ARCHIVE_2015 / noppa (HU): This Place is COOL!

Opening at: 11 AM, September 20, 2015.

In 2015 the noppa group will expand their This Place if COOL! project, their interactive city history based mapping system. The various elements of this city-scale installation come together to form a map which marks various places in Budapest with interesting histories, sites which we don’t really notice during the hustle and bustle of our everyday lives. The goal of the project is to point out man-made places of interest which are usually hidden from our view, either metaphorically or physically, by buildings, other objects or time itself. They can be houses which have gained new functions, or city squares, street corners, stores or even natura l treasures that have literary or cultural-historical significance.

The first human-sized, QR-coded map pin of the This Place is COOL! project was unveiled at the Bánkitó Festival in 2014, and later on found a permanent home at Rombusz Terasz in Ráday Street, near the one-time construction site of the North-South metroline. The Ferencvárosi Community Foundation then had a call for public space art projects in the Ninth District titled „This land is merely a map” (a reference to an important Hungarian poem by RADNÓTI Miklós from the Second World War). The Foundation chose noppa’s project, so new locations have been chosen for map pins in the district this year.

When choosing the sites of the new pins it was important to find places in the district that play integral roles in the shared identity of residents living and working there, while also emphasizing local attributes, and organizing our knowledge of Ferencváros into an easy to use database of local history. In this way the city becomes a virtual playground where these important sites can help connect elements of collective and local memory.

Who doesn’t have a favourite place to eat, drink or go to a concert in the Ninth District? It’s no surprise that two artists from Berlin, Richard WETZEL and Michael STRAEUBIG, the famous creators of location and local history-based games chose Ferencváros as the location of their Budapest-centered Tidy City smartphone app in 2012…

The duration of the walk is about 100 minutes. Be sure to wear comfortable shoes!

Partners: Trafó – House of Contemporary Arts, Élesztőház, Brauch hentesbolt, ph21 Gallery, TOTEM, Kitchen Budapest, Rombusz Terasz, Ferencvárosi Community Foundation, Imagine Budapest, BUPAP, noppa design, Ferencvárosi Local History Collection