The 2017 Visiting School to Chile aims at studying from architectural, urban, and territorial perspectives, a series of infrastructures that since the 1960s have been installed in Rapa Nui (Easter Island) because of its extraordinary strategic location in the South Pacific Ocean. These include satellite tracking equipment, seismology and GPS tools, and radio-nuclear detection instruments that came to define global technological projects in the island. In particular, the workshop will focus its attention in the Mataveri Airport which – being the remotest runway in the world – was paved in the 1960s by the United States for the installation of a (currently abandoned) strategic base and extended again by NASA in the 1980s to become emergency landing for space shuttles. The island, in opposition to usual associations to isolation, was instead expedient for the setting of larger technological networks.
While enjoying the extraordinary natural and cultural history of the place, the workshop will explore its technological side, looking for its role within Cold War networks associated to the geopolitical concerns of the ‘space race.’ Complementing the high cultural value of the island, participants will be asked to document these built infrastructures and conceive projects that will engage with a different kind of archaeology. As a design problem, we will reflect on the extension of Rapa Nui’s runway, including its consequences for the tourism industry. We are interested in understanding how seemingly small changes – like an increase in the length of a concrete runway – did produce a substantial enlargement on the connectivity of networks, challenging technical infrastructures and architectonic structures alike, becoming available tools to receive shuttles from outer space. The idea is to spark exploration in similar kinds of projects, tensioning the simplicity of interventions with their high repercussions at a global scale.
The workshop is organized by The Architectural Association School of Architecture, in collaboration with the Museum of Anthropology P. Sebastián Englert and the Catholic University School of Architecture (PUC). The course will be taught by tutors from the AA and PUC, who will offer lectures and seminars within the workshop. The ten-day course is open to engaging students, recent graduates, young designers and architects as well as professionals from all over the world interested in exploring alternative forms of practice.
Applications
The deadline for applications is Friday 3rd of March 2017. Application forms and additional information are available online at: https://www.aaschool.ac.
Title
AA Easter Rising: Visiting School to Easter IslandType
WorkshopWebsite
Organizers
The Architectural Association School of Architecture, in collaboration with the Museum of Anthropology P. Sebastián Englert and the Catholic University School of Architecture (PUC)From
July 12, 2017 12:00 AMUntil
July 21, 2017 12:00 AMVenue
Easter Island (Rapa Nui)
Accommodation & Costs
The AA Visiting School requires a fee of £1,200 per participant, which includes a £60 Visiting Student Membership, payable online at: www.aaschool.ac.uk/santiago. Fees include travel and accommodation in Easter Island, but do not include flights to Chile or accommodation in Santiago. Students need to bring their own laptops and digital equipment. Please ensure this equipment is covered by your own insurance, as the AA takes no responsibility for items lost or stolen at the workshop.