Application deadline: May 31, 2015
Residency period: July–August, 2015
IZOLYATSIA. Platform for Cultural Initiatives
Naberezhno-Luhova str., 8
Kiev, 04071
Ukraine
IZOLYATSIA is pleased to announce its annual residence program. We are now accepting proposals from architects, artists, data visualisers and scientists wanting to explore the notion of architecture via the prism of inventive interventions within the urban context.
For the summer 2015 program, Eastern Ukraine is chosen as a case study and the network of cities adjacent to but not within the war zone. The program is designed to raise social awareness, through physical and digital interventions. We are looking for all forms of creative expression that would in one way or another improve the lives of the people in these cities.
The residency will be hosted in IZOLYATSIA’s site in Kyiv, but throughout the eight-week period, frequent research trips, reviews, events, lectures and workshops will take place. The data collected and analysed will reveal and define the scope of the proposals. Participants are asked to take a step back, study and gather data on the makeup of the urban conurbation and to investigate an aspect of social ‘fabric’ or ‘phenomena’. Careful examination of all of the layers will reveal the immense complexity of an urban system. The residency program provides the logistical framework in partnership with educational and cultural establishments. Understanding the context in a holistic way provides the necessary setting for an unexpected positive ‘thought shift’. The final proposals or systems shall be built or established through classical or digital fabrication methods.
The applicants are asked to submit a project proposal based on one or more of the keywords in the context of ‘architecture’ and the site, together with a data visualisation concept.
Site context
The applicants are expected to have knowledge of the case study city and Ukraine, or show an active interest in developing one. We shall select eight proposals, and IZOLYATSIA will enable the study within the local context and provide support throughout the residency period. Participants must be aware of the critical issues affecting the future of industrialised cities in eastern Ukraine. There is a looming and very real problem. The decline of industry and historical purpose prompt an urgent need for new identity and function reflected in their socio-economic demographic and the built environments that support these structures. Future cities will be ‘smart’ connected conurbations, efficient and energy conscious, serviced by modern infrastructure and environmental systems dedicated to limiting pollution. Creative capital and ‘soft power’ may be a driver for future prosperity and renewal…or not! Whatever the case, authorities need to understand what they have.
Publication and exhibition
At the end of the program a pop-up exhibition will be put together to mark the end of the residency. This will consist of data visualisations, well-defined research themes and initial findings. However during the following year, participants can implement their projects as a part of a larger analysis / publication / exhibition on the outcomes of the inventive process.
Jury
The residency program and the participant projects will be judged by international and local experts and academics from the fields of urban design, science, sociology, arts and architecture.
Submission requirements and process
To apply please send the following (in pdf format only) to [email protected]
– Letter of intent, with a project proposal idea
– Personal statement (500 words)
– Current CV and a selection of portfolio work (seven pages approximately)
– Documentation of other relevant work (up to three pages)
The finalists of the open-call will be invited for an interview via Skype on June 4, 2015. Successful applicants will be informed on June 6.
Host offers:
– Travel
– Communal accommodation
– Stipend for living and production expenses
– Simple studio space
– Support by local volunteer-assistants
– Exhibition / publication as the concluding stage of the program
Host expects:
– Dedicated participation in the research project
– Collaboration with curators
– Collaboration with other residents
– Resident-led educational event for the local community
– Production of final piece at the end of the residency-period
