Established during the 19th century by Czech settlers, as part of a network of Czech villages in the Banat Mountains, Eibenthal and its people were deeply affected by the closure of the nearby coal mine in 2006. However, in recent years, Eibenthal is going through a revival phase, with a number of projects currently developed by the local community in order to attract tourists, enhance a resilient economy and promote the local values and heritage.
The project mainly aims at “facilitated living” housing for people possessing autism problems. Indeed, as an alternative to living in a specialized establishment, to family housing or to ordinary autonomous housing, the proposed approach allows to bring together various characteristics permitting to fulfill the housing needs of the targeted people as well as providing help and support in everyday life facilitating thus an active integration into their local environment.
Realization of the first creative hub of its kind supporting the creative industry in the Czech Republic, which was created by the reconstruction of a historic office building whose last user was the Faculty of Fine Arts of the Technical University in Brno. The reconstruction therefore supported the genius loci of the place, but at the same time the space was designed to be universal and functional for all new users.
Mood workshop is a creative experience that included international students who designed an urban intervention during challenging times. Aimed for children, a uniquely aesthetic structure arose in the yard of an elementary school in Skopje. Using wood as a main sustainable material, built up by young motivated carpenters, and including the local community in the process has created a vibrant urban intervention in public space.
Sound Topographies are acoustic interventions in public spaces with a simple intention: to make us listen to the world around us, thus making ourselves more empathetic towards it. To achieve this goal, the artistic collective ooo staged 2 events called In A♭ (Hi-fi) and Opéra Concrète in 2 different locations in Bratislava in late spring of 2022. These were conceived as "concerts without musicians" and stemmed from the practices of deep listening introduced by R. M. Schaffer and P. Oliveros.
For the past four years, sam.banchet has been conducting studies on the rehabilitation of degraded housing in an agreement with the Fabrique des Quartiers, a development company renowned for its fine work and innovative intervention in the distressed neighbourhoods of the Lille metropolis.
These projects are part of complex technical and economic contexts, requiring specific methods in particular to reduce vacancy and to re-develop the attractiveness of this difficult neighborhoods.
DTER is a centre for the valorisation of industrial waste through design. Our aim is to avoid incineration and landfill of waste whenever possible through intelligent ways. Depending on the nature of the partner companies' waste, we try to identify outlets for it, or entrust it to our designers for product design (domestic products). The outlets may also concern R&D for new materials, the identification of circular economy paths or the sustainable establishment of business cooperations.
Magasin X in Uppsala is located by the railway, lowering the need for personal transport and revitalizing a former dull part of town. It is one of the largest wooden office buildings in Europe.
Sky-high sustainability goals have been achieved regarding everything from biofuel driven transportation of climate friendly materials to using the house as a clean energy producer. The building sets a new standard for large-scale wood buildings, lowering the climate impact by 40%.
The Bark Project explores the use of scientific tools to characterize materials and design methods to create longer lifecycle applications for bark, a massive byproduct of the wood processing industry. The project analyzes local tree bark species to explore potential durable applications in design and architecture through combining traditional crafting techniques and interdisciplinary research. Bark jackets and an installation were created to emphasize a dialogue between design and society.
This community art project lasting 20 years started as an idea of festival dedicated to building, then transformed in advocacy of communal and common heritage, inviting artists, architects, writers and creators to act as House Council proposing an ideas of how to restore the building. Boris Bakal and Shadow Casters did not saved the world, EU, or Croatia, but while working with local community in Zagreb restored one condominium building block – modernistic architectural master-peace.
