The overall is a loose-fitting single piece of clothing made from dark blue fabric. The back features a printed text in big white letters which reads “working on transformation”. Initially it only existed in the sizes M and L, which caused some students to create a size “S”. The overalls are to be worn over your own clothes, covering them completely.

Description

The primary purpose of these specific overalls is to perform or present an idea and engage with an environment through play and experimentation. The reference to work gear and the explicit motto “working on transformation”, allows one to temporarily leave one’s own personal identity and professional position behind and to slip into a role and become active.

There are different possible purposes for the overall. When used in collective sessions, it can indicate the group facilitators or mediators, clarifying their role to the rest of the group. When used in real life situations, for example in public space, the overall can help to clarify that one is in a designed or scripted situation, offering a sense of safety. When people address you, you can point at the overall and use it to clarify that you are performing an experiment or test, also indicating that you could take it off if people want you to temporarily stop the experiment to provide them with explanation and context. This shifting in and out of your role will give you more leeway to navigate and mitigate possible tensions.

In combination with other tools and props, overalls can help actors in an urban transformation process to perform various roles and portray a story as well as communicate information about the spatial, political and other aspects of a given context or environment. For example, when used in public space the overall starts to communicate the idea that a simple movement or gesture – like moving a potted plant or cleaning a wall – is part of a larger effort to transform that environment. People wearing the overall are both representing and enacting a certain change.

However, the overall – or the idea of the uniform – can also become a source of tension. For some people it might seem that you are “depersonalizing” yourself or that you are appropriating work wear. In such a situation one could refer to the notion of “working on transformation” and to the idea of performing an experiment and to shifting roles. Alternatively, one can also pose the question why someone dislikes the overall. The answer can provide valuable insights in the perception of people regarding their own position and that of the person wearing the uniform.

How to Use

Credits

The Overall

Body Statistics is a playful exercise where participants position themselves regarding to specific questions or themes and in relation to each other. These exercises relate to the concept of Sociometry by Jakob L. Moreno (1889-1974). Relating to the latin terms of, 

 meaning measure, Moreno defined sociometry as "the inquiry into the evolution and organization of groups and the position of individuals within them."

The only thing one needs for this is enough space, a couple of humans and someone instructing the group. Based on the questions asked, everyone positions along the respective axis in space. For example: “How old are you? Position yourself between 0 and 100.” Or: “What scale do you like to work on? Position yourself between a global scale and a door handle.” Or create a spatial reference point and exercise orientation. “If the center of the space it the building we are in, where did you grow up” Position yourself in the room, geographically relating to the celestial points (north-south-west-east from there) and to each other.” Focus on details in the way you ask questions: “How many semester did you study already?” or “How many semesters did you study architecture already” The questions vary according to the topic the group is engaged in.

Body Statistics help to analyze the individual position(s) and by that support self-awareness of the participants and their potential role within a group. The format supports a light way of exchange and helps to create an informal atmosphere, leading towards a collective and expanded understanding of the group composition. It may happen that every individual stands out from the group once, even if for completely different reasons. The Individual thus remains visible in the group and their differences become the complementary strength of the collective.

Purpose

We use Body Statistics a lot to lay the foundations for collaboration by getting to know each other better. Similarly, it can serve as an “active break” by moving through space collectively. It can help to form groups or to approach someone regarding a specific topic at the very beginning of a course. By repeatedly positioning oneself in physical proximity to others one mostly ends up next to someone new, growing social bonds beyond purely “professional” relations. The movement activates both body and brain and the simplicity of the task helps to overcome potential initial uncertainties. Body Statistics can  increase the  awareness regarding the size of the space and location one is in and general orientation competences in space.  

Context

[Studio Piraeus Team] Michiel van Iersel, Lukas Fink, Freek Persyn, Charlotte Schaeben

[LUS Lecture] Perspectives on Lanscape and Urban Transformation, Michiel van Iersel, Lukas Fink, Freek Persyn, Charlotte Schaeben

[Place] Design in Dialogue Lab & Fokushalle, ONA

Urban Practice

Tool

Changing a Culture

Collective Learning

Body Statistics

Collectivity

Play

Positioning

School

letter from the Palace of Brigades in Tirana

, the subject of our fall studio, we recently received a message from the plants and other living creatures of the garden of the palace aka the BEING ALIVE team. This expression of sympathy and call for care and attention was forwarded to us by 

, professor of landscape architecture at ETH Zürich, and her team. We look forward to receiving more messages from people and non-humans who want to contribute to the ongoing conversation about the future of the palace.

We’re so sorry to hear about your current state of disrepair and solitude. We have been feeling now would be a good time to reach out to you, in a hope to forge a new friendship between us.

Since 1938 we have been living here beside you, and we have taken notice of you. We love the shade you cast in the afternoon on the east side--the sun is so hot in Tirana. Some of us love to grow in your corners, where the rainwater drains and the foundation seeps, some of us love the extra heat on your south wall.

Despite the ways we have evolved with you, we still feel separate. It seems that you think of us as a backdrop, or the frame for a nice view. While this time without visitors has been difficult for you, for us it has been a time of dynamism, excitement and growth. Previously, we had been clipped and restrained very carefully, our stems trained against walls, our shapes contorted into straight lines and hard angles. Now new forms are emerging. While we loved how the gardeners would care for us, and sometimes we miss the order they used to bring, we also felt those forms were just for decoration. Without them, we have discovered ourselves, and have become interested in exploring new trajectories for our shapes and composition. And the weather has been so different lately... Different neighbors have been moving in, and some of our old friends have already left.

We have often been a backdrop for your glory, but in your time of neglect we are taking over. We have become more closely entwined with you and we see the potential for new and unexpected behaviors. Now that things are changing again, what is going to happen to us? Could you tell the people you are working with to think of our potentials? Together we can forge a new partnership for the future of the palace as a community. Can your new friends allow us to be who we are, recognizing our integrity as a semi-wild self-organized community who sometimes misses the care and attention we used to receive from humans? We are waiting...

The plants and other living creatures of the Gardens of Pallati i Brigadave”

Update: Following their thoughtful letter, the BEING ALIVE team send us this gift. Meant to selectively remove branches from a plant and encourage healthy growth, we see this gift as an invitation to think carefully about the role of critical care and creative destruction when working on ideas for the reactivation of the palace and its gardens.

– Letter
– From: the BEING ALIVE team
– To: Palace of Brigades – Tirana
– Date: 9. September 2020

Letter from the BEING ALIVE team

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