PK 5500

PK 5500 consisted of a series of artistic interventions during a one-week visit by social design students and professors on site. The actions employed creative tools for engagement with the local community and attempted to reveal wishes and reconstruct narratives of the city. Issues of self-organization, readiness to cooperate, civic engagement and participation in decision-making about the urban environment were addressed.

The project PK 5500 took place in Lovech, Bulgaria. It was developed in 2015 by Vera Naydenova, Tinka Legvart and Ana-Marija Vasicek under the guidance of Barbara Holub, Christina Schraml, Daniel Aschwanden and Herwig Turk, in cooperation between the University of Applied Arts Vienna and Lovech municipality. It was provoked by the process of regeneration of a former military barracks site in the town.

To connect a community, one needs to create positive communal experiences.

Thanks to the devoted efforts of the local administration to regain the former military barracks site in Lovech, its regeneration and bringing it back to life carries the potential to consider urban development strategies off the beaten track, stimulate a diversity of activities and discover new ways of living together.

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The future potential of the military barracks site lies in its transformation into a multi-functional public space where exchange between generations and cultural groups is encouraged and supported by mutually enjoyable activities, creating positive communal experiences. By creating opportunities for learning and growth and active participation in the community at all stages of life, the soil would be cultivated for the long-term benefits of a stronger social economy, employment, rising value of property and attraction to investors.

The future potential of Lovech lies in discovering new ways of living together!

Inspired by the wishes expressed by the local community and the force of nature reclaiming the space over the years of disuse, the students developed a vision based on strategies of ecological restoration, cultural regeneration and historic preservation through staged development and temporary use. In June 2015 they were invited to present the project in the town of Oberwart (Austria), in the frames of the exhibition "Junge Kunst" with its annual focus on social design in rural regions.

Time

Summer Term 2015

Location

Lovech

Bulgaria

Team

Vera Naydenova

Tinka Legvart and Ana-Marija Vasicek Mentors/ Support: Barbara Holub

Christina Schraml

Daniel Aschwanden and Herwig Turk