TACTICS OF URBAN RE - HUMANISATION----

Part of  The Cyprus Pavilion at the 17th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia

Collaboration
Sebastian Koukkides - Charis Nika, 2021

Materials: Balsa wood (painted), clay and plaster (coloured), MDF (painted with added texture), natural

elements (soil, branches, vegetation)

Scale: 1:50, Model dimensions: 40cm x 40 cm x 36cm

Tactics of Urban Re-Humanisation proposes a form of optimistic resistance against the current trends of

urban development.

Our proposal criticises the privatization and monetization of public space, the inhumane scale of

contemporary urban projects and the insensitive urban strategies that ignore the local culture and tradition,

the social practices of citizens, the local climate and the already existing built and natural context.

As an antidote to this, our proposal examines architectural typologies from Cypriot tradition, exploring

their autonomous and collective making process, their approachable scale, their intricate spatial qualities

and the richness of social practices they allowed for. The findings of this exploration are brought together

with contemporary ideas about DIY urbanism to create a series of small-scale urban interventions that can

be tactically placed in the Cypriot city in order to start a process of positive change.

These interventions reinterpret the qualities of local traditional architecture, exploring notions of intimacy,

belonging, meaning, togetherness, collectivity, and locality. Their aim is to create a richer gradation of

public, collective and private spaces in the city that allows for a more nuanced variety of behaviours

and encounters not only between people themselves but also between people and their built or natural

environment.

These structures are simple in construction and made out of local and natural materials. They are envisioned

as the result of collective making efforts of the citizens themselves. In doing so, they point towards a

more socially and environmentally sustainable city-making process that leads to a more humane urban

environment.