RÜÜRUUM
Autorid: b210 arhitektid koostöös Liisi Tamm, Anett Niine
Fotod: Riina Varol
For the exhibition ‘The Houses That We Need’ at Estonian Museum of Architecture, curated by Jarmo Kauge
Cooperation will be the biggest challenge for humanity in the next ten, 50, 100 years, probably more. But how to act in concert when there are eight or nine billion of us?
Perhaps the key to good cooperation is the ostensibly opposite sounding individualism? Only someone who is free in their thoughts and actions, who doesn’t feel the need to defend their personal boundaries, can set these limits farther away from themselves. That leaves room for more fellow humans, and the place we consider home also expands.
But how do you live in a home that ranges for thousands or tens of thousands of kilometres? Where there’s always company, if desired, everywhere, both in real life and virtually. Where there’s no longer any reason to anchor one’s life into the ground using concrete.
A world where owning land and real estate is less attractive and people’s freedom and mobility have increased is a world conducive to fusion of architecture and fashion. Various capes, wraps and throws allow one to create one’s own space in both manmade and natural environments. Our perception of space changes: as we take work and entertainment with us wherever we go, our own space also accompanies us. It isn’t an individualistic capsule but a form that takes many shapes and adapts to the body and environment.
There are different garments but the most common ones are made of residuals* from wool. It is a material that generally is consigned to the waste bin as something left over in production. Sometimes a person’s own hair or the fur of other animals is used as a raw material, felted and shaped into a suitable Rüüruum for the human body. The base material used is natural and environmentally friendly, a renewable resource with many advantageous qualities. Wool retains heat well and doesn’t easily get soaked or soiled.
* Before the introduction of Rüüruum, about 90% of Estonia’s wool was discarded as a residual product – incinerated or buried.
Rüüruum is portable – they can be worn while sitting, reclining, napping. Rüüruum can be shaped in different ways. When it is in an open position, it invites one to interact or enjoy one’s surroundings, while when it is closed it can seclude you from others, allow you to take time out. Depending on the owner’s preferences, various renewable energy powered features such as surface heating, lighting, various sensors, charging capability can be installed in the garment. Energy is derived from the person’s movement and sun or the energy stored in the charging field.
Estonia’s 74,400 sheep and goats and countless other creatures in the world have great potential to provide the raw material for Sartorial Space. Through shearing, washing, carding and felting, multipurpose wool shells can be created, each one weighing about 2.5 kg. Rüüruum can be worn, you can lie on it, it can be folded up for use as a backpack or unfolded for a blanket.