DO IT TOGETHER, a project by Husos

Memory of project

““Do It Together” is a modular, self-assembly masonry system made of cardboard and Velcro that was designed by Husos. The aim was to have a space that can be determined and gradually built first, by the community of artists participating in the artistic project “Here Together Now“ and then, by other artistic resident programs in nave 16.1 in Matadero during 2013. It revives the tradition of using paper and cardboard in architecture by proposing a system of large boxes stuck together with Velcro, a technique that is reversible, and at the same time highly stable. This system is designed to provide flexibility and enable self-construction of a space, giving each individual and each community of artists the opportunity to build their own working place and choose how they want to interact with one another.

Once a residence program finishes and the venue is to be used for new purposes, the nine hundred 1mx1mx50cm cardboard boxes, kept together by Velcro bands, can easily be reused. By simply stacking the cardboard blocks, the artistic communities who receive the boxes as a legacy once a previous project is complete, can create different forms of privacy or connect workspaces, as well as build shelves, counters and seating units.

“Here Together Now” was the first project in nave 16.1 during 2013 that has enabled HUSOS to explore this system as a spatial tool for the construction of a community, not only from a physical perspective, but also from an immaterial one, based on the affections and ideas that emerge when a community makes important decisions on the setting up of a common living space, and organises itself to carry out seemingly banal tasks like cutting and sticking Velcro together.

Text.-Husos.