Marco Casagrande
Encyclopedia
Marco Casagrande, is a Finnish architect, environmental artist
, architectural theorist
, writer
and professor
of architecture
. He graduated from Helsinki University of Technology
department of architecture (2001).
, Finland
, to a well-off Finnish-Italian Catholic
family. He spent his childhood in Ylitornio
in Finnish Lapland, but went to school in Karjaa, a southern Finland smalltown, before moving to Helsinki
to study architecture.
, in 1993 Casagrande volunteered for the Bosnian Croat
Defence Forces HVO
. He wrote under name Luca Moconesi a controversial book Mostarin tien liftarit / Hitchhikers on the Road to Mostar (WSOY 1997) about his experiences in the Bosnian Civil War
. Based on descriptions of war crimes committed by the main character in the autobiographical
book, he came under suspicion as a possible war criminal. As a defence, he later stated that the book was in fact a work of fiction.
Personally Casagrande shows zero tolerance to any war crimes what so ever. "Those troops know that they are doing wrong. This is the very opposite of constructive collectivity and group spirit. Anybody can understand that it is by no measures militarily efficient to go kicking the doors of an old peoples home." Casagrande has been lecturing in the National Defence University of Finland since 2006 on courses of strategy
and leadership
.
Emerging Architecture competition (1999) Marco Casagrande and his then partner Sami Rintala
were invited to the Venice Biennial 2000. The New York Times reporter chose their project "60 Minute Man" as his personal favorite in the Biennale. In the project Casagrande & Rintala had planted on oak forest in an abandoned barge on top of 60 minutes worth of composted human waste produced by the city of Venice. Casagrande’s cross-over architectural work encompasses the realms of architecture, urban and environmental planning
, environmental art
, circus
es and other art
istic disciplines.
In search for subconscious architecture, real reality and connection between the modern man and nature. He believes that one shall not be blindfolded by stress, the surroundings of economics, the online access to entertainment or information. What is real is valuable.
Casagrande was nominated as the professor of ecological urban planning in the Taiwan based Tamkang University
after the Treasure Hill project, in which Casagrande changed an illegal settlement of urban farmers into an experimental laboratory of environmental urbanism. The overhaul had mixed reactions from the community.
His theory of the Third Generation City views the post industrial urban condition as a machine ruined by human nature and architects as design shamans merely interpreting what the bigger nature of the shared mind is transmitting. The theory is developed in the independent multidisciplinary research centre Ruin Academy
(2010-).
Casagrande's works have been selected three times to the Venice Architecture Biennale; years 2000, 2004 and 2006.
and environmental art
.
For their landscape installation 1000 White Flags (summer 2002), for example, the artists speckled a downhill-skiing range in Koli Nature Park, Finland, with flags made of used sheets from mental hospitals. Casagrande & Rintala here drew attention to the madness of businessmen who cut down ancient forests.
Casagrande & Rintala's work Land(e)scape was awarded in the Architectural Review
's Emerging Architecture Award 1999 competition and chosen to the Venice Biennale
2000. New York Times architecture critic Herbert Muschamp
chose their project 60 Minute Man his personal favourite of the biennale.
Casagrande & Rintala designed and built all their works by themselves. The design process continued during the construction work.
"The work itself usually changes its shape or obtains more layers during the construction process. We keep ourselves open to changes in the work. When it is finding its shape it usually starts to tell us more about itself."
by Finnish architects Casagrande & Rintala, with Marco Casagrande and Sami Rintala
, in a former field
in Savonlinna
. The work is commenting on the desertion process of the Finnish countryside.
Three of these abandoned barns ‘were driven,’ the architects explained, ‘to the point where they have had to break their primeval union with the soil. Desolate, they have risen on their shanks and are swaying towards the cities of the south.’
The work was awarded in the Architectural Review
's Emerging Architecture 1999 competition and selected to the Venice Biennale
2000. Land(e)scape launched the international career or Casagrande & Rintala
The art work was set on fire by the authors in October 1999.
Land(e)scape represented Finland in the New Trends or Architecture in Europe and Japan 2001 exhibitions.
installation in Anchorage Alaska
by Finnish architects Casagrande & Rintala. The work is commissioned by Alaska Design Forum.
3 Alaska Railroad
oil
tanks cut into total 12 pieces and turned into a temple
structure opposite the Federal Building of Anchorage in the crossing of C-Street and 7th Avenue. The interior is painted bright red in contrast to the rusty and brutal exterior. The floor is made of 3500 kg of oyster
shells, the origin of all Alaskan oil.
"Redrum" is "murder" backwards. The designers intended to comment on the connection of oil, war and environment. Local media described the piece as "a slap in the face to Alaskans".
2003. A steel made mix between a temple and machine. The work consists indoor and outdoor spaces for post-industrial meditation. Potemkin is commissioned by the Echigo-Tsumari Contemporary Art Triennial 2003.
Potemkin stands as the Acropolis to be the post industrial temple to think of the connection between the modern man and nature. I see Potemkin as a cultivated junk yard situated between the ancient rice fields and the river with a straight axis to the Shinto temple.
The site is a former illegal dumping ground turned into a riverside park. The architecture of the park was drawn on site in 1:1 scale on snow by walking the lines with snow-shoes and then built up when the snow melted.
The park is made out of one inch thick Kawasaki steel and recycled urban and industrial waste. It is 130 meters long and 15 meters wide with a series of outdoor and indoor spaces.
Environmental art
The term environmental art is used in two different contexts: it can be used generally to refer to art dealing with ecological issues and/or the natural, such as the formal, the political, the historical, or the social context....
, architectural theorist
Architectural theory
Architectural theory is the act of thinking, discussing, or most importantly writing about architecture. Architectural theory is taught in most architecture schools and is practiced by the world's leading architects. Some forms that architecture theory takes are the lecture or dialogue, the...
, writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
and professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
of architecture
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
. He graduated from Helsinki University of Technology
Helsinki University of Technology
Aalto University School of Science and Technology , was the temporary name for Helsinki University of Technology during the process of forming the Aalto University...
department of architecture (2001).
Early life
Casagrande was born in TurkuTurku
Turku is a city situated on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River. It is located in the region of Finland Proper. It is believed that Turku came into existence during the end of the 13th century which makes it the oldest city in Finland...
, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, to a well-off Finnish-Italian Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
family. He spent his childhood in Ylitornio
Ylitornio
Ylitornio is a municipality of Finland.It is located in the province of Lapland at the shore of the Torne River, opposite to Övertorneå. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is ....
in Finnish Lapland, but went to school in Karjaa, a southern Finland smalltown, before moving to Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
to study architecture.
Mercenary and writer
After his service in the Finnish ArmyFinnish Army
The Finnish Army is the land forces branch of the Finnish Defence Forces.Today's Army is divided into six branches: the infantry , field artillery, anti-aircraft artillery, engineers, signals, and materiel troops.-History of the Finnish Army:Between 1809 and 1917 Finland was an autonomous part of...
, in 1993 Casagrande volunteered for the Bosnian Croat
Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia
The Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia was an unrecognised entity in Bosnia and Herzegovina that existed between 1991 and 1994 during the Bosnian war. It was proclaimed on November 18, 1991 under the name Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia, and claimed to be a separate or distinct "political,...
Defence Forces HVO
HVO
- Organizations :*Croatian Defence Council , a military formation of the self-proclaimed Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia during the Bosnian War*Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, a unit of the US Geological Survey...
. He wrote under name Luca Moconesi a controversial book Mostarin tien liftarit / Hitchhikers on the Road to Mostar (WSOY 1997) about his experiences in the Bosnian Civil War
Bosnian War
The Bosnian War or the War in Bosnia and Herzegovina was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between April 1992 and December 1995. The war involved several sides...
. Based on descriptions of war crimes committed by the main character in the autobiographical
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
book, he came under suspicion as a possible war criminal. As a defence, he later stated that the book was in fact a work of fiction.
Personally Casagrande shows zero tolerance to any war crimes what so ever. "Those troops know that they are doing wrong. This is the very opposite of constructive collectivity and group spirit. Anybody can understand that it is by no measures militarily efficient to go kicking the doors of an old peoples home." Casagrande has been lecturing in the National Defence University of Finland since 2006 on courses of strategy
Strategy
Strategy, a word of military origin, refers to a plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal. In military usage strategy is distinct from tactics, which are concerned with the conduct of an engagement, while strategy is concerned with how different engagements are linked...
and leadership
Leadership
Leadership has been described as the “process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task". Other in-depth definitions of leadership have also emerged.-Theories:...
.
Architect and artist
After being a finalist in the UK journal Architectural Review'sArchitectural Review
The Architectural Review is a monthly international architectural magazine published in London since 1896. Articles cover the built environment which includes landscape, building design, interior design and urbanism as well as theory of these subjects....
Emerging Architecture competition (1999) Marco Casagrande and his then partner Sami Rintala
Sami Rintala
Sami Rintala is a Finnish architect and artist. He studied architecture at Helsinki University of Technology, completing his studies in 1999. Rintala’s own work is based on narrative and conceptualism...
were invited to the Venice Biennial 2000. The New York Times reporter chose their project "60 Minute Man" as his personal favorite in the Biennale. In the project Casagrande & Rintala had planted on oak forest in an abandoned barge on top of 60 minutes worth of composted human waste produced by the city of Venice. Casagrande’s cross-over architectural work encompasses the realms of architecture, urban and environmental planning
Environmental planning
Environmental Planning is the process of facilitating decision making to carry out development with due consideration given to the natural environmental, social, political, economic and governance factors and provides a holistic frame work to achieve sustainable outcomes.-Elements of environmental...
, environmental art
Environmental art
The term environmental art is used in two different contexts: it can be used generally to refer to art dealing with ecological issues and/or the natural, such as the formal, the political, the historical, or the social context....
, circus
Circus
A circus is commonly a travelling company of performers that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, unicyclists and other stunt-oriented artists...
es and other art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
istic disciplines.
In search for subconscious architecture, real reality and connection between the modern man and nature. He believes that one shall not be blindfolded by stress, the surroundings of economics, the online access to entertainment or information. What is real is valuable.
Casagrande was nominated as the professor of ecological urban planning in the Taiwan based Tamkang University
Tamkang University
Tamkang University is a private Taiwanese university located in Tamsui District, New Taipei City. Founded in 1950 as a junior college of English literature, the college has expanded into a full university with 11 colleges today....
after the Treasure Hill project, in which Casagrande changed an illegal settlement of urban farmers into an experimental laboratory of environmental urbanism. The overhaul had mixed reactions from the community.
His theory of the Third Generation City views the post industrial urban condition as a machine ruined by human nature and architects as design shamans merely interpreting what the bigger nature of the shared mind is transmitting. The theory is developed in the independent multidisciplinary research centre Ruin Academy
Ruin Academy
Ruin Academy is an independent cross-over architectural research center in the Urban Core area of Taipei City, Taiwan. It is 'set to re-think the industrial city and the modern man in the box' through research and a series of workshops....
(2010-).
Casagrande's works have been selected three times to the Venice Architecture Biennale; years 2000, 2004 and 2006.
Collaboration with Rintala
Casagrande & Rintala - Marco Casagrande and Sami Rintala - is a Finnish architect and artist group producing architectonic installations 1998 - 2003 for international venues of contemporary architecture and art. Their works are moving in-between architectureArchitecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
and environmental art
Environmental art
The term environmental art is used in two different contexts: it can be used generally to refer to art dealing with ecological issues and/or the natural, such as the formal, the political, the historical, or the social context....
.
For their landscape installation 1000 White Flags (summer 2002), for example, the artists speckled a downhill-skiing range in Koli Nature Park, Finland, with flags made of used sheets from mental hospitals. Casagrande & Rintala here drew attention to the madness of businessmen who cut down ancient forests.
Casagrande & Rintala's work Land(e)scape was awarded in the Architectural Review
Architectural Review
The Architectural Review is a monthly international architectural magazine published in London since 1896. Articles cover the built environment which includes landscape, building design, interior design and urbanism as well as theory of these subjects....
's Emerging Architecture Award 1999 competition and chosen to the Venice Biennale
Venice Biennale
The Venice Biennale is a major contemporary art exhibition that takes place once every two years in Venice, Italy. The Venice Film Festival is part of it. So too is the Venice Biennale of Architecture, which is held in even years...
2000. New York Times architecture critic Herbert Muschamp
Herbert Muschamp
Herbert Mitchell Muschamp was an American architecture critic.- Early years :Born in Philadelphia, Muschamp described his childhood home life as follows: “The living room was a secret. A forbidden zone. The new slipcovers were not, in fact, the reason why sitting down there was taboo. That was...
chose their project 60 Minute Man his personal favourite of the biennale.
Casagrande & Rintala designed and built all their works by themselves. The design process continued during the construction work.
"The work itself usually changes its shape or obtains more layers during the construction process. We keep ourselves open to changes in the work. When it is finding its shape it usually starts to tell us more about itself."
Land(e)scape
Land(e)scape (1999), an architectural installationInstallation art
Installation art describes an artistic genre of three-dimensional works that are often site-specific and designed to transform the perception of a space. Generally, the term is applied to interior spaces, whereas exterior interventions are often called Land art; however, the boundaries between...
by Finnish architects Casagrande & Rintala, with Marco Casagrande and Sami Rintala
Sami Rintala
Sami Rintala is a Finnish architect and artist. He studied architecture at Helsinki University of Technology, completing his studies in 1999. Rintala’s own work is based on narrative and conceptualism...
, in a former field
Field (agriculture)
In agriculture, the word field refers generally to an area of land enclosed or otherwise and used for agricultural purposes such as:* Cultivating crops* Usage as a paddock or, generally, an enclosure of livestock...
in Savonlinna
Savonlinna
Savonlinna is a town and a municipality of inhabitants in the southeast of Finland, in the heart of the Saimaa lake region. The Finnish name of the town means "Castle of Savonia" and the Swedish name means "Newcastle".- History :...
. The work is commenting on the desertion process of the Finnish countryside.
Three of these abandoned barns ‘were driven,’ the architects explained, ‘to the point where they have had to break their primeval union with the soil. Desolate, they have risen on their shanks and are swaying towards the cities of the south.’
The work was awarded in the Architectural Review
Architectural Review
The Architectural Review is a monthly international architectural magazine published in London since 1896. Articles cover the built environment which includes landscape, building design, interior design and urbanism as well as theory of these subjects....
's Emerging Architecture 1999 competition and selected to the Venice Biennale
Venice Biennale
The Venice Biennale is a major contemporary art exhibition that takes place once every two years in Venice, Italy. The Venice Film Festival is part of it. So too is the Venice Biennale of Architecture, which is held in even years...
2000. Land(e)scape launched the international career or Casagrande & Rintala
The art work was set on fire by the authors in October 1999.
Land(e)scape represented Finland in the New Trends or Architecture in Europe and Japan 2001 exhibitions.
Redrum
Redrum (2003) is an architectonicArchitectonic
Architectonic may mean:*pertaining to architecture, or suggesting the qualities of architecture*in Aristotelianism, as well as Kantianism, systematization of all knowledge...
installation in Anchorage Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
by Finnish architects Casagrande & Rintala. The work is commissioned by Alaska Design Forum.
3 Alaska Railroad
Alaska Railroad
The Alaska Railroad is a Class II railroad which extends from Seward and Whittier, in the south of the state of Alaska, in the United States, to Fairbanks , and beyond to Eielson Air Force Base and Fort Wainwright in the interior of that state...
oil
Oil
An oil is any substance that is liquid at ambient temperatures and does not mix with water but may mix with other oils and organic solvents. This general definition includes vegetable oils, volatile essential oils, petrochemical oils, and synthetic oils....
tanks cut into total 12 pieces and turned into a temple
Temple
A temple is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, or analogous rites. A templum constituted a sacred precinct as defined by a priest, or augur. It has the same root as the word "template," a plan in preparation of the building that was marked out...
structure opposite the Federal Building of Anchorage in the crossing of C-Street and 7th Avenue. The interior is painted bright red in contrast to the rusty and brutal exterior. The floor is made of 3500 kg of oyster
Oyster
The word oyster is used as a common name for a number of distinct groups of bivalve molluscs which live in marine or brackish habitats. The valves are highly calcified....
shells, the origin of all Alaskan oil.
"Redrum" is "murder" backwards. The designers intended to comment on the connection of oil, war and environment. Local media described the piece as "a slap in the face to Alaskans".
Potemkin
Potemkin is a steel made architectural park by Casagrande & Rintala for Kuramata village in JapanJapan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
2003. A steel made mix between a temple and machine. The work consists indoor and outdoor spaces for post-industrial meditation. Potemkin is commissioned by the Echigo-Tsumari Contemporary Art Triennial 2003.
Potemkin stands as the Acropolis to be the post industrial temple to think of the connection between the modern man and nature. I see Potemkin as a cultivated junk yard situated between the ancient rice fields and the river with a straight axis to the Shinto temple.
The site is a former illegal dumping ground turned into a riverside park. The architecture of the park was drawn on site in 1:1 scale on snow by walking the lines with snow-shoes and then built up when the snow melted.
The park is made out of one inch thick Kawasaki steel and recycled urban and industrial waste. It is 130 meters long and 15 meters wide with a series of outdoor and indoor spaces.
Other works
- 60 Minute Man, architectonic installation, Casagrande & Rintala, Venice Architecture Biennale 2000
- 50 meters long abandoned barge into which is planted an oak garden on top of 60 minutes worth of human waste produced by the city of Venice.
- Uunisaari Summer Theatre, temporary architecture, Casagrande & Rintala, Helsinki Finland 2000
- A temporary round theatre building on Suomenlinna -island outside of Helsinki.
- 1000 White Flags, environmental art installation, Casagrande & Rintala, Koli Finland 2000
- White flags out of used sheets from mental hospitals mounted on a downhill skiing range to cure the hill.
- QuetzalcoatlusQuetzalcoatlusQuetzalcoatlus was a pterodactyloid pterosaur known from the Late Cretaceous of North America , and one of the largest known flying animals of all time. It was a member of the Azhdarchidae, a family of advanced toothless pterosaurs with unusually long, stiffened necks...
, installation, Casagrande & Rintala, Havana Biennale 2000- A 300 kg iron bar stretched between two university building with 10 km of fishing line.
- Bird Hangar, architectonic installation, Casagrande & Rintala, Yokohama Triennial 2001
- A re-bar and hemp rope silo releasing balsa birds attached to meteorological balloons carrying seeds of Japanese vegetables to the city.
- Installation 1:2001, public installation, Casagrande & Rintala, Firenze Biennale 2001
- A round wall of 15.000 political, philosophical and religious books from around the wall title backs out, white paper in. The work was originally intended to be installed in Cuba, but Government resistance forced the project to Italy.
- Dallas-Kalevala, art journey, Casagrande & Rintala, DemeterDemeterIn Greek mythology, Demeter is the goddess of the harvest, who presided over grains, the fertility of the earth, and the seasons . Her common surnames are Sito as the giver of food or corn/grain and Thesmophoros as a mark of the civilized existence of agricultural society...
Environmental Art, Hokkaido Japan 2002- A land journey from Finland to Japan with car collecting polaroid photos of grandmothers, old axes and local radio sound.
- Chain Reactor, architectonic installation, Casagrande & Rintala, Montreal Biennale 2002
- A 6 x 6 x 6 meters cube of I-beams and recycled steel chain to frame a fire place.
- Anarchist Gardener, performance art and installations, Puerto Rico Biennial 2002
- A parade of an invented God to stop highway traffic in order to construct a series of industrial Zen gardens.
- Floating Sauna, temporary architecture, Casagrande & Rintala, Rosendahl village Norway 2002
- A floating transparent sauna in the end of a fjord as the public space of a fishing village. 6th Cycle of 20+10+X Architecture Awards winner.
- Treasure HillTreasure HillTreasure Hill is a formally illegal settlement in Taipei City, Taiwan. The community was founded by the Chinese Nationalist Party Kuomintang veterans in the end of 1940's and served originally as an anti aircraft position...
, housing area restoration, Taipei Taiwan 2003- Ecological rehabilitation realization for an illegal housing area.
- Post Industrial Fleet, naval architecture, CREW*31, Venice Architecture Biennale 2004
- Architectonic recycling strategies for industrial ships out of duty.
- Human Layer, urban acupuncture, Greetings from London- Helsinki Festival - Taipei on the Move 2004
- A series of urban acupuncture plans for the cities of London, Helsinki and Taipei.
- Chamber of the Post-Urbanist 104, life style installation, Taipei Museum of Contemporary Art 2005
- Steel made furniture for post urban cave man style living.
- Future Pavilion, Taiwan Design Expo
- Cross disciplinary art-architecture exhibition in a ruin of Wei Wu Military Camp, Kaoshioung 2005
- CityZenGarden, installation, together with 3RW Architects, Venice Architecture Biennale 2006
- Oriental stone garden out of recycled glass in the Venice prison. Video documentation of Taiwanese urban farmers.
- Chen House, Datun Mountains, Taiwan. World Architecture Award 2009.
- Ruin is when man-made has become part of nature. With this house we were looking forward to design a ruin.
- Bug Dome, WEAK! for SZHK Biennale 2009.
- Unofficial social club for illegal workers; insect architecture.
- Ruin AcademyRuin AcademyRuin Academy is an independent cross-over architectural research center in the Urban Core area of Taipei City, Taiwan. It is 'set to re-think the industrial city and the modern man in the box' through research and a series of workshops....
, Urban Core area in Taipei, Taiwan 2010.- Independent cross-over architectural research centre 'set to re-think the industrial city and the man in the box'.
External links
- e-architect
- World Architecture
- Architizer
- Casagrande's Work Chronology
- Interview with Marco Casagrande, Linda Bennett, Archi-Ninja, Aug 2009
- Flesh is More, Jirawit Yamkleeb, art4d, Oct 2009
- Performative space: the loose boundary of architecture Nathalie Pozzi & Rebecca Jones, Epifanio 11, Nov 2009
- Cicada Nikita Wu, Shenzhen & Hong Kong Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism/Architecture, Dec 2009
- Architecture of the WEAK! Robin Peckham, Kunsthalle Kowloon, Dec 2009
- HUMAN C-Laboratory, free newspaper, London 2004
- ar2com talks with Marco Casagrande about his architecture, urban acupuncture, teaching and real and unreal spaces, Mar 2010