Hello Wood Festival: architects have superpowers

“Hang up your black turtlenecks and let's get our hands dirty together.” This was the opening act of the Hello Wood architecture festival, which for ten years has been building an alternative community in the Hungarian countryside. For this year’s edition, entitled “Unleashing the superpower of the architect”, 20 installations were produced to investigate the essence of architecture: projects looking at the sacred and tribal world, at a deep connection with nature and between people. Never like this year has the aim of the summer school been to undermine the figure of the architect, so the physical construction of the projects was functional to a collective narrative.

Some of the installations were designed to be carried on a parade and used as part of a large masked party that took place on the last day of the event. The performative aspect played a fundamental role in the conception of the projects, to which some groups also associated costumes. In ten years, a small community in the remote Hungarian countryside has managed to attract more than 1,000 young architects from 70 countries and 50 different universities. Their small permanent village is growing more and more, with accommodation, kitchens and various facilities. But even more mature seems to be their awareness, year after year, that they can build an alternative to the city, to haste, to anxiety and to the commodification of architecture. How do they do it? With their hands and smiles.