2nd hand land

Project 2nd HAND LAND is an exploration of specific aesthetics, visual language and spatial culture of 2nd hand window shops. Large number of these shops are present around the city centre and on main streets, so it influences and somewhere completely defines street landscapes. Large prints and hyper dimension price tags dominate as physical expressions of this typology, and poor lighting and interior design welcomes visitors beyond printed offerings “that can not be missed”! As the fashion industry is, together with the building industry, the largest energy user and pollutant on the planet, it is worth paying attention to the lifespan and paths of clothes. They both are also some of the earliest human activities - providing shelter and communicating identities. Also, it is interesting to observe the relationship between clothing and its spatial representation, and influence on the built environment. This project is also inspired by the ever growing sameness of (European) major cities, with every historic centre and pedestrian zone turning into a retail area, with the same window shops of the same brands. In the same manner as the styles in architecture used to mark the epoch and place, the garment used to communicate elaborately - through materials, colours, shapes … about the season, origin, person that wears it, and so many more. Today the situation - both in built and the nearest body environment is completely changed - clothes and buildings around the world look the same. Another universality is excessive production and consumption, both having a tragic influence on the built and natural environment. Also, the cities, together with the online sphere, are the main places to show one’s taste, and identity. So, the City and the Fashion are parallel in a way of using resources, surrounding people and providing an image and impression. This project responds to the BETA 2024 Theme - cover me softly - in several ways: as a physical cover of a shop window and a teaser to come inside, but also as a reference - clothes are cover for the skin and body, equally as the print is cover for the facade and building. Idea is to challenge roles and the responsibilities current generations of citizens and practitioners have as consumers, space and narrative creators, and to try to produce powerful and strong images that show important messages. In an era when images are everything, it makes sense to communicate via images, and to try to spread the word throug images.