Material. Context. Society. Rethinking the architectural signpost that points us towards an interdisciplinary future of the profession striving for a common good of people and the planet. 

An exhibition, a workshop, and a round table discussion create the space for discourse about the future of the architectural profession while the exhibited projects raise questions on where we are going and what we want in our environment, and search for tools to help us achieve a wholesome future. 

Designing the space for the future can be described through three main aspects which all projects have in common and are used to define quality architecture. In this project, we call these aspects “material”, “context” and “society”. 

Material discusses the tangible matter of future architecture. It is essential that building materials are recycled as much as possible, that new materials are manufactured non-extractively, that by removing them from nature, the wider geology, society, or ecosystems are not harmed, and that vernacular building techniques are maintained and used to create new methods of implementing bio-based materials. 

Context deals with the existing tissue of society, buildings, locations and areas. Tangible structures can be infused with a new programme, existing neighbourhoods improved with new content, and new content presented to solitary and abandoned buildings. Adaptive re-use is one of the best ways to counter energetically and materially wasteful new buildings, as well as the degradation of cultural landscapes. 

Society creates culture and accentuates the urgency of the social role of architecture and spatial planning. The role of the architect – more than just a role of an independent professional co-ordinating the building process – is the role of a mediator between agents, inhabitants, visitors, builders, investors, society, nature, and the state. The most successful projects are created with the participation of the public, by discussing the activities, wants, and needs. Architecture impacts the society in every environment. The question is what kind of a society we want.

The three concepts merge into several subconcepts and intermediary ideas, areas of interchange, and new meanings. We welcome any multi-facetedness, indeterminacy, and eclecticism which challenges our dialogic view of the world and contributes to a more plural, multidimensional perception and the creation of a common environment. 

To the Slovenian public, we present projects from a wide cultural and geographic region, and we aim to establish a wide network of reference transcending national borders. The selection of projects is somewhat arbitrary; they could be replaced by other examples. More important than a given specific project is the groundbreaking concept each of them implements, the idea by means of which the project fosters reflection and affects the development of architecture in the future. 

Material. Kontekst. Družba. S pričujočim projektom prevprašujemo arhitekturne smernice za interdisciplinarno prihodnost stroke, ki si prizadeva za skupno dobro ljudi in planeta. 

Razstava, delavnica in okrogla miza vzpostavljajo prostor razprave o prihodnosti stroke, z razstavljenimi primeri izzivajo vprašanja o tem, kam plovemo in kaj si v svojem okolju želimo, ter iščejo orodja, ki bi nam omogočila dobro prihodnost.

Oblikovanje okolja prihodnosti lahko opišemo skozi tri glavne vidike, ki so skupni vsem projektom in ki opredeljujejo kakovostno arhitekturo prihodnosti. Tu jih imenujemo material, kontekst in družba.

Material govori o stvarni pojavnosti arhitekture prihodnosti. Nujno je, da gradbene materiale v čim večji meri recikliramo, nove materiale pridobivamo neekstraktivno, z njihovim odvzemanjem iz narave ne škodujemo širši geologiji, družbi ali ekosistemu ter ohranjamo starodavne tehnike gradnje in z njimi izumljamo nove načine, kako graditi z materiali na biološki osnovi. 

Kontekst se ukvarja z obstoječim tkivom družbe, stavbe, lokacije ali območja. Snovne strukture lahko naselimo z novim programom, obstoječe soseske nadgradimo z novo vsebino, stavbam, ki so v okolju zapuščeni osamelci, ponudimo novo vsebino. Eden najboljših načinov, kako se lahko zoperstavimo energetsko in materialno potratnim novogradnjam in pozabi kulturnih krajin, je prilagojena ponovna raba.

Družba ustvarja kulturo ter poudarja nujnost družbenega delovanja arhitekture in prostorskega urejanja. Vloga arhitekta je bolj kot vloga samostojnega strokovnjaka, ki koordinira procese gradnje, vloga mediatorja med deležniki, prebivalci, obiskovalci, graditelji, investitorji, družbo, naravo in državo. Najboljši arhitekturni projekti nastajajo s participacijo javnosti, s pogovori o dejavnostih, željah in potrebah. Arhitekturni projekti korenito vplivajo na gradnjo skupnosti v vsakem okolju. Veliko vprašanje je torej, kakšne skupnosti si želimo.

Našteti trije sklopi vključujejo podsklope in vmesna polja, ki so območje medsebojnega prepletanja in novih zamisli. Pozdravljamo vsakršno večplastnost, neopredeljenost in eklektičnost, ki izzivajo naše utečeno dialoško dojemanje sveta ter pripomorejo k pluralnemu, večdimenzionalnemu dojemanju in ustvarjanju skupnega okolja. 

Slovenskemu prostoru predstavljamo projekte iz širše kulturne in geografske regije; vzpostaviti želimo referenčno mrežo, ki presega nacionalne meje. Izbor projektov je arbitraren, na njihovem mestu bi lahko stali tudi drugi primeri. Pomembnejši od posameznega primera je prebojni koncept, ki ga projekt predstavlja, koncept, s katerim budi misel in vpliva na razvoj prihodnje arhitekture. 

Workshop and Round Table A three-day workshop was organised at the end of the exhibition to address spatial challenges in the local environment, to monitor the situation, and to seek strategic solutions. 

The mentors – an architect, an urban planner, and a landscape architect – each dealing with space in their own way, guided the participants through the process of identifying a spatial challenge and finding the solutions. We investigated some tools to help us approach challenges proactively. 

We visited ZAG (Slovenian National Building and Civil Engineering Institute), where we discussed materials testing and certification, and the construction cave Krater – an experimental social space for research.

The workshop ended with a round table and a debate between participants and mentors, as well as invited guests.

Delavnica in okrogla miza Ob zaključku razstave je bila organizirana tridnevna delavnica, na kateri smo obravnavali prostorske izzive lokalnega okolja, opazovali stanje in iskali strateške rešitve. 

Mentorji – arhitektka, urbanist in krajinski arhitekt – ki se vsak na svoj način ukvarjajo s prostorom so udeležence vodili skozi proces prepoznavanja prostorskega izziva in iskanja rešitev. Razvijali smo orodja, ki nam lahko pomagajo, da se izzivov lotimo proaktivno. 

Obiskali smo ZAG (Zavod za gradbeništvo Slovenije), kjer smo se pogovarjali o testiranju in certificiranju materialov, ter gradbeno jamo Krater – eksperimentalni družbeni prostor za raziskovanje.

Delavnica se je končala z okroglo mizo in debato med udeleženci in mentorji, ter vabljenimi gosti.

Included projects

Predstavljeni projekti

Mentors

Mentorji

Björge Köhler, urbanist. Deluje na območju severne Nemčije. Njegovi projekti so raznoliki, od strategij načrtovanja in obsežnih krajinskih pristopov do arhitekturnih projektov manjšega obsega in posegov v urbano okolje. Po študiju v Hamburgu in Oslu je Björge postal del urbanistične agencije Urbanista s sedežem v Hamburgu, ki se osredotoča na procese skupnega načrtovanja. Je vodja zadruge “Gröninger Hof”, katere cilj je preoblikovanje stare mestne garaže v mešano uporabno strukturo. 

Urban planner. Based in Northern Germany. His projects range from planning strategies and large-scale landscape approaches to small-scale architectural projects and interventions in the urban environment. After studying in Hamburg and Oslo, Björge became part of Urbanista, a Hamburg-based urban planning agency focusing on collaborative planning processes. He is the head of the “Gröninger Hof” cooperative, which aims to transform an old city garage into a mixed-use structure.

Katarina Živković, arhitektka in naravna graditeljica, posveča se raziskovanju različnih gradbenih tehnik in materialov, ki jih je mogoče uporabiti v sodobnem kontekstu. Je članica Kluba uporabnih obrti in združenja za promocijo gradnje iz zemlje v Srbiji, kjer vodi delavnice. Kot mentorica je sodelovala na regionalnih dogodkih, kot so festival Regio Earth na Madžarskem in v Romuniji ter usposabljanje o tradicionalni gradnji na Kosovu.

Architect and natural builder, is dedicated to exploring different building techniques and materials that can be used in a contemporary context. She is a member of the Applied Crafts Club and the Association for the Promotion of Earth Building in Serbia, where she runs workshops. She has participated as a trainer in regional events such as the Regio Earth Festival in Hungary and Romania and a training on traditional construction in Kosovo. 

Authors / Avtorici

Maša Ogrin

Ajda Bračič

Ko-produkcija / Co-production

Galerija Dessa

Lectures / Predavatelji 

Katarina Živkovič (RS)

Björge Köhler (DE)

Design / Oblikovanje

Urška Alič

Support / Podpora

Ministrstvo za kulturo – Republika Slovenija

Support / Podpora

Ytong, Baumit, …