Mitä kuuluu archi.tours-hankkeelle syyskuussa 2021? Tekijät kertovat:
Working at distance has been a challenge, but luckily we are more or less on the same time zone. Long app exchanges and screen meetings were the norm over the summer months as we were sorting out details about our format. As our format is digital it’s of course natural to be connected and working on the screen. But as many have realised now, for creative work, it’s a different procedure to collaborate and make decisions only online.
Anyhow, at the start of August, the archi.tours website and the virtual story format seemed to be working as we had envisioned, and the site live with our three first features: The Serpentine Pavilion in London by Counterspace, The Savoy restaurant interior in Helsinki By Alvar Aalto and Aino Marsio-Aalto, renovated by Studioilse, and the new LUMA Foundation building in Arles, in South of France by Frank Gehry. We wanted to launch with three strong stories, that would present different aspects of what is happening in architecture, while also being places that would showcase the potential of our format. The three stories represent women in architecture, different generations and stylistic approaches, and then of course a major work by one of the most legendary architects of our time. We have also used the text panels to highlight some of the key architectural features, so that you can click to be directed to that particular detail.
Getting all the tech issues sorted, so that the format would work on all devices smoothly, required some extra research and adjustments. As an example we needed to resolve navigation issues, that some users might have experienced on legacy devices such as iPhone 6. For the best aesthetic experience we recommend accessing the virtual stories on computer screen (best for anyone who wants to marvel at the architectural details), and all the content is now available on desktop, laptops and mobile devices.
Our initial plan for featuring several buildings by Alvar Aalto, which will be proposed for the Unesco World Heritage list, has been slightly altered, but we are proud to be able to present two very different sites by the pioneer of Scandinavian modernism. Besides Savoy, there will be a virtual story on Säynätsalo Town Hall coming up soon. And then actually we are very excited to be able to focus on some of the new Finnish architecture as well. And very much looking forward to meeting as a team finally – hoping Nikhilesh’s plan to travel from the UK to shoot some of the upcoming stories will be realised.
archi.tours
Marianna Wahlsten, Nikhilesh Haval, Gennady Kurushin
