Informal City: Temporal-Autonomous Utopias
Under the program of the first summer school of architecture, Informal City: Temporary Autonomous Utopias, organized in cooperation with the Municipality of Koper, the Academy of Fine Arts and Design of the University of Ljubljana, the Faculty of Architecture, the Faculty of Pedagogy at the University of Primorska, Coastal Galleries Piran and other partners, the UAU! team composed by the Italian architect Alessio Rosati from MAXXI Rome Museum, Christina Serifi, a researcher at the Braunschweiger School, Elian Stefa, involved in DIY projects in the Albanian city of Vlora and the island of Shazan, and Boštjan Bugarič, Senior editor of Archtectuul gave a major push to start this program.
Other lecturers and participants were besides artist and architect Marjetica Potrč, associate professor at the Ljubljana Academy of Fine Arts Barbara Predan, curator at the Museum of Architecture and Design Maja Vardjan, Greek director Yorgos Avgeropoulos also Avtomatik Delovišče members Mateja Filipič, Erik Jurišević with KONNTRA team – Mirjana Lozanovska, Silvija Shaleva, young director Rebeka Bratož Gornik, architect Nina Vidić Ivančič and RTV Slovenia journalist Nataša Mihelič and Tageszeitung journalist Martin Reichert.
The collective Avtomatik Delovišče played an important role in creating suitable ideas and solutions – enable the understanding and application of new strategies to shape the participatory process and social design in cities in the post-pandemic period.
The right to use public space, the right to water and the right to the city were the central highlights in Koper from 01 to 10 September 2021 in the former Libertas warehouse. Students of architecture and design from various European countries, with three international mentors and several lectures created solutions for temporary use of neglected spaces in historical centre of Koper. The new utopian content was created to enable a new urbanity based on inclusive social integration, social solidarity and ecological development through solidarity cooperation.
How has the political transformation over the last thirty years affected changing patterns of behaviour, values, and beliefs about life and understanding of cities; which examples of temporary use shall be developed at the abandoned spaces on Koper’s waterfront and how to create a new urbanity based on inclusive social integration, solidarity and ecological inclusion based on cooperation. These were just some of the topics dealt with by 16 undergraduate and postgraduate students of architecture and design from various European countries. Beside the students the Libertas warehouse doors were also wide open to city residents and visitors interested in topics.
The school took place at three locations in Koper: in the Libertas warehouse, at the K67 Kiosk designed by Saša Mächtig which Obalne Galerije Piran kindly handed over to the collective for six months and in new University of Littoral project space BankArt.
