Carleton architecture students turned the Aberdeen Pavilion at Lansdowne Park into an apocalyptic wonderland Dec. 1, during Milieux, their 38th annual open house party.
Milieux, previously known as Kosmic, immersed its attendees in a “wild phenomena” through a creative fusion of free-spirited design, art, and music.
After almost four decades of hosting this event, Carleton architecture students made a number of changes this year.
Kosmic was renamed as Milieux to allow organizers more creative freedom to diverge from the notoriety accompanying the Kosmic name, said event director and third-year architecture student Shane Dalke via email.
Milieux aimed to deliver the same unique experience, while placing more emphasis on the exhibition of students’ design work, Dalke said.
“An event like [Milieux] is very important to the architecture community,” Dalke said. “It gives students an opportunity to explore aspects of design that cannot be explored in a studio project.”
This year was a first for several contributors from outside of Carleton’s architecture school.
“We decided to crash one of their planning meetings and toss in a proposal,” said Nick DeGasperis, a third-year biochemistry student who along with his roommate Colin Barber, created a still frame of a car bombing.
A group of industrial design students also contributed to the event for the first time by building a forest of burnt-out trees.
Architectural installations included a tape tube spanning across the pavilion’s trusses, a cantilevered viewing platform, and an inflated circular room.
The visual environment was complemented by musical performances from artists including Juan Maclean, Prince Club, and Ninja Funk Orchestra.
Two stages were housed in the pavilion along with the art pieces, and there was still plenty of room to spare.
“Its abundance of space allowed for much flexibility for designing and exhibiting,” Dalke said.
However, third-year engineering student Brendan Roy said the large size of the venue left something to be desired. Roy said he felt the excess space created a feeling of emptiness in certain areas, eliminating the intimate nature experienced at other Kosmic events he has attended.
Over 600 people attended this year’s event, according to Dalke. At $30 each, ticket prices were double that of last year.
Event organizers declined to comment on whether or not ticket sales were high enough to break even.
Proceeds from the event will be donated to Architecture for Humanity.
The evening drew to a close half an hour earlier than planned due to a noise complaint, said Kat Forget, event organizer and third-year architecture student. This was unexpected because the pavilion isn’t in a residential area.
The surreal nature of the night continued to the very end. Sydney Osmar, a third-year humanities student, noted the chaos of the coat check.
“I had to climb into a disheveled structure and rummage through piles of coats to get my things off the floor,” she said. “I’m relieved nothing of mine was stolen.”
Dalke said he viewed the event as a success, adding organizers consciously “took some risks” and “planned for surprises.”
“I feel people that attended the event were given a unique experience, [which] was the focus of the event,” he said.
– With files from Inayat Singh