Visitors were asked to gather Friday night at 10 PM at a junction at Witte de With / Schiedamsevest and bring an umbrella to personally contribute to the spontaneous building. Exactly at 10 the party started in full swing, and old and young, architects and coincidental visitors danced together despite the cold. Umbrellas were attached to each other into one big shelter, so even a bit of rain didn't kill the party.
A spontaneous street party in winter? Last Friday evening Feb. 19th The Bucky Bar opened, a temporary public building designed by DUS architects. The dome-bar, entirely made of umbrella's, appeared seemingly suddenly out of nowhere on the street around a lamppost in the centre of Rotterdam. The fully equipped bar, complete with DJ and drinks, was directly built on site. Approximately 300 visitors danced under the umbrella roof, until at 2:00 AM the police ended the party, as there was no permit.
The Bucky Bar is part of a series of 5 unsolicited positive advises for the city, that DUS architects in a collaboration with SUA (Studio for Unsolicited Architecture) pasted onto billboards of existing building signs in the centre of Rotterdam.
The Bucky Bar was first in the series and realized on 19 February 2010. A spontaneous public building made from the most common of materials: an umbrella. As Buckminster Fuller showed us how minimal energy domes could open a way to a more environmentally sustainable future, could an umbrella dome lead the way to a more socially sustainable future? The Bucky Bar is a full-scale model of such a future. It shows the power of space for spontaneous gathering, for improvised shelters to host conversations, debates, games or even parties. Quote of the night: "when is the next party?!".
