Living Heritage

TEAM PORTRAIT

VIDEO (by the team)

INTERVIEW
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1. How did you form the team for the competition?
Ana and Marius have been working together on multiple projects and competitions since their student years, both independently, they formed: Studio together, and as part of the Research centre for sustainable development Timisoara, all the while teaching at the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism, Politehnica University of Timișoara. Romina joined the team in 2019, after finishing her architectural studies. All three share similar approaches and values regarding urban planning, while also bringing to the table individual skill sets from different domains (e.g. architecture, urban design, management, marketing).

2. How do you define the main issue of your project, and how did you answer on this session main topic, Living cities?
The concept was developed based on the following research questions: Who has the right to the city? How can a productive city embrace adaptability and sustainability to achieve social, economic and ecological resilience? What happens when you put the green and the blue first, and existing buildings second? Are cities for people, for profit or for all living within? The project’s main idea is the weaving together of different strands of production, land uses, habitats - for people and animals in an ever-adapting tapestry centring the river Dender. Rejecting the classical urban planning approach of a single correct solution enforced by experts, we proposed a toolkit based approach to empower private owners to collaborate and adapt to an ever changing physical and economic context. Each toolkit, the Tabula plena for urban conservation or Living quays for riverfront redesign have 12 alternatives to be chosen from based on the area of implant.
The session’s main topic, Living cities, was adopted both as a planning process through the use of the toolkits and as an approach to the project's beneficiaries proposing an urban biotop. The toolkits ensure its adaptability to an ever changing urban metabolism, while setting on an equal footing humans, fauna and flora achieves a sustainable urban environment.