Conference on the Restoration of Ukraine’s Architectural Culture
In mid-May, the second European conference on the restoration of Ukraine’s architectural culture was held. Participants from Ukraine, the EU, and Sweden attended. Sweden’s Architects’ Coordinator for Ukraine summarizes the day.
The second European conference on the restoration of Ukraine’s architectural culture was opened by Ukraine’s Minister of Culture, Rostyslav Karandieiev. He conveyed a clear message to the more than 80 architects from Ukraine, the EU, and Sweden who participated: “Anticipating and planning post-war work is not less important, and perhaps even more important, than focusing on today’s needs.”
The Minister of Culture welcomed the 12 municipal initiatives that were selected and promised them support through legislative reform and methods for preservation with new functions. He invited European experts and partners to engage in developing a concrete action plan.
Read the full speech summary (PDF).
On the Swedish side, City Council Chairman Olle Burell welcomed the attendees. He emphasized that the program provides hope by enabling thinking beyond the ongoing war and leveraging architects’ ability to envision new possibilities.
The following day, he hosted a reception at Stockholm City Hall where City Architect Torleif Falk presented the city’s working methods.
We are now beginning the process of matching the 12 pilot projects with Swedish and European partners.
– We see that the pilot projects will serve as platforms for collaboration on targeted initiatives in water purification, education, healthcare, cultural heritage, energy, and more. This allows us to demonstrate how a Swedish approach enables constructive dialogues between various interests in preservation and development, says Sweden’s Architects Coordinator Pehr Mikael Sällström.
So far, five architectural firms, four experts, and three municipalities have shown interest in participating. Over four meetings in Ukraine and Europe, they will develop project plans and seek funding for implementation.
– We welcome more partners to the projects.
If you are interested, you can contact Eugenia Bevz via email at eugenia.bevz@arkitekt.se.
The results will be presented in Malmö in a year. See the program for Ureherit CPD Ukraine.