Mobilizing pre-war spatial memories in view of urban reconstruction planning
See ECTS: https://onderwijsaanbod.kuleuven.be/syllabi/e/A43072E.htm#activetab=herkansen_toelichting_idp5293312
photo: Serhii Nuzhnenko (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty) / the Collection of war.ukraine.ua
Description of the project[1]:
Key words: Spatial Memory, Post-War, Urban Reconstruction
Mobilizing pre-war spatial memories in view of urban reconstruction planning
In light of the many conflicts affecting cities around the world today, governments are increasingly challenged to understand and improve the impact of post-war urban planning on local communities with attention to their socio-cultural and ‘intangible’ heritage. The proposed design research hypothesizes that: (1) mobilizing pre-war spatial memories of residents’ living environment – related to the entwinement of experiences, spatial configurations and every-day journeys – in urban reconstruction strategies will enhance social and urban resilience in revival processes and policies. (2) Activating architectural artefacts, both as ‘epistemic artefacts’ and as ‘objects of speech’ will unlock a multiplicity of pre-war spatial memories and evoke new dimensions in the understanding of the pre-war urban fabric.
The ultimate goal of this project is to enable the development of innovative and transferable strategies to construct alternative futures for devastated urban areas at the intersection of different narratives and material culture. This means futures that could generate possible forms of social and cultural cohesion, away from top-down planning proposals that exclude or marginalize significant portions of the different communities from having a voice in the decision-making process about the reconstruction of their living environment.
To reach the research objectives, we will select a number of critical case-studies based on a well-established set of criteria. Given the current geopolitical situation, devastated urban areas in war-torn Ukraine will be the key focus for our studio’s research questions and desired impact. To start with this research will draw from multiple data sources, among others, on previously conducted digital documentation in selected places in Ukraine. Most importantly, for this project, we aim to include the voices from those not yet included in debates about post-war reconstruction: the members of the Ukraine diaspora in Flanders. Therefore, we will work together with local gatekeepers introduced by our Ukraine contacts in Flanders with the support of Transculturele Zorg CGG VBO Leuven. We are in close contact with local partners who are related to the urban planning field and Ukraine’s realities both in Ukraine (Lviv University), and international such as ETH Zurich.
Considering the important role that architectural visual representations play in reconstruction planning processes, we will investigate how they not only express ideas, but how they can as well actively unlock knowledge about the cultural and emotional ties of members of different communities to the pre-war urban fabric in view of post-war recovery.
Your project results will represent an essential steppingstone in the simulation of different inclusive and socially resilient future-oriented reconstruction strategies, helping to assess their potential social, economic, and cultural impacts.
(For more detailed information and reference list see extended description.)
©AFP – De Standaard 2022_09_05. Rusland scheurt ons hele sociale weefsel aan flarden. [Russia is tearing our entire social fabric to shreds]
[1] This exercise description is an integral part of the research project ‘Mobilizing pre-war spatial memories in view of urban reconstruction planning’, of which Gisèle Gantois is the principal investigator. The students’ results will make an important contribution to this research project. This project falls within the framework of the research cell ‘Restoring Broken Journeys’ (drs. Marie Nevejan, drs. Njomëza Mulhaxa, drs. Gjiltinë Isufi, prof. Gisèle Gantois). The central theme is the recovery of an earlier (social) right, practice or situation that has been distorted with a view to the future, as ‘journeys’ presuppose a process of change and development. This research explores how journeys, stories and lives are closely intertwined and what the role of heritage is in the construction of the spatial memories of these.