RAAAF: firemen walk with us

‘firemen walk with us’ by dutch architecture and design office RAAAF is an installation which confronts the risk-adverse behavior that currently characterizes our society. in particular, it addresses fire safety in relationship to the temporary use of vacant buildings as being a major problem that needs to be resolved.

within the dark eiffel building, a deserted architectural icon within the city of maastricht, the netherlands, the firm has created a landscape of fire. exhibited only in the evening, visitors are invited inside after sunset to experience the piece. through the project, maastricht’s fire department and rietveld landscape hope to show that the many abandoned properties have many possibilities of use to offer.

view of ‘firemen walk with us’ installation

‘firemen walk with us’ is on show as part of the international biennale of vacancy and reallocation and is an elaboration of the firm’s vision ‘vacancy for innovation’ which they presented at the venice architecture biennale 2010. see designboom’s coverage of their contribution to the dutch pavilion here.

the exhibition aims to get individuals to reconsider the use of vacant buildings

each visit to the eiffel building lasts 40 minutes and accommodates a maximum of 10 visitors at a time. you can register here to participate.

general view

video exploring the project in more detail