Ok, as i think i said before, here in the IAAC (Instit d'arquitectura avancada de Catalunya) we are more researchers than students and we are treated as that, so, so far things has been going on a little slower so we (the researchers) are now gathering and setting up work tactics to get this thing fired up as soon as we can...so i will give u a brief intro of which one would be our framework this year, since i had a little trouble lately explaining ppl what r we doing here this year, i hope this would be understood more easily

Hyper-Europe: New Scenarios of Exchange

Intro:
Last 1st May, Europe has faced one of the biggest changes in the recent history. Ten new countries have became part of the new EU. These changes already have an inmense impact on European societies and the future dynamism of these processes may get even more intense. The European territory reflects current and future changes at a social, economical and political level. What kind of territories are emerging? what new territorial identities are being created? what knowledge should be developed to deal with the complex consequences of disappearing borders?

New Scenarios of Exchange will deal with those countries which have joined last may EU and those which are attempting to. Two objectives lead this research to 2 first EU targets. First shifting from second to third production sectors (services); second, the implementation of infraestructure.

Case Study: Slovenia and Croatia catalysits:
The composition of the European Union has increased. The number of consumers has grown up to 450 million. The kilometers of borders to the exterior have grown to some hundred kilometers. Ten new countries, new languages (and their respective dialects), new cultures have became part of the new EU. The mass consumption in the EU has grown to a significant level along with its territories thus increasing the complexity of the entity. From the North sea to the Adriatic, the new members of the EU will erase the line that use to define the boundary of the Iron Curtain. This new situation offers a new territory of potentials and latencies in economic, territorial and cultural terms which set the framework of the HyperEurope agenda for this research. This research is focusing on 3 characteristic scales of potencial development, where scale is not recognized as a measuring parameter, but a system of relations:

1. Continental Scale: European corridors as theme; A7 Mediterranean coastal corridor and Berlin-Warsaw-Moscow corridors as samples; and Barcelona-Kiev 5th corridor as Master framework.
2. Regional Scale: Slovenia path corridor and the Croatian coast as phenomenological extension.
3. LOcal Scale: Cities or thematic areas (Koper-Ljubljana-Maribor; Rijeka-Zadar-Split).

The first case study selected is that operate at these 3 scales is Slovenia-Croatia scape. A7 Mediterranean corridor, developed by IaaC and Berlin-Warsaw-Moscow developed by Bauhaus Institute, Dessau, as samples, defines a territorial-economic phenomenon with enormous potentials. The interest in the Slovenia-Croatia case lies in their upcoming differential relation to the EU considering their territorial continuity.
For each territorial scale future prospects and scenarios will be developed and compared. The comparative approach to localities should result in a more generic knowledge with possible broader impact for different european territories. Qualitative interaction in terms of scale as well as disciplines, culture and knowledge will re-code the emrging territories into hyper-territories of connection all over Europe.

P.S. sorry for not posting images in a while but my card reader died and im in the process of getting a new one, or maybe i should get a newer camera...anyway, images soon to be posted.