the Building of the Pod

Designer: Gábor Szabó

The motto of the exhibition in Alsace was the creation of a house. On advice of Imre Makovecz and based on a competition for students of the Travelling School, Gábor Szabó’s travelling work was selected by the participants of the camp.

The official name of the plank building made of untrimmed pine boards nailed on a board was „The Pod” (Le cocon). The orga-nisers of the festival positioned the pavilions on an area bordered by a brook and several plateaus, from which the Travelling School was given the most spectacular spot. During the construction of the nine statue-like buildings a certain duality evolved among the others and the spirituality and creativity of the Pod’s area. For the French students it definitely meant a major challenge to adapt to the natural
environment.

The finished artworks of very standards became a kind of collection of building statues. The work, the beginnings and the relationships of the Travelling School’s members who were creating next to them indicated different directions. The healthy proportion of indivi-dual will, talent and communal creation earned the acknowledgement of the organisers.

In the process of building the Travelling School’s work followed a natural course of events, conceiving of building in a space which
extended beyond the finished building itself.

As a closure of the camp we spent a cheerful night together and it turned out that the Pod is even fit for partying.

Attila Turi