- New alliances
Never-never school is a concept of summer school for transdisciplinary work and collective learning on how we perceive and treat our cities. We see design not as an exclusive tool of architects, hence we invite others to create an equal discourse by employing inclusive methods. Our main tools are mapping and writing, that in a form of speculative scenarios create an alternative realities of a place. We work with imaginable utopias rooted in present context. By using cartography, phenomenological research and dramatical storytelling we smoothly move between present and future. This year we turn our attention to brownfields in shrinking post-socialist cities. Trapped in a permanent limbo state, we investigate their in-betweenness thoroughly, while giving voice and place to all human and non-human actors. We consider them not as empty places for future planning, but as a starting point for utopias of many.
Site of Never-never school 2019: Brownfields in limbo state, where government’s progress-oriented view on future is holding back alternative utopian developments outside the system. Or are these personal utopias already happening anyway? The so-called emptiness is full of content: marginalized groups, excluded activities and the nature itself.
Case study place of 2019. Site of Never-never school 2019
In 2018 we organized first, pilot year of Never-never school. Through the notion of utopias we were exploring socialist housing neighbourhood and wrote scenarios of alternative futures. Our site was socialist neighbourhood Ťahanovce. Mythology and phenomenology of a place were strong influences in the design phase in 2018. Photo shows group field research with local activist and filmmaker Mišo Hudák.
Coding the environment helped to focus on certain topics when designing scenarios.
We tested collective working methods and established written scenarios as an adequate method for everyone. This is an excerpt from scenario dealing with maximum individual freedom which was extended by visual material: collage of private property utopia/dystopia.
