Marco Casagrande

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Marco Casagrande, (born May 7, 1971 in Turku, Finland) is a Finnish architect, writer and professor of architecture. He graduated from Helsinki University of Technology department of architecture (2001).

Contents 1 Early life 2 Mercenary and Writer 3 Architect and Artist 4 Important Works 5 References

[edit] Early life

Casagrande was born to a well-off Finnish-Italian Catholic family.^[1] He was raised in Ylitornio in the Finnish Lapland before moving to Helsinki to study architecture.

[edit] Mercenary and Writer

After his service in the Finnish Army, in 1993 Casagrande volunteered for the Bosnian Croat Defence Forces HVO. He wrote under name Luca Moconesi a controversial book Mostarin tien liftarit / Hitchhikers on the Road to Mostar (WSOY 1997)^[2] about his experiences in the Bosnian Civil War. Based on descriptions of war crimes committed by the main character in the autobiographical book, he came under suspicion as a possible war criminal. As a defence, he later stated that the book was in fact a work of fiction.^[3]

[edit] Architect and Artist

After being a finalist in the Architectural Review's Emerging Architecture competition (1999) [22]^[4] Marco Casagrande and his partner Sami Rintala were invited to the Venice Biennial 2000. The New York Times reporter chose their project "60 Minute Man" as his personal favorite in the Biennale[23]. ^[5]In the project Casagrande & Rintala had planted on oak forest in an abandoned barge on top of 60 minutes worth of composted human waste produced by the city of Venice. Casagrande’s work encompasses the realms of architecture, urban and environmental planning, environmental art, circuses and other artistic disciplines.^[6]

In search for subconscious architecture, real reality and connection between the modern man and nature. He believes that one shall not be blindfolded by stress, the surroundings of economics, the online access to entertainment or information. What is real is valuable.^[7]

Casagrande was nominated as the professor of ecological urban planning in the Taiwan based Tamkang University after the Treasure Hill project, in which Casagrande changed an illegal settlement of urban farmers into an experimental laboratory of environmental urbanism. ^[8] The overhaul had mixed reactions from the community. [24]

[edit] Important Works

Land(e)scape, architectonic installation, Casagrande & Rintala, Savonlinna Finland 1999 Three abandoned barnhouses mounted on 10 meters high legs to follow the farmers to the cities of the south. In the end the installation was set on fire by the authors. 60 Minute Man, architectonic installation, Casagrande & Rintala, Venice Architecture Biennale 2000 50 meters long abandoned barge into which is planted an oak garden on top of 60 minutes worth of human waste produced by the city of Venice. Uunisaari Summer Theatre, temporary architecture, Casagrande & Rintala, Helsinki Finland 2000 A temporary round theatre building on Suomenlinna -island outside of Helsinki.^[9] 1000 White Flags, environmental art installation, Casagrande & Rintala, Koli Finland 2000 White flags out of used sheets from mental hospitals mounted on a downhill sking range to cure the hill.^[10] Quetzalcoatlus, installation, Casagrande & Rintala, Havana Biennale 2000 A 300 kg iron bar stretched between two university building with 10 km of fishing line. Bird Hangar, architectonic installation, Casagrande & Rintala, Yokohama Triennial 2001 A re-bar and hemp rope silo releasing balsa birds attached to meteorological balloons carrying seeds of Japanese vegetables to the city.^[11] Installation 1:2001, public installation, Casagrande & Rintala, Firenze Biennale 2001 A round wall of 15.000 political, philosophical and religious books from around the wall title backs out, white paper in. The work was originally intended to be installed in Cuba, but Government resistance forced the project to Italy. ^[12] [25] Dallas-Kalevala, art journey, Casagrande & Rintala, Demeter Environmental Art, Hokkaido Japan 2002 A land journey from Finland to Japan with car collecting polaroid photos of grandmothers, old axes and local radio sound.^[13] Chain Reactor, architectonic installation, Casagrande & Rintala, Montreal Biennale 2002 A 6 x 6 x 6 meters cube of I-beams and recycled steel chain to frame a fire place.^[14] Anarchist Gardener, performance art and installations, Puerto Rico Biennial 2002, A parade of an invented God to stop highway traffic in order to construct a series of industrial Zen gardens. ^[15] Floating Sauna, temporary architecture, Casagrande & Rintala, Rosendahl village Norway 2002 A floating transparent sauna in the end of a fjord as the public space of a fishing village. Redrum, architectonic installation, Casagrande & Rintala, Alaska Design Forum 2003 A temple for oil facing the U.S. Federal Government building in the middle of Anchorage. Railroad oil tanks, oyster shells and a fire place. ^[16] Potemkin, park, Casagrande & Rintala, Etchigo Tsumari Contemporary Art Triennial 2003 A 130 meters long steel park for post industrial meditation in the middle of rice fields.^[17] Treasure Hill, housing area restoration, Taipei Taiwan 2003 Ecological rehabilitation realization for an illegal housing area.[26] Post Industrial Fleet, naval architecture, CREW*31, Venice Architecture Biennale 2004, Architectonic recycling strategies for industrial ships out of duty.[27] Human Layer, urban acupuncture, Greetings from London^[18][28] - Helsinki Festival[29] - Taipei on the Move[30] 2004 A series of urban acupuncture plans for the cities of London, Helsinki and Taipei. ^[19] Chamber of the Post-Urbanist 104, life style installation, Taipei Museum of Contemporary Art 2005, Steel made furniture for post urban cave man style living.^[20] Future Pavillion, Taiwan Design Expo, cross disciplinary art-architecture exhibition in a ruin of Wei Wu Military Camp, Kaoshioung ^{[21] [22]} CityZenGarden, installation, together with 3RW Architects ^[23], Venice Architecture Biennale 2006 Oriental stone garden out of recycled glass in the Venice prison. Video documentation of Taiwanese urban farmers. ^[24] [31]

[edit] References