Yona Friedman facts for kids

Yona Friedman (born June 5, 1923, died February 20, 2020) was an architect and city planner. He was born in Hungary and later became a French citizen. Friedman was famous in the late 1950s and early 1960s. He is best known for his idea called "mobile architecture."

Early Life and Ideas

Yona Friedman was born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1923. His family faced problems because of discrimination at universities. Friedman survived World War II by escaping from the Nazis. He lived in Haifa, Israel, for about ten years. Then, in 1957, he moved to Paris and became a French citizen in 1966.

In 1956, Friedman shared his ideas at a big meeting in Dubrovnik. He talked about "mobile architecture." This idea suggested that buildings should change as people's lives change. He believed that people should be able to decide how their homes look.

Friedman's ideas came from his own experiences. He saw many people who lost their homes during the war. Later, in Israel, many new people arrived every day. They all needed places to live. This made him think about how people could build and change their own homes.

Developing His Theories

In 1958, Friedman started a group called GEAM. This group focused on mobile architecture. In the 1960s, he developed the idea of a "city bridge." He was part of a time when architects dreamed of huge structures.

Friedman taught at famous universities like MIT and Princeton University. He also worked for the United Nations and UNESCO. He helped create guides for people in Africa, South America, and India. These guides showed how to build homes using local materials.

He always said his projects were possible to build. For example, in 1978, he designed a school in Angers, France. He let the future users of the school decide how it would be arranged. He even wrote comic books to explain his methods. This made it easy for anyone to understand his ideas.

In 1987, Friedman built the Museum of Simple Technology in Chennai, India. This museum showed how to build things using local materials like bamboo. He also wrote many books about architecture and society. One important book was "Utopies Réalisables," which means "Feasible Utopias." It talked about how society could be more democratic.

Mobile Architecture Explained

In 1958, Yona Friedman wrote his first important book, "Mobile architecture." It described a new kind of freedom for people. It was not about buildings moving, but about people having control over their living spaces.

Mobile architecture means that the people living in a place decide how it looks. It uses basic structures that do not force a certain design. Friedman believed that older architects designed for an "average person." But he knew that society was always changing. He wanted architecture to fit a "mobile society."

Friedman thought that architecture schools did not teach enough about the user's role. He suggested creating simple guides for everyone to learn about architecture.

His idea of the "spatial city" helps people create their own designs. In a mobile city, buildings should:

• Touch the ground in a very small area.
• Be easy to take apart and move.
• Be changeable by the people living there.

The Spatial City Concept

The Spatial City is the main example of "mobile architecture." It is a city built on tall supports, like stilts. Homes and other spaces fit into the empty areas within this structure. This design makes the city look nice. It uses a basic design of three-sided shapes. These shapes create "neighborhoods" where homes can be placed freely.

This type of city can mix countryside and city living. It can be built over:

• Areas that are hard to build on.
• Places where building is not allowed, like water or swamps.
• Existing cities.
• Farmland.

Building structures above ground helps cities grow in new ways. The city becomes three-dimensional. Different levels can be used for different things. For example, the lowest level could be for public spaces and shops. The supports would hold elevators and stairs. This means a whole city, with homes, shops, and factories, could be built on the same spot. Friedman called this an "artificial topography." This grid in the air allows the city to grow without limits.

The spaces in this grid are rectangular and can be lived in. They are about 25–35 square meters in size. But the people living there can choose the shape of their homes. Only half of the spatial city would be filled. This means light can spread freely throughout the city. This flexible design allows spaces to be used for many different purposes.

Friedman said that a city is like a maze. It has starting points and end points, with things in the way.

Major Books

• 1958: Mobile architecture
• 1975: Towards a scientific architecture ISBN: 0-262-56019-4
• 1999: Yona Friedman. Structures serving the unpredictable ISBN: 90-5662-108-4
• 2006: Yona Friedman: Pro Domo ISBN: 84-96540-51-0
• 2010: Yona Friedman Drawings and models ISBN: 978-2-84066-406-2
• 2015: Yona Friedman. The Dilution of Architecture ISBN: 978-3-906027-68-5

Exhibitions

• 2017: "Yona Friedman. People's Architecture". Centre des arts de l'École Internationale de Genève – EIG
• Sketches in Permanent Collections: MOMA, New York; Centre Pompidou, Paris.
• 2015: Mobile Architecture: Yona Friedman, Power Station of Art, Shanghai
• 2014: 1001 nuits + 1 jour, mfc-michèle didier
• 2014: Dictionnaire, Promenadologues #3, Cneai, Chatou
• 2014: Yona Friedman, École nationale supérieure d'architecture de Paris-La Villette, Paris
• 2013: Möbianne, Cneai, Chatou
• 2013: Iconostase version 3, Cneai, Chatou
• 2013: Diapositives 1958–2002, Cneai, Chatou
• 2012: "Yona Friedman. Genesis of a Vision". Centre Archizoom – EPFL
• 2012: Le Musée de rue et le Musée iconostase, Cneai, Chatou
• 2012: Handbuch, Berlin – Paris 2012, Galerie Chert, Berlin
• 2011: "Architecture Without Buildings", Ludwig Museum, Budapest
• 2009: Venice Biennale, Inventing Worlds.
• 2007: Dare to make your own exhibition, Cneai, Chatou
• 2007: Shanghai Biennale
• 2005: Venice Biennale
• 2003: Venice Biennale
• 2002: Yokohama Triennale

See also

In Spanish: Yona Friedman para niños

• Archigram
• Constantin Xenakis
• Manfredi Nicoletti
• Megastructures (architecture)
• Metabolist Movement