Yona Friedman (born 1923)
Yona Friedman began his career as an architect, urbanist, artist and theorist in France in the 1950s. He created the idea of mobile, temporary, ephemeral architecture, which was presumably influenced by his experiences as a war refugee and emigrant. In his manifestos, he stressed the necessity to adapt architecture to constant changes occurring due to people’s increasing mobility, and he also wanted architecture to give them the freedom to choose their own way of life. His interests developed into a theory—the Spatial City—for open, hanging cities to be built above existing cities and settlements. In our times of disappointment in ineffective urban planning, such utopian concepts have become newly relevant and inspiring, and Yona Friedman’s ideas are at the centre of discussions on the development and humanisation of modern cities. On this wave of interest, apart from his architectural work, Friedman also created artistic works to represent and develop his ideas.
