ALTERNATIVE MODELS FOR LIVING

AMSTERDAM – ZURICH – HELSINKI – KYIV

ALTERNATIVE MODELS
FOR LIVING

OWNERSHIP
GOVERNANCE
POLYCENTRICITY
COLLABORATION

ALTERNATIVE MODELS
FOR LIVING

OWNERSHIP
GOVERNANCE
POLYCENTRICITY
COLLABORATION

CANactions School in collaboration with Brno University of Technology—Faculty of Architecture, the City of Warsaw, the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, the Romanian Order of Architects Bucharest, and the Bucharest Architecture Annual, is introducing 2 weeks intensive workshop, to embrace and establish international knowledge exchange between institutions and organisations based in post-socialist states, in order to tackle 'Alternative Models for Living'— Collaboration, Ownership, Governance, Polycentricity — in urban scenarios across their regions.

Quick FACTS

DATES: 6 —18 September 2021
LOCATION: Kyiv (UA)
PARTICIPANTS: Professionals and master-students from the fields of Architecture, Urban Design, Urban Planning, Architecture History, Sociology, Anthropology, Political, and Cultural Studies, and other related fields
TYPE: 2 weeks intensive international workshop
PARTNERS: Brno University of Technology — Faculty of Architecture, the City of Warsaw, the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, the Romanian Order of Architects Bucharest, the Bucharest Architecture Annual, CANactions School
MENTORS: Marija Marić, Florian Hertweck, Lawrence Barth, René Boer, Romea Muryń,Yegor Vlasenko, María Mazzanti

STRUCTURE: The program consists of three phases: (1) Research (2) Systematic Design (3) Conference and Exhibition
PARTICIPATION FEE: 500 EUR (Discount 10% for CANactions School Alumni and Full Members)
Available two scholarships for residents of Ukraine, covering 80% of the cost of participation
The participation fee covers participation in the program, resources materials (literature, lectures, meeting with experts), working materials, and field trips during the two-weeks intensive workshop (incl. public transportation tickets/bike rent).
LANGUAGE: English
APPLICATION DEADLINE: 12 August 2021 ( 23:59 СET)

APPLY

WORKSHOP Theme

CANactions School continues to explore the theme of Living, moving towards answering the question 'How can we improve housing conditions?'. The previous program Homes for Tomorrow focused on the West-European models of affordable and innovative housing provision, and now we further develop this subject by taking it to the context of post-socialists countries: Poland, Czech Republic, Romania, and Ukraine. Having undergone drastic economic, political and societal transformations, post-socialist countries were confronted with a crisis of housing provision and management. The unique response to that crisis by state and business in these countries resulted in specific models with different levels of regulation, types of governance, ownership, stakeholders' arrangement and center-periphery relationships.

The purpose of the Alternative Models for Living workshop is to untangle these models by looking at the aspects of governance, forms of ownership, collaboration, and polycentricity, which are taken as the workshop's sub-themes. Furthermore, the 'Alternative Models'— strategic proposals on how to improve and redefine these four aspects for achieving higher quality of living (housing) conditions — will be developed. The workshop's approach and set of methodologies will lead the students through this process under the supervision of internationally renowned mentors.

The sub-themes are integral components of the urban strategies that define modern and sustainable city Living conditions.

This division drives participants to focus their research on a specific subject, allowing them to thoroughly develop their selected theme. Each sub-theme particularizes underlying problems and challenges that, while specific to each city, create an overview of housing conditions in Central-Eastern Europe. The case studies of those locations allow for the integration of research in order to critically respond to these challenges through writing, as well as design. The workshop aims to provide analytical tools to compare differences and similarities of housing models in post-socialist states. The used methodology privileges critical thinking and the ability to develop strategic and design tools to shape the inclusive and livable cities of the future. The objective of the workshop is to contribute to the establishment of innovative urban strategies, with the focus on housing, capable of responding to the changing nature of cities, centered on the post-socialist context.

Furthermore, the workshop approach supports and facilitates professional and pedagogical exchange. The collaboration between workshop groups is structured around working periods of 2 weeks, where the development of each group will be discussed between participants, institutions, mentors and experts from all 4 countries. The workshop combines both offline and online events, lectures, meetings, and seminars. As an applicant, you are asked to select one sub-theme which directly assigns you under the guidance of the institution and mentorship of that theme.

GOVERNANCE

OWNERSHIP

ALTERNATIVE MODELS FOR OWNERSHIP
Institution: Brno University of Technology, Faculty of Architecture
Mentors: Florian Hertweck, Marija Marić

Aim: to examine and question the land and real-estate tendencies in cities, towns and villages.

- Is there an alternative to private-public ownership?
- How could we turn ownership into a less complex and more flexible concept?
- What are the limits of sharing?
- Is the shared economy a way to develop property outside of cities as well?

When passing through the post-agrarian and post-industrial districts, many underutilized or abandoned locations can be seen scattered throughout. Gradual privatisation and the lack of utilisation strategies by state institutions, in both post-socialist states and the world, is leading to the constant commodification of land by private agents. As the power of decision is transferred from public institutions to corporate stakeholders, so do the social and urban needs of local neighborhoods become vulnerable to the interests of capital investments and profit-driven ventures. In the context of living, the complexity of ownership can be well-represented by something as common as apartment buildings. Who owns the land? Who owns the public space, the infrastructure? Who owns the corridor or the housing unit?
Perhaps living could become more affordable if we are able to understand the complexity of the ownership and bring new alternative ways of owning. Due to specific historical events that are significant to post-social states, we can observe similar patterns in land and property management in Central and Eastern Europe.

ALTERNATIVE MODELS FOR GOVERNANCE
Institution: CANactions School
Mentor: Romea Muryń,Yegor Vlasenko

Aim: to tackle how governments and stakeholders decide to plan, finance and manage urban areas, as a continuous process of negotiation and contestation over the allocation of social and material resources and political power.

- What are transparent and effective legal systems to improve urban governance?
- How can we understand and influence the mechanism and entities involved in policy-making?
- How can we affect residents' ability to access local government and engage in decision-making?
- How can we introduce/design the tools to address issues that require long-term vision?
- What are the institutions (existing or/and potential) which could intervene within the current mechanisms of policy-making?
- Has the government's governance shift taken place?
- What are the alternative models of governance?

The fall of the socialist system in Central and Eastern Europe gave rise to major economic and political changes reshaping the welfare state. The transition to a free market economy, to democracy, and to decentralised systems of local democratic governance drastically impacted urban development and housing, promoting developer-led restructuring of cities, the commodification of housing provision and market driven spatial segregation, manifested in the urban space. The socialist legacy may provide a common point of departure, but the policy choices of subsequent governments map out increasing differences in the operation of newly established policy regimes and their priorities. In managing urban transformations, governments need to play a strategic role in forging partnerships with and among key stakeholders. While the city government is the largest and most visible urban governance actor, much of what affects the living conditions of urban residents lies outside the control of the city administration. Instead, it is the market and private businesses, agencies of the central state or the collective voluntary action of civil society that determine the daily experiences of urban dwellers.

ALTERNATIVE MODELS FOR POLYCENTRICITY
Institution: City of Warsaw and Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw
Mentor: Lawrence Barth

Currently, one of the main challenges in shaping a modern city is to respond to the needs of local communities. The socialist era introduced a way of thinking in urban planning that was putting society as a whole in front of the needs of individuals. Subsequently, the transformation era of the nineties prioritized economic development, leading to inequalities and the lack of quality of public space. Now, the focus drifts towards a smaller, more human scale and improving the quality of the already built peripheries. Achieving local convenience in a contemporary city is becoming a synonym for high quality of life of urbanites, especially in cities with complex, polycentric structures. Similar conditions characterize other post-socialist states. Well-functioning 'POLYCENTRIC' models play an important role in contemporary cities, strengthening their adaptability to social, economic and ecological global trends. Shaping local centres requires special care and attention, as it should be addressing a variety of issues, from accessibility for all types of services and workplaces by social groups, to climate change.

POLYCENTRICITY

Aim: to explore successful solutions for polycentricity replicable in other post-socialist cities.

- What does polycentricity mean, nowadays in the transformation of post-socialist states?
- In which degree can autonomy be pronounced, and how it should function within the whole structure?
- How can we make cities more approachable and easier to use for their inhabitants?
- How can we make living in the biggest of them a synonym of convenience, not a hassle?
- What are the spatial, legal and financial tools to reinsure sustainable development in a polycentric city?

COLLABORATION

ALTERNATIVE MODELS FOR COLLABORATION
Institution: Romanian Order Of Architects Bucharest Territorial Branch,
the Bucharest Architecture Annual
Mentor: René Boer, María Mazzanti

The built environment can be seen as the interface of a continuously moving and changing dynamic between professionals, the administration, and people, each bearing further on its own internal play of needs, wants and interests. The result of this interplay of forces is what gives shape to the cities we live in, it implicitly influences and grants urban quality of life for everyone involved. Under the theme of 'COLLABORATION', we plan to tackle the opportunities and improvement areas of the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) as a means for developing new, innovative strategies that address common urban issues, such as urban renewal, traffic and parking spaces, legislation, decentralization and local communities. After a large period of centralized governance, Eastern Bloc countries have witnessed, in the past thirty years, a game-changing shift from centralized socialist forms to an expansion of free market and privatization, leading to a 'government to governance' shift in the processes of public decision-making and governing of society and economy. The PPP brought into play a whole new reference framework which, still seems to be unable to bring into reality its theoretical opportunities.

Aim: to reconsider the role and prospectives of PPP in the post-socialist context.

- What are the real reasons for PPPs not being fully appropriated?
- To what extent can we rethink, redefine and reshape this cooperation mechanism, in order to propose alternative models applicable to urban planning and design strategies?
- How can ideal scenarios be truly incorporated in the social, political and economic context of post-socialist countries?
- How does the current global turning-point of a post-pandemic uncertain world, where issues such as sustainability, ecology, health and cooperation are of the utmost importance, influence the act of cooperation?

ALTERNATIVE MODELS FOR POLYCENTRICITY
Institution: City of Warsaw and Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw
Mentor: Lawrence Barth

Aim: to explore successful solutions for polycentricity replicable in other post-socialist cities.
- What does polycentricity mean, nowadays in the transformation of post-socialist states?
- In which degree can autonomy be pronounced, and how it should function within the whole structure?
- How can we make cities more approachable and easier to use for their inhabitants?
- How can we make living in the biggest of them a synonym of convenience, not a hassle?
- What are the spatial, legal and financial tools to reinsure sustainable development in a polycentric city?

POLYCENTRICITY

Currently, one of the main challenges in shaping a modern city is to respond to the needs of local communities. The socialist era introduced a way of thinking in urban planning that was putting society as a whole in front of the needs of individuals. Subsequently, the transformation era of the nineties prioritized economic development, leading to inequalities and the lack of quality of public space. Now, the focus drifts towards a smaller, more human scale and improving the quality of the already built peripheries. Achieving local convenience in a contemporary city is becoming a synonym for high quality of life of urbanites, especially in cities with complex, polycentric structures. Similar conditions characterize other post-socialist states. Well-functioning 'POLYCENTRIC' models play an important role in contemporary cities, strengthening their adaptability to social, economic and ecological global trends. Shaping local centres requires special care and attention, as it should be addressing a variety of issues, from accessibility for all types of services and workplaces by social groups, to climate change.

COLLABORATION

ALTERNATIVE MODELS FOR COLLABORATION
Institution: Romanian Order Of Architects Bucharest Territorial Branch,
the Bucharest Architecture Annual
Mentor: René Boer

Aim: to reconsider the role and prospectives of PPP in the post-socialist context.
- What are the real reasons for PPPs not being fully appropriated?
- To what extent can we rethink, redefine and reshape this cooperation mechanism, in order to propose alternative models applicable to urban planning and design strategies?
- How can ideal scenarios be truly incorporated in the social, political and economic context of post-socialist countries?
- How does the current global turning-point of a post-pandemic uncertain world, where issues such as sustainability, ecology, health and cooperation are of the utmost importance, influence the act of cooperation?

The built environment can be seen as the interface of a continuously moving and changing dynamic between professionals, the administration, and people, each bearing further on its own internal play of needs, wants and interests. The result of this interplay of forces is what gives shape to the cities we live in, it implicitly influences and grants urban quality of life for everyone involved. Under the theme of 'COLLABORATION', we plan to tackle the opportunities and improvement areas of the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) as a means for developing new, innovative strategies that address common urban issues, such as urban renewal, traffic and parking spaces, legislation, decentralization and local communities. After a large period of centralized governance, Eastern Bloc countries have witnessed, in the past thirty years, a game-changing shift from centralized socialist forms to an expansion of free market and privatization, leading to a 'government to governance' shift in the processes of public decision-making and governing of society and economy. The PPP brought into play a whole new reference framework which, still seems to be unable to bring into reality its theoretical opportunities.

ALTERNATIVE MODELS FOR OWNERSHIP
Institution: Brno University of Technology, Faculty of Architecture
Mentors: Florian Hertweck, Marija Marić

Aim: to examine and question the land and real-estate tendencies in cities, towns and villages.
- Is there an alternative to private-public ownership?
- How could we turn ownership into a less complex and more flexible concept?
- What are the limits of sharing?
- Is the shared economy a way to develop property outside of cities as well?

GOVERNANCE

When passing through the post-agrarian and post-industrial districts, many underutilized or abandoned locations can be seen scattered throughout. Gradual privatisation and the lack of utilisation strategies by state institutions, in both post-socialist states and the world, is leading to the constant commodification of land by private agents. As the power of decision is transferred from public institutions to corporate stakeholders, so do the social and urban needs of local neighborhoods become vulnerable to the interests of capital investments and profit-driven ventures. In the context of living, the complexity of ownership can be well-represented by something as common as apartment buildings. Who owns the land? Who owns the public space, the infrastructure? Who owns the corridor or the housing unit?
Perhaps living could become more affordable if we are able to understand the complexity of the ownership and bring new alternative ways of owning. Due to specific historical events that are significant to post-social states, we can observe similar patterns in land and property management in Central and Eastern Europe.

OWNERSHIP

ALTERNATIVE MODELS FOR GOVERNANCE
Institution: CANactions School
Mentor: Romea Muryń

Aim: to tackle how governments and stakeholders decide to plan, finance and manage urban areas, as a continuous process of negotiation and contestation over the allocation of social and material resources and political power.
- What are transparent and effective legal systems to improve urban governance?
- How can we understand and influence the mechanism and entities involved in policy-making?
- How can we affect residents' ability to access local government and engage in decision-making?
- How can we introduce/design the tools to address issues that require long-term vision?
- What are the institutions (existing or/and potential) which could intervene within the current mechanisms of policy-making?
- Has the government's governance shift taken place?
- What are the alternative models of governance?

The fall of the socialist system in Central and Eastern Europe gave rise to major economic and political changes reshaping the welfare state. The transition to a free market economy, to democracy, and to decentralised systems of local democratic governance drastically impacted urban development and housing, promoting developer-led restructuring of cities, the commodification of housing provision and market driven spatial segregation, manifested in the urban space. The socialist legacy may provide a common point of departure, but the policy choices of subsequent governments map out increasing differences in the operation of newly established policy regimes and their priorities. Governance involves a range of actors and institutions; the relationships among them determine what happens in the city. In managing urban transformations, governments need to play a strategic role in forging partnerships with and among key stakeholders. While the city government is the largest and most visible urban governance actor, much of what affects the living conditions of urban residents lies outside the control of the city administration. Instead, it is the market and private businesses, agencies of the central state or the collective voluntary action of civil society that determine the daily experiences of urban dwellers.

WORKSHOP BENEFITS

You will develop the following competencies:

Knowledge — of Central-Eastern European models of housing;
Policy research and analysis skill — ability to map and understand housing policies' frameworks (key documents, stakeholders, sources of information), understanding of policies' consequences for the built environment and housing markets;
Comparative analysis skill — ability to identify and demonstrate similarities and differences between housing policy frameworks;
Research-based design — learn to develop best solutions to the challenges informed by the context;
Systematic project proposal — develop coherent design or policy improvement supported by case studies and alternative housing models;
Working in a multidisciplinary team — learn to improve your solutions through the exchange with other specialists;
Institutional cooperation — learn to work in international multi-institutional arrangement;
Cultural exchange — discourse between different disciplines and cultural backgrounds, learn new working approaches;

Tangible outcomes:

Participation at the international Exhibition — projects will be compiled into an exhibition of the studio groups and exposed by the international partners;

Certificate and/or 5 ECTS credits — the program's graduates receive a certificate issued by the educational team – all involved organisations, institutions, and mentors, as well as 10 ECTS credits;

Expanding your network — working closely with multidisciplinary program peers, with representatives of architecture and planning offices, city administrations, and academia in Central and Eastern Europe;

The 'Alternative Models' is a non-degree workshop. The workshop's participants have a chance to become presenters at the XIII CANactions International Architecture Festival, one of the biggest annual architecture gatherings in Eastern Europe, to be held in Kyiv in September 2021.

The workshop's outcomes will be disseminated among professional networks and academia by CANactions Publishing House. In addition, Partners organise public events to share the final results of the research and design phase in each partner city — Brno, Warsaw, Bucharest, and Kyiv.

WORKSHOP METHODOLOGY

The workshop's methodology and key learning strategies are based on the following:

Multiscalar implementations — in order to reveal the complexity of city planning and enable comprehensive understanding, impacting multiple scales — from the built environment (architectural and urban planning) to the territorial scale (policy-making).

Interdisciplinary Approach — in order to apply social, economic, and cultural parameters to the discipline by positioning projects within a broader social context. Enabling research methods to work cooperatively and professionally as part of a team;
Research-driven design — in order to challenge unidirectional architectural design decision-making processes and favour a non-linear design approach.

education workshop team

The educational workshop teaching staff is composed of the program director, partner institutions/organisations, mentors, lecturers, and invited experts from the international network of partners who have professional experience in both academia and praxis and are well acquainted with contemporary challenges and development processes in Central and Eastern European cities.

Romea Muryń is an architect, urban planner and researcher. After receiving her master's degree from the West Pomeranian University of Technology and her bachelor's degree from Copenhagen School of Design and Technology, she worked for 8 years as an architect in leading design practices —JDS, COBE, REX, BIG and OMA. Romea completed the postgraduate program 'Hybrid Urbanism' at Strelka Institute for Media, Architecture and Design and worked as an urban strategist at KB Strelka in Moscow, Russia. Romea was an adjunct Professor at INDA International Program in Design and Architecture in Bangkok, Thailand. She is a co-founder of the studio Locument and SKALA Architects.

GOVERNANCE
Institution: CANactions School

PROGRAM DIRECTOR

Viktor Zotov studied Architecture at the National University of Construction and Architecture in Kharkiv, Ukraine. In 2004 he founded an architectural bureau ZOTOV&CO, which is oriented to the world contemporary architecture practice and experienced in cooperation with companies: BIG, MAXWAN, EM2N, JWA, Transsolar, KS — Ingenieure, Architectural Prescription, and others. Since 2008 he is a Founder and a curator of the CANactions International Architecture Festival.

INSTITUTION REPRESENTATIVE

Anastasia Zhuravel is a project coordinator and researcher. She is with CANactions since 2017. Currently, Anastasia studies her postgraduate master in Urban Management at Technische Universität Berlin. In her research and professional focus, she is interested in inclusive urban development. As part of this, she is co-founder of the charity organization and NGO Laska in Kyiv. Before that Anastasia gained professional experience living and working in different countries and cities. Among them Bangkok and Hongkong where she worked in real estate development.

INSTITUTION REPRESENTATIVE

Yegor Vlasenko is an urban development practitioner and researcher with MSc degree in Urban Studies from Malmö University, Sweden. He has been a visiting student researcher at Nordregio Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, and a Fulbright scholar at MIT Department of Urban Studies + Planning in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He has served as a director of «Integrated Spatial Planning for Amalgamated Municipalities» educational program at CANactions School. Currently, he is a coordinator of the «Integrated Urban Development in Ukraine» project implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, and works closely with eight city halls across Ukraine.

MENTOR

Radek Toman PhD, studied architecture and urban design at Brno University of Technology, University of Brighton, and Southeast University in Nanjing. In 2018, he received the PhD degree in architecture at BUT Brno. From 2014 to 2016, he taught architecture design at Southeast University in Nanjing. Since 2018,
he has worked as an assistant professor and vice-dean at the Faculty of Architecture, Brno University of Technology, where he is tutoring student´s studio projects. Occasionally, he works on different projects as a freelance architect.

Bára Srpková is a Ph.D. student at BUT Faculty of Architecture in the field of Urbanism. She gained her professional experience living, studying, and working in different countries and cities such as Brighton (University of Brighton), Berlin (Müller-Reimann, Matter), Stuttgart (Lava), Copenhagen and New York (BIG). She is currently based in Brno where, next to her research concerning the future of Brownfields, she has been working on various urban projects for towns and public spaces in the Czech Republic.

OWNERSHIP
Institution: Brno University of
Technology, Faculty of Architecture

INSTITUTION REPRESENTATIVE

Florian Hertweck is Professor of Architecture and Director of the Master's programme Architecture, European Urbanisation, Globalisation at the University of Luxembourg. Prior to this position, he was a professor at Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture de Versailles and visiting professor at the Academy of Fine Arts Nuremberg. He has been working from 2010 to 2015 in partnership with the French architect Pierre Alexandre Devernois, and since 2016 as part of Studio Hertweck in Luxembourg. In 2018 he curated, together with Andrea Rumpf, the Luxembourg Pavilion for the 16th Architecture Biennial in Venice "The Property Issue. Ground Control and the Commons".

MENTOR

Marija Marić is an architect and researcher currently based in Novi Sad, Serbia. In 2020, she completed her doctoral studies at the Institute for the History and Theory of Architecture, ETH Zurich. Her thesis, titled Real Estate Fiction. Branding Industries and the Construction of Global Urban Imaginaries examined the role of real estate branding and communication strategists in the mediation, design, and globalisation of large-scale urban projects. Marija's work has been published in ARCH+, Thresholds, Log, CARTHA and presented at institutions such as UCL, TU Delft, University of Leeds, University of Nottingham, Goethe University, University of Chicago, MAO Ljubljana, among others. Her research focuses on the questions of property, real estate, and the production of the built environment and urban imaginaries in the context of global capitalism and the global flow of information.

MENTOR

Tomasz Fudala is an art and architecture historian and curator based in Warsaw. He works at the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw. He is a curator of the Oskar and Zofia Hansen House in Szumin (2018-) and WARSAW UNDER CONSTRUCTION FESTIVAL (2009). He also curated several exhibitions, seminars and public programs on modern and contemporary architecture. His writings have appeared in Domus, Artforum, Odra, Obieg, CzasKultury, and Autoportret. He has received the Jerzy Stajuda Prize for Art Criticisim (2017) and SARP Bene Merentibus Medal in recognition of his contribution to the development of Polish Architecture and the Association of Polish Architects.

Monika Konrad is an architect and urban planner, she gained professional background in studios like OMA and Claus en Kaan Architecten in the Netherlands and in Moscow as a project director at consulting company Strelka KB. She graduated from Faculty of Architecture at the Poznań University of Technology and the Erasmus University in Rotterdam. Monika is an author of numerous urban standards and strategic projects on a citywide scale and a designer of urban and architectural projects. Currently, she holds the position of the Director of Municipal Office of Town Planning and Development Strategy in the City of Warsaw.

POLYCENTRICITY
Institution: City of Warsaw and
Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw

INSTITUTION REPRESENTATIVE

Lawrence Barth is a Programme Co-Director of Housing and Urbanism and an urbanist at the AA Architectural Association in London. He has consulted internationally on urban strategy for cities, architects and landscape architects, and has led planning and design projects for contemporary knowledge environments. He has lectured and published in urbanism, politics, and sociology, has served on juries for international design competitions and acts as an advisor to schools of architecture and urbanism on curriculum development. Mr. Barth has supervised PhD research in architectural urbanism and examined PhD theses in architecture, urbanism, and landscape urbanism.

MENTOR

Sabrina Ahmad is an architect M.Arch and she currently collaborates with the National Order of Architects, Bucharest Territorial Branch. Her activity within this collaboration ranges from co-curation and organization of local and international architecture events, such as the Bucharest Architecture Annual, all the way through organizing and coordinating both public and private architecture competitions, following UIA and OAR standards. Formerly, she activated in the NGO sector, advocating for the principles of inclusive, universal design in urban development projects as well as in architecture education, promoting, developing and coordinating multi-disciplinary approaches for social improvement.

Emil Ivanescu is the President of the Bucharest Branch of the Order of Architects in Romania. He is also a PhD architect and lecturer at the 'Ion Mincu' University of Architecture and Urbanism in Bucharest. He is the president of the Architecture Annual in Bucharest. He was the author and curator of two Romania National Pavilions at the Venice Biennale of Architecture. He is the initiator and organizer of some national architectural competitions in Romania. He is the initiator of cultural and professional actions in the area of public space and the quality of architecture. He has started a series of events that have brought together the professional community, civil society, academia, and administration.

COLLABORATION
Institution : Romanian Order Of
Architects Bucharest Territorial Branch,
the Bucharest Architecture Annual

INSTITUTION REPRESENTATIVE

René Boer works as a curator, critic and researcher in the fields of architecture, urbanism, heritage and art. He is part of the Amsterdam-based Non-fiction collective, managing editor at Failed Architecture and affiliated with various urban social movements. Currently, he is among others involved in shaping Sandberg Institute's new research hub, and developing a platform for alternative urban practices in both Amsterdam and Cairo.

MENTOR

María Mazzanti is a Colombian architect, researcher and educator based in Amsterdam. She is an editor in Failed Architecture, a teacher in Universidad de los Andes (COL) and a faculty member in the Sandberg Instituut (NL). Her current research explores different urban events through the lens of media and communication to expose their social and political implications.

MENTOR

Participants

The workshop is targeted to graduates and professionals with a specific interest to explore challenges in urban development. We are looking for:
– Young professionals and master students from the fields of Architecture, Urban Design, Urban Planning, and Civil Engineering;
– Critical thinking researchers and professionals with a background in social sciences (Economics, Political Sciences, Sociology, Human Geography, Anthropology, or other).

The workshop seeks applicants who have an open mind towards interdisciplinary collaborations and teamwork in an intercultural environment. The following characteristics are viewed as an asset for the selection process:
– Ability to adopt a complex perspective on urban development as an integrative process with multiple stakeholders;
– Interest in the field of housing design or policy-making in the field;
– Proved proficiency in essential skills in one's field of studies.

CANactions School offers workshops at the postgraduate level that require a university degree. Professional experience is desirable, as well as experience of working in a team. In the absence of professional experience, the outcomes of student projects or any extracurricular activities will be considered. The working language of the program is English, so the minimum expected proficiency is B2 level (based on self-evaluation and proved over a Skype interview if necessary).

Applicants who have valid certificates of internationally recognized English language tests (IELTS, TOEFL) are encouraged to submit them as part of their CV. CANactions School supports its alumni in finding suitable internship/job opportunities at partner offices across Europe. The program's graduates also become part of a vibrant alumni network, with further research and/or teaching opportunities provided by the School and its partner institutions.

APPLY

The application deadline is 12 August 2021 ( 23:59 СET). We encourage you to complete your application as early as possible. The acceptance of applicants will be conducted according to suitability to the theme and submission date. Late applications will only be considered if there are spaces available.

Before submitting your application please prepare:
1. Portfolio. Visual materials of selected work (e.g. portfolio, website link) or publication/article, academic and professional experience related to the workshop's curatorial and sub-theme supported by CV;
2. Motivation Letter. The personal statement (maximum 500 words, 3500 characters) should include the following:
– intellectual rationale for your choice and interest in applying to the workshop;
– previous academic and/or professional background in relation to the workshop theme and sub-theme;
– other experience that contributes to your workshop sub-theme choice;
– what are your long term academic and/or professional goals and how will this workshop help you achieve these?
– any other information you feel to be relevant.
You are encouraged to demonstrate familiarity with the subject area and the selected themes which you are applying for.
3. Sub-theme selection. You are asked to select the preferable sub-theme of the workshop group. You are also encouraged to include a second option in order to ensure your skills meet the requirements of the theme. By selecting the sub-theme, you are assigned to work closely with the institution and mentor of that theme, as well.

ALTERNATIVE MODELS
FOR LIVING

Previous Example / Next Example

partners

Previous Example / Next Example

QUESTIONS?

Please contact us at school@canactions.com