Love thy monsters + Let's Get Ready to RRUBBLE residency
"Let's Get Ready to RRUBBLE!" a residency, workshop, exhibition, panel discussion, Musical performance, and food pop-up by Space Saloon, The Maak, Tbilisi Architecture Biennial, and Mutant Radio. September – October , 2023;
The recycle-dedicated RRUBBLE is a collaborative project between the Space Saloon – architects, artists, and researchers from Italy led by Danny Wills, Gian Maria Socci, and Rebecca van Beeck; and The Maak - a spatial practice based in Cape Town, South Africa, whose outputs range from full-scale public buildings to experimental spatial inquiries. RUBBLE advocates for 'an architecture of availability', where using found objects and materials on hold are prioritized over sourcing virgin or foreign material. RUBBLE presents materials as a lens for uncovering historical, cultural, and social values important to why, how, and what we build. Tbilisi Architecture Biennial, a member of the LINA Community, has matched with LINA fellows RRUBBLE collective at the 2022 LINA conference in Ljubljana, Slovenia (October 21-23). RUBBLE collective, together with student volunteers (future architects, engineers and artists) and TAB representatives decided to assemble something that would last, act as an asset, and support the work of the local community and an independent platform. They researched the secondary materials at an illegal dump of Dighomi Meadows and built the interior for Mutant Radio - an independent musical community.
Before the arrival of the RRUBBLE collective
Together with TAB they gathered volunteers among architecture students and the general public through an open call. A team of 15 contrasting competencies was chosen: architects, engineers, photographers, museum workers, anthropologists, journalists, musicians, craftspeople, environmental scientists, etc. The team was assembled specifically to reach the maximum diversity of mediums and professions. Mutant Radio – an independent musical platform - was planning to create a space for intellectual gatherings and discussions – at the post-industrial, substandard area that wasn't occupied at the time. Rrubble initiated a Kickstarter for a larger renovation project that would transform part of a derelict power station into an active community space for the local internet radio station. RUBBLE and TAB took on a mission of transforming the space – curating the interior with the rubble that would be selected at The Dighomi Meadows - an emerald zone in Tbilisi that has been heavily polluted by illegal dumping of construction waste. The Maak, Space Saloon, and TAB led a group of local creatives and artisans through a weeklong design & make process, from gathering and hunting foraged materials from Dighomi Meadows to sketching and researching the mutant radio space and discussing the possibilities of it with the Radio team. Guided by 'material intuition', the team sorted the objects and waste, sketched actively – brainstormed, presented their ideas to each other, and finally crafted a unique set of furniture through hands-on prototyping and experimentation inspired by precise material choices.While physically developing the furniture pieces and curating the space, RRUBBLE and TAB led a panel discussion on Mutant Radio, the audience of which consists of most of Tbilisi's creative community. The participants raised awareness on material agencies, went through 2022 TAB's future subject of focus (natural resources), discussed LINA as a program, and presented their practices.
As an interlude to the exhibition, the RUBBLE project was meditated on in the context of Tbilisi and its relevance to Georgia's broader cultural and environmental context. The speakers were Max Melville – THE MAAK; Gian Maria Socci- Space Saloon; Ana Trapaidze – Biophysict and Dighomi Meadows Activist; and Salome Berechikidze – Interior Designer.
A culmination of the RRUBBLE residency was a public opening of bespoke interior space at the Mutant Radio, titled "Love thy Monsters" – Mutant Radio's new 'listening bar' and café area. Through physical presence and live radio transmission, the initiative shed light on the Dighomi Meadows calamity and the potential turnaround of our recycling and waste habits. Every creation narrated a tragedy of waste management and degradation of green zones, yet spoke of a potential circular thinking in global design and construction systems. Each item directed attention to its material and geopolitical origins, from lighting installations to shelving units and tables of diverse dimensions, showcased alongside audio recordings, block prints, and tangible samples from the locale. The exhibition was complemented by a food pop-up by Mutant Radio and live musical performances by local artists whose musical concepts are similar to that of RRRUBBLE: based on recycling, sampling secondary sounds, and using found materials.
