Workshop and lecture in Prishtina during the Kosovo Architecture Festival.

The workshop investigates how to create public space where people of different socio-cultural, ethnic, or cultural background feel equal and respected.

Prishtina offers a wide range of public space: the pedestrian friendly area in the city centre bordered with shops and cafés; the neighbourhoods of the Yugoslavian era with their landscaped surrounding including sport facilities and playgrounds. However, the newer settlements at the edge of town offer a different image. The open spaces of this  “Parallel City” are often subordinated to motorised traffic, oblivious to site specificities or inhabitants needs and relying on mono-functionality. The build environment defines who we are and we, as architects, carry a responsibility in promoting social equity. Intersectionality acknowledges the fact that every individual is made of a set of physical and social stratifications: gender, age, abilities, nationality, religion, class, education, … This framework is especially helpful to recognize the needs of non-compliant bodies, minorities, and marginalised groups in the creation of the inclusive city.

We will first analyse the condition of the public spaces within Prishtina’s urban sprawl by using the method of the Nolli map, a detailed plan of Roma dating from the 18^th century where the urban areas are represented as a network of spatial relations. We will yet invert the map in order to look at the city in negative. This methodology will help us to analyse the cityscape, address its shortcomings and identify its potentials. We will then create proposals for improved public space, inquiring how intersectionality can be applied to fulfil various goals: Accessibility for all, diversification of mobilities, enhancement of communities, improvement of ecological conditions and local climate amongst others.

Requirements for participation are enthusiasm about the city and the built environment.  Students and fresh graduated from the fields of architecture, landscape architecture, urban design, as well as sociology, philosophy, or art are strongly encouraged to apply. Participants are expected to actively contribute to the workshop for its whole duration. Material needed is laptop, tracing paper and pencils. Please feel free to bring any other tool you feel confortable to work with.