we haven’t sales tax. He doesn’t middle in our business and he’s very honest” the local sellers say.

Talkeetna is situated in Matanuska-Susitna Borough and had 876 people in 2010. And so the mayor’s post is only nominal in this town. In spite of the absence of duties Stubbs benefitted to Talkeetna. 30–40 people visit him at the Nargley’s shop every day. Tourists stay here for some time on the road to Mount McKinley. Besides, Stubbs receives letters and postcards from everywhere, he has a lot of friends on Facebook. http://www.facebook.com/mayorstubbs

But such a popularity adversely affected mayor’s character. Now he has a bad habit: he drinks water only from wine glass and only with a cat mint.

by Valentin Ivanov

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Same, same, but different

How the former Yugoslavia countries try to find the individual way to market themselves

Having a look on the former Yugoslavian countries, we can find out some promotional videos, presenting a country in different manners, from different aspects. Nations had been a unite state during all XX century, they have been having a similar to each other unique culture, almost all nations are consisting of one ethnic group – Southern Slavs.

Anyway, we can mention some differences. Let’s have an online tour to former Yugoslavian countries.

In general we can notice the loveliness of Balkan nature which can differ. So, we are able to observe both rocky winter mountains, green forests including fauna, some folklore features. But still, they are different independent countries and there are things to distinguish them.

Firstly, let’s have a look on Croatia. Now it has been becoming a new major touristic country because of dramatically growth of incoming tourists. Regardless the bloody horrible wars of Independence the country got tourism as a main sector in its economy.

 

As it shown truly (by the way, as you have noticed, the video is a touristic commercial), there is a number of UNESCO sites, what does a state significance and make an attraction effect. Unfortunately we can not see anything unique concerning the culture, but it makes a one sort of commercials: attractiveness-based promotional videos.

In addition, we mind the number of wine yards mentioned in the video. It can be a signal for a competence to the nice famous wines of France and Italy as an example.

Secondly, we take another example of a touristic video and it is performed by Montenegro. This video is more atmospheric and sense-oriented. Moreover, it presents more colours and pictures. For example, we can notice a smooth passage from ice peaks to green plain, from extreme sports to just leisure. So further, it is impossible to ignore a presence of a slightly feature of fantasy, as we can see some scenes of picturesque forms of fish and a lady swimming somewhere in the air in a forest.

And one more different of Montenegrin video of Croatian is that the first ones shows all the activities you can enjoy during your vacation since it’s a touristic promo.

Thirdly, from the tourist-orientated commercials mentioned above we are moving to two examples of videos with cultural details in it. So did Slovenia had presenting us some folk crafts and traditional labours (again, mind the grapes and wineries) combined with the still extreme sports.

Then, there is Serbia, presenting more architectural features. Since the architecture is a part of culture it also makes some difference with first two countries even performing a country brand logo.

Simply, there are two things: green valleys and historical buildings. Wait, how could we forget the music? To admit, it makes some different ambience as well and as a part of nation culture. Are there “moments to remember”?

But, we can notice that a slice of a nation’s culture can make a totally different effect and impression of the country.

Finally, there is a lovely commercial of Kosovo called “Young Europeans”. A couple of words about the name: there are young active people contrast to an old man with a weird glance. And, the word “young” can also be applied directly to the country because really, Kosovo is a new young part in the European Community.

As an idea there is a perfect metaphor about raising the country, like they do literally with a mosaic shape and balloons and like it should “rise” nowadays, even by a simple recognition of being a young sovereign country.

by Sergei Makarov 

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Countless houses

Chilean families now can slide apart limits of their living spaces. It became possible due to Chilean architect Alejandro Aravena, his project is a new word in house construction activity for weak strata of society.

That’s how matters stand now

Our modern world knows two main social housing models. The first one is European, there low demands of visual equality between social and commercial housing. So, non-profit housing and houses with small cheap flats must not differ from commercial buildings located at the same city district. Only outwardly. 

Now ask me what does European architect’s elite get prestige awards for. There is simple explanation. During last years all those architects, designers and artists with big passion practiced in creativity of impressive visual shapes in social housing. The first house is like a big circus, the second one is like a bee glue, the third is a chessboard. Balconies slide in and slide out like drawers, the walls and the floors are completely transparent… Fantasy of architects is unlimited! And per se all it is social housing! 

So, the second model of social housing could be called Soviet-Russian one. It presupposes embedding of municipal and state project to technical systems used long years. Concerning Russia it is speech about mass panel house building. In contrast to Europe, Russian state customers approach a question of house building without unnecessary sentimentality. Here planning and engineering solutions of Soviet models are reproduced actively. And we don’t see any growth of technology in this sphere. 

General weak point of Russian and European social housing models is all-embracing minimalism and impossibility of living floor space’s widening (for example, in case of baby born) neither horizontal nor vertical because the houses are built multistory. One way to improve living conditions is to move to a new place, to more spacious accommodation which is purchased or is provided in another city district as a rule. Meanwhile such forced resettlements from one region to another (or from one city district to another one) cause a whole tangle of social problems. Such a mobility destroys well-established social connections inside residential neighborhood. A risk of crime wave arises because of social environment’s devastation. Almost every megalopolis has demonstrative examples of degradation of social housing districts. As a rule solution is only one: launching of slums’ redevelopment, the urban poor’s resettlement, following development and building of prestige housing or commercial realty at those free territories. So it is a forced method to improve urban environment. 

Top class in social housing’s building is an ability of contractors and designers to combine an acceptable comfort level with limited budget.

“Hollow space” has some social perspectives…

Still now it was considered that it is impossible to overstep the limits of today’s system on the strength of architectural and town planning restrictions. In any case there was no large experiment in this area. But young Chilean architect Alejandro Aravena managed to destroy ordinary stereotypes and to create new paradigm of social housing. He is the head of Elemental company (which is patronized by the oil company COPEC and the Catholic University), and he has projected some housing estates in Chile and Mexico. The features of Aravena’s constructions made it possible to “stick” an extra-space to building’s fundamental structure. In this case an annex costs cheapler than “basic equipment” in five or six times. 

So, in Chilean town Ikeke the modular 36-meters duplexes were built in place of “cardboard and veneer” slums. And what is interesting, architects foresaw hollow space for future widening of standard flats up to 72 square meters. The cost was defrayed by the government subsidy almost completely and was averaged near $200 for one square meter. 

 Not long time ago Aravena has embodied another large-scale project of social housing in Mexican Santa-Catarina. Here 70 new houses were built with duplexes and flats of 40 sq. m. which can be widen up to 58–76 sq. m. This complex includes flats and hollow spaces for broadening, is united by common ground floor and is covered with wide plane protecting of rain and wind. The cost of this kind of estate is $500 for 1 square meter. 

During the building Aravena did not tried to decide something for users. In contrast, he suggested that they should approach to life and habitat’s creation with fantasy, fill the flats with content without independently, set housings’ forms. 

“We deal with future lodgers much, hold presentations, workshops, put future house from children’s bricks, ask people to draw houses where they want to live” – Aravena says. In Chile is borrowed a using of “participation architecture” from 60s. It presupposes to be tactful and long conversations between architects and all members of family including children. Such interlocutions allowed contriving of dwelling for family needs perfectly. For example in the houses there were special niches for children who adore secluded nooks. Or, may be, there were auxiliary utility rooms for something. 

Many Aravena’s architect colleagues criticize him for his projects’ dullness and monotony. Meanwhile Aravena is fully confident that such monotony is necessary condition of future personalization: that will allow every family to contrive its accommodations to fit them need.

A possibility of the dwelling’s transformation allows people to go beyond social limitations dictated by requirements specification and budget. Aravena’s recipe not only gives people roofs over their heads but very efficiently stimulates them to social activities and responsibility. For many poor men such housing subsidies are social investments and a way of poverty overcoming. During four years since completion one of the Chilean architect’s projects near 80% of people moved into new flats have procured means to build on hollow spaces. 

The costs of the property grew from the slums has increased. These houses’ owners are not social outcast for banks now and it gave them more possibilities of social adaptation. 

It should say that municipalities receive some bonuses also. Many governments and municipal administrations in every possible way stimulate private initiatives and creative approach to social building. For example, the crime rate in the Aravena’s districts came down appreciably. The habitants keep possibilities of big city: qualitative public health, education, transport, insurance and job-sites). In perspective municipal administration will save money at the expense of additional infrastructure charges which always appear during the building of new social housing estates. 

by Valentin Ivanov

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