Architectural Democracy in Moscow

Architectural Democracy was invited to be part of the exhibition “Public Space – Future for Europe” in Moscow, in the Schusev State Museum of Architecture. The exhibition will be open to the public from 31st January 2020 until 10th May 2020.

This exhibition includes renowned Architects, architecture studios, designers, galleries, professionals and companies relevant to the creative industry including architecture, art, and (industrial) design. Its content is to be published in a hardcover catalogue (approx. 200 pages). Architectural Democracy is the sole representative from Finland.

Thursday 30|01

Opening of the Exhibition "Public Architecture - Future for Europe", 7 pm. On this occasion, the Museum and us will welcome our participants and the guests. 

Friday 31|01 

Morning time, 10.30 -  13.00

Business Breakfast and Public talk. The event will gather industry representatives that will discuss the current tendencies in public architecture in Russia and Europe with the participating architects.  

Afternoon, 15.00-18.00 Symposium. Conference divided in three panels, whereby we will bring together a heterogeneous group of architects/institution participating in the exhibition asking  to reflect around three main topics deeply connected with the theme of the exhibition.

Architectural Democracy is showing an installation in partnership with Ryozan Park from Japan. It wil be at the opening represented by Pedro Aibéo, Mark Linder and Stefan Gustafsson. Pedro Aibéo will speak at 17:00, under the subtopic “Ideal common spaces”. Between Utopia and Necessity:

- Pedro Aibeo (Architectural Democracy, FIN) - Alex Ely (Mæ, GBR) - Professor Ulrich Gehmann (Ideal Spaces Working Group, DEU) - Irina Tarasova (Ural State University of Architecture and Art, USUAA, RUS)  

“Ideal common spaces”. Between Utopia and Necessity Imagining fertile shared spaces. Ideal public spaces foster a sense of social cohesion and a healthy civic environment. The development of a system of public space and transformation of existing buildings into a new sustainable shared space that responds to the needs of its citizens, engage them to interact with each other and encourage the development of positive social relationships. This transformation although creates a link between the past and the future by enforcing the continuity of the space itself and giving a new interpretation of its existence. This linkage has the potential to create strong communities. In order to develop places of permanence and citizen interaction, optimal and capable of allowing the various manifestations of citizenship, there is a big need to examine all the factors that influence the creation of public spaces and the necessities of the citizens. Shared spaces are the stage of our social life, as they stimulate the way we interact with each other and this leads the architects to imagine them based on users’ needs. Coexisting is the first necessary step in order to produce a community. These special characteristics of co-presence may encourage individuals to return to public space and become more active participants in their communities.

Architectural Democracy, what it is and what we have done:

We either sleepwalk our way to automated democracy and isolation or we develop tools for us to plan cities & communities for the kind of people we want to become.

Architectural Democracy started as an academic research in Finland, proposing a framework of the relationships between architecture and democracy for all stakeholders to better understand the complexity of cities and thus to participate more actively in the planning decisions that affect their lives. It grew larger into a movement, now encompassing service architecture and own developments. These include the projects of the renovation of abandoned buildings into cohousing economies, urban planning interactive games, hands-on city model building workshops for kids, app development & photogrammetry for the opening up of historical facades, lectures and talks worldwide, political activism, construction legislation proposals, consultation, etc. All of these have in common mechanisms to wake up citizens and show them constructive ways to participate.