Tales Between Two Cities -
A Commuting Exhibition

Florian Kossak, Glasgow

Thousands of people commute between Glasgow and Edinburgh each day, living in one city and working in the other one. Beside private cars or public busses the shuttle trains are the major mode of transport for these commuters. The commuters on these trains are spending their time working, chatting, reading, sleeping or looking out of the window. When they look out of the train window they can see a sequence of urban, suburban, industrial and rural landscapes. Within these landscapes numerous historic and contemporary buildings and built artefacts can tell a story about the built environment of the Central Belt. This project intends to challenge the common concentration on the two main cities of Scotland and will draw attention to the built environment of the "in between".

Tales Between Two Cities will provide information on origins or purposes of these buildings, their architectural or engineering merits, their socio-economic histories or environmental impacts by utilising the train carriage for an architectural exhibition on a familiar yet unknown built environment. It aims to engage the temporary community of commuters in a reflection on architecture in general and those of the Central Belt in particular.

The exhibition device will be a series of small cards that are displayed similarly to seat reservation cards in the designated slits at each seat. The cards will reveal 'hard facts' about the buildings or objects on one side and contain a 'tale' about it on the other side of the cards. The cards are intended to be collectables and shall hence have a life after the actual exhibition period. Simultaneously, with the exhibition on the train there will be a web-based presentation of the project where additional background information is given and all buildings and their tales can be seen at once as a continuous journey.

Award given: £4788