Editorial
Editorial
Another 84 days, 6 hours and 37 minutes to go: on the evening of 15 March 2008 these are the figures glowing on the display panel mounted on a square-edged concrete base. This new piece of urban furniture on the middle of the pavement, which is impossible to ignore, reminds us how long we have to wait for kick-off. The figure on this digital countdown clock would have been about 300 days at the time we decided on the theme of the current issue - in the belief that the Euro08, which takes place next month, would stimulate the seven host cities to present their public space in an architectural sense, too. Here we were not primarily thinking of the various new stadiums designed as permanent facilities but more about temporary amenities that, unlike the banal beer tents and functional public viewing arenas, would have left a lasting impression on local and foreign fans. But recent months have shown that a football event of this kind, in which money, commerce and the UEFA rule, for the moment presents the host cities with other, problems. First and foremost safety and security precautions and transport concepts had to be worked out and financing had to clarified; decorating the cities in accordance with the „host city charter“ signed in 2007 and „in a manner fitting for the occasion“ (in UEFA jargon this is known as host city dressing) was and remains a peripheral concern. Football itself is not yet ubiquitous, but merchandising and advertising with posters, flags and advertising spots are taking over the Euro08 towns. It is becoming apparent that in the seven host towns the approaching football festivities will live less from designed public space and more from the matches and the enthusiasm of the fans. The fact that precisely at the same time as the Euro08 – but also beforehand and for some time afterwards – „Stadthimmel“, a large-scale art installation on the sky of the city, will be on view in Basel may be a coincidence, but soccer enthusiasts making their way along the „fan mile“ cannot fail to notice the artistically altered urban space. It is not only football championships but also celebrations in general that have frameworks. They are often linked with rituals, follow certain traditions and rules and yet at times contain a number of surprise moments. The range is large, stretching from the festiveness of religious celebrations to the ecstatic street parade. Reflecting this fact the celebratory architectures we present in this issue are very different from each other: the „celebration hut“ in Amriswil, which is not temporary and can be used in a variety of ways, is anything but a humble hut. Every ten years for the fair known as the „Badenfahrt“ the small old town of Baden is overlaid with a variety of architectures for the festivity; a „Tubaloon“ is inflated every year for the jazz festival in Kongsberg in Norway, and the huge media stages by Marc Fisher for rock concerts explode the usual scale of scenography. Ultimately, the Euro08 only plays a secondary role in this issue; nevertheless we hope to create a feeling of joyous anticipation of the great event to come!
The editors