Last year, the group 1W1P – 1Week1Project – created the memorable speculative project "The Qatar World Cup Memorial," a "scalable building that raises awareness about the number of workers who died during the construction of the stadiums for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar."
Now, the collaborative duo of Axel de Stampa and Sylvain Macaux are back with another provocative project – this one just as timely, and a little closer to home for the French architects. Entitled "Passage," the project envisions a megastructure-like intervention that spans the Mediterranean, bridging the northern and southern shores and, in the process, the geopolitical and economic borders that distinguish them.
"Crossing the Mediterranean is one of the most perilous journeys for the migrants seeking sanctuary in Europe," they state in the project brief. With reference to Operation Triton, the border security operation led by Frontext (the EU's joint border agency), 1W1P invokes the ongoing migrant crisis in Europe and its environs.
Since the start of the Syrian Civil War, more than 4 million people have fled the region, escaping primarily into Turkey, Lebanon, and Europe. In addition, massive amounts of refugees are fleeing from persecution in Eritrea and Afghanistan. And there is of course those North Africans who have attempted to cross the Mediterranean – often unsuccessfully.
"Passage questions the idea of borders," they state. "Closing them kills more than it regulates the flow of migrants. Wouldn’t it be better to accept this migration?"
4 Comments
still need to swim? or just a hopscotch jump?
Wow... the Mafia is really going to appreciate all the islamic refugees crowding their island.
better living through photo shop?
Th crossing from Turkey to Europe is tiny less than 12 miles. Political boundaries and the rise of far right political parties in Northern Europe and the inability or migrants to assimilate into many European societies is the real problem.
But that may be too difficult to Photoshop.
^ there is even a bridge over the bosphorus, who knew!
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