OPEN CALL: Re-thinking of the container settlement for IDPs

Research into the situation and context of the IDP container town in Nikopol, Ukraine; rethinking and shaping a short-term and long-term vision for its development.

To be feasible and game-changing, the scenarios had to stem from the context and the conducted research and to incorporate all the basic aspects of city life in general.

During the workshop, the participants had an opportunity to discover the relations between architecture, urban planning and urban policies on the one part and the social situation in an Eastern Ukrainian city on the other and to assess their reciprocal effects. Guided by Ukrainian and international tutors, the participants conducted an interdisciplinary research into the area and learnt about the integrated approach to planning urban development, which they will be able to apply when designing specific projects.

Workshop Team: Evheniia Dulko, Kharkiv School of Architecture; Oleksii Somak, Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), Ukraine

Tutors, Kharkiv School of Architecture: Oleksandra Naryzhna, Oleksandra Nikitenko, Olena Chernyshova, Dmytro Zaiets

International Tutors: Iris Gleichmann (Gleichmann Urban Management Office, Germany), Jochen Gauly (Bgh Gauly and Volgmann, Germany), Felix Volgmann (Bgh Gauly and Volgmann, Germany).

To improve the container town, the workshop proposed the following solutions: to provide a sun canopy for the containers; to build a children’s playground for various age groups; to construct a pergola next to the town administration; to create modular furniture to transform the container layout; and to install a covered entrance to the hostels. Also, the following events and projects were suggested: a carpentry workshop; charity and volunteer events; garage sales; and various training events (clothes mending, furniture construction, etc.)

The workshop was supported by the project “Infrastructural Programme Initiatives for Ukraine” of the Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), Ukraine, and conducted within the framework of drafting the Concept for Integrated Development of Nikopol, Ukraine.