Deutsches Architektur Zentrum DAZ

LET THE USER SPEAK NEXT / LA PAROLE EST AUX USAGERS examines the Berlin Corbusierhaus and the nearly identically constructed Cité radieuse in Marseille – two emblematic modernist buildings realized in the 40s and 50s by Le Corbusier.
In 2012 and 2013, the American composer Bill Dietz (Ensemble Zwischentöne) and the German stage designer and director Janina Janke (Oper Dynamo West) explore these two massive “machines for living.”
They collect sound and images in and around the buildings and interview inhabitants about their liveswithin them. Collected sound materials are restructured according to proportions of Le Corbusier’s“modulor” measurement system and are sent wandering throughout the architecture via a sounding network of inhabitants’ linked home stereos. Groups of visitors individually receive personal stereo systems forming a second audible network. Both networks describe the possibility of sonic community.
Framing these sound pathways, two video installations contrast the individual narratives of residents with the buildings’ immediate urban surroundings: a triptych of video projections mirrors the Unités’ historical and topographical exteriors in Berlin and Marseille, a multi-monitor construction rolls through transcriptions of interviews with inhabitants.
In August 2012, audiences will be led in small groups on guided tours through the various installationson site at the Berlin Corbusierhaus. These guided tours are accompanied by appearances by Ensemble Zwischentöne, encounters between inhabitants of the German and French Unités, introductory presentations by students from the Potsdam University of Applied Sciences, and an evening in the Deutschen Architektur Zentrum – DAZ.
In a lecture performance and panel discussion around the Y-table at the DAZ, “performed architecture,” an extension of Le Corbusier’s own “promenade architecturale,” is the topic of interdisciplinary discussion for guests from the arts, architecture, music, and inhabitants of the Corbusierhaus. How can we re-function, intervene in, and stage architecture?
In Fall 2013, presented by Marseille-Provence 2013 – European Capital of Culture, the French version of the project will take place at the Cité radieuse. In 2014, the German and French versions will be brought together in an exhibition and publication.

Guided Tours through the Installations at the Berlin Corbusierhaus
August 23rd 2012, 7pm – 9:30pm
August 24th, 2012, 5pm – 9:30pm
August 25th and 26th, 2012, 3pm – 7:30pm
August 30th and 31st, 2012, 5pm – 9:30pm
September 1st and 2nd, 2012, 3pm – 7:30pm
Guided Tours every 30 minutes during opening hours
Daily Introductory Presentations
August 24th - 26th, August 30th - 31st, and September 1st - 2nd, 2012, at 5pm