MEDESAN, Silviu-Teofil. Forma urmează situației. Orașul Contemporan Anticipat de Situaționiști. [Form follows Situation. ContemporaryCity as forseen by the Situationists]. Bucharest: OZALID Publishing, 2020. 344 p.; ill.; 16 x 23 cm.; ill. Cover with text in white and red
This book is Silviu-Teofil Medesan’s foray into Situationist theory and its application in contemporary urban environments in Romania. Abundantly illustrated, with hundreds of images and photographs (including several from The Most Dangerous Game exhibition, held in Berlin in 2018)
“We aimed to produce a paper that draws on both theoretical research and activity in the field. The topic is a discussion of the theories put forth by the Situationist International avant-garde movement, analyzing three experimental projects for intervening in the publish space in Cluj-Napoca through the prism of this theory” (p.9)
“The research analyzes the relevance of situationist theories for contemporary phenomena and practices experienced by urban initiative groups in Cluj-Napoca – the author being one of the promoters of these groups -, how these experiments can be viewed using the situationist perspective and the contribution of this reading position to deciphering actions. proposed by non-governmental initiative groups. The conclusions of the study aim at relating contemporary urban experiments to the situationist utopia and the way in which their initiators see their direct involvement in interventions in the urban setting, inspired by situationist theories.
The projects presented and analyzed as case studies are:
• “On Land. Common space in Mănăștur – ”an urban activation project of a green space neglected by the authorities, located in Mănăștur, the largest district in Cluj.
• “Eastern Park” – An intervention that starts from a park designed in the ’80s for the eastern part of Cluj, which is in danger of becoming impossible to implement due to pressure from private real estate interests. Through this project, the initiators draw attention to the acute need for green spaces in the neighborhoods of Cluj;
• Actions on Someș – A series of projects that propose activities on the banks of the Someș, a river that crosses the center of Cluj-Napoca and whose presence has long been ignored in the life of the city. The initiators of the project advocate for the colonization of the banks and the integration of the watercourse in the urban life.
The book was published with the support of the Order of Architects of Romania from the stamp of architecture.” (Publisher summary, translate courtesy of google)