From Kosovo With Love by ARCSR Kosovo

From Kosovo with Love Research methods within vulnerable communities

Tim Coles Adriana Keast Steven Pirks John Stiles Darren Wilson with Maurice Mitchell Stefanie Rhodes Crystal Whitaker Francesca Pont

Contents 7 Introduction 11 Part One : Original Trip (November 2011) - Working methods - Student proposals 45

Part Two : Return Trip (September 2012)

- Fushë Kosova exhibition - Pristina exhibition - Collecting feedback Part Three : Possibilities for the Future

- People - Investigating potential locations for future study - Potential collaboration 85

Part Four : Exhibiting in London

Appendix 1 : Rules of Engagement

103

Appendix 2 : Lessons from Kosovo

- ‘Edges & Enclaves’ exhibition - Rapid Change

Acknowledgments

Introduction The research in this book was undertaken as part of the Professional Diploma in Architecture course within the Sir John Cass Faculty of Art, Architecture and Design at London Metropolitan University. Mindful of the tendency of strategic and large-scale policy planning to overlook rich but fragile local interactions, work within the Architecture of Rapid Change and Scarce Resources (ARCSR) research area encourages students to work from the ground-up, using lived experience of people and place to inform their work. In November 2011, nine students from Diploma Unit 6 travelled to Pristina, Kosovo to spend two weeks surveying and engaging with the community of FushĂŤ Kosova which resides on the edge of the city. This work formed the basis of a collection of ideas or proposals which explore the architectural possibilities of the place. In the spirit of the ARCSR research ethos we explored various polarities and juxtapositions within this peripheral community: the centre and the edge, modernity and tradition, local and global, continuity and change, assimilation and nostalgia, fundamental and secular, factory based technology and site based craft and loose and tight fit construction. In September 2012, five students returned to present the work at exhibitions in both Pristina and FushĂŤ Kosova. In addition to displaying working methods, field research and architectural proposals, this book also presents feedback from the recent visit to Kosovo and new investigations and analysis which will hopefully form the basis of an ongoing design and research project. 7

SERBIA MONTENEGRO Vushtrri

Fushë Kosovë

Prishtinë

KOSOVO

Prizren

ALBANIA

Skopje

MACEDONIA 0

40km

Part One - Original Trip In November 2011 we travelled to Kosovo to undertake site research and engage with local communities. Our journey began with a short stay in Skopje, Macedonia before crossing the border by bus and travelling on to Pristina, the capital city. Evoking childhood memories of war and genocide, presented to us through extensive media coverage at the time, we found ourselves uncertain about what to expect from this relatively unknown country nestled within the Balkan peninsula. For two weeks we made our home in a warm hostel in the hills overlooking Pristina and our workplace in the streets of FushĂŤ Kosova - a peripheral settlement on the edge of the city, inhabited by Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities.

Magda Pelszyk

Working Methods Much of the successful work produced by students, who pass through design studios operating within the Architecture of Rapid Change and Scarce Resources ethos, is fundamentally influenced by a series of well established working methods. Tested over almost ten years through projects in India, these skills have been consistently honed and subsequently passed down from generation to generation of student. Whilst straightforward and perhaps obvious in their nature, these working methods enable students to fully engage with the place which they are investigating, allowing a rich understanding of the complexities to emerge. Sketches, site surveys, measurements, mappings and material research sit alongside conversations about the social, cultural and political issues with local people and all contribute to the process of discovery. Cultural activities, which promote a greater interaction with the community, are also often performed in an impromptu manner on field trips and prove highly successful exercises.

Community Carpet

Cultural Activities As part of our established research methods and to further enhance our engagement with the local community we each undertook a ‘cultural activity’ to deepen our understanding of Fushë Kosova. Throughout our time in Kosovo we were inspired in many ways by the people we met and the situations we encountered and the four cultural activities illustrated in these pages represent our interest in specific parts of Kosovan society. Matthew and Adriana undertook a drawing workshop with local families and small children and asked them to envisage how they could make Fushë Kosova a better place to live and to play. The exercise revealed both the creativity of local people and their desire to shape their community whilst also highlighting key issues affecting families. Ross and John decided to explore the cultural significance of craft making after spending an afternoon in a class run by Ferdona Asilani for Balkan Sunflowers. They were inspired by the skills the young girls in the class had acquired and felt that they symbolised the benefits of having access to education. In order to celebrate the beautiful pieces of work and to make a small political statement about the place of RAE culture within Kosovan culture, Ross and John decided to hold a public craft exhibition in Mother Teresa Boulevard, Pristina. Many local people and officials attended the event and were extremely pleased to see the work of the RAE community on display in the heart of Kosovo. Steven, Farrokh and Magda held a sports exchange within Fushë Kosova train station to help promote the integration of RAE and non-RAE communities. By reusing an abandoned table tennis table, they brought together children from different backgrounds for an afternoon of sport and healthy competition. Tim and Darren oversaw the assembly of a ‘community carpet’ upon which to hold an afternoon tea. They observed that throughout Fushë Kosova people stand at the threshold of their courtyards to deposit rubbish on the street beyond. In an attempt to change perceptions of public space (at least for an afternoon), they helped create a domestic carpet in a public courtyard. Using leftover cardboard boxes basic features of a rug were drawn out allowing onlookers to understand what was happening, with passing children and teenagers joining in with colouring and decoration. Once finished the carpet was inhabited and everyone involved shared a glass of ice tea. 16

Drawing Workshop

Community Sports

Craft Exhibition

Investigation Society and Culture Throughout our engagement with the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian community of Fushë Kosova, as well as our time spent with inhabitants of Pristina, we became acutely aware of societal and cultural relationships in Kosovo, identifying divisions, differences and similarities. Whilst it is clear that there has been an adjustment of the cultural identity in the years following the war with Serbia, many aspects of Balkan culture continue to be celebrated throughout communities. Handicraft skills which are passed down through generations form part of a strong tradition of artisanship, with jewellery-making emerging as the most popular craft amongst the female population. We have been closely involved with a small group of young girls who regularly attend craftmaking classes in Fushë Kosova. Our research into the way in which society functions has also led us to discover interesting aspects about the way in which the built environment is made and inhabited. Buildings often sit quite freely within the landscape or the city and are interconnected by spaces and walkways which serve as unique places for daily life to occur: routes for pedestrian shortcuts, spaces for children to play or quiet places for cafés and shops.

Tim Coles

John Stiles

Adriana Keast

Ross Keenan

Matthew Farrer

Adriana Keast 21

Matthew Farrer 22

Informal Economies As a developing country, Kosovo is experiencing a great deal of economic difficulty. The recall or deportation of immigrants from throughout Europe back to the country has created a large surplus of labour and caused unemployment, particularly in the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian community, to increase. Based on our explorations, we have thought about how small-scale or informal economies might begin to improve people’s lives through enterprise and self-sufficiency. A principle livelihood for inhabitants of Fushë Kosova centres on the exchange of waste, usually scrap metal, for money. Whilst waste is a useful source of income for the community, it also contributes to the continued contamination of the environment on a daily basis. The sight of children playing on mounds of rubbish prompted us to consider how recycling might develop into both an environmentally and financially beneficial process. We have also discovered that technology is not far away from Fushë Kosova and spent a lot of time engaging with people at the internet café. Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities often have family connections located throughout Europe so access to the internet allows them to stay in contact on a regular basis. During our visit, the popularity of the internet café reached such a high level some of us were enlisted to help construct an extension to increase capacity.

Tim Coles 23

Energy and Infrastructure As a settlement which has developed along the edges of the largely redundant railway, Fushë Kosova sits awkwardly between an empty landscape and the monuments of industry and infrastructure. A key aspect of our interest in the settlement was focused on how roads, railways, rivers and other lines of communication both define and contain the built environment, and also how this built environment marks the edge between the city and the landscape. Several kilometres from Fushë Kosova are the power stations at Obiliç where the figures of chimneys on the horizon and trains carrying piles of extracted lignite reminded us that energy production in Kosovo is a matter of great importance. Because these power stations contribute greatly to pollution levels, some of our ideas thought about ways in which energy production could be made cleaner and to operate on a more local scale. Alongside an innovative view on energy, we have also considered inventive ways to re-appropriate existing infrastructure as part of our proposals. Our research into and surveys of the abandoned buildings, which are scattered across Fushë Kosova, led some of us to think about how they might be adapted to once again serve the community. Often the structural simplicity of these buildings presented a robust framework into which new uses or construction could be inserted.

Darren Wilson 26

Steven Pirks

Ross Keenan

Steven Pirks

Magda Pelszyk 27

Ross Keenan

Schemes Over the rest of the year we worked on making architectural proposals based on our extensive research - using the sketches, explorations, mappings and conversations collected as the basis for imaginative projects in and around FushĂŤ Kosova. None of these projects were to be â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;realâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; (built) projects; they were rather projects which imagined the future for the settlement in order to understand the existing conditions, start conversations and explore ideas.

4 3

5 7

1. Skills Workshop & Centre for Employment Darren Wilson Throughout the neighbourhood there are many spaces which have been left by absent families. Sometimes the neighbourhood appropriates these spaces and sometimes they are abandoned. Darren chose a site that was abandoned, situated at the intersection of the dense urban area and rural plots, alongside a busy informal public square. Darren proposed three simple buildings, each with their own identity but part of a single collection, like chess pieces on a board. Between them they could help to create a new economy for the many unemployed but skilled people in FushĂŤ Kosova. One building would be an open-plan workshop space with small offices. Another building would be a meeting house where the collaborative approach required to create a sustainable local economy can be discussed. The final building would be a cinema and reading room which help with education for those looking to start their own livelihood.

2. Bakery and Power Plant for the Community Tim Coles Kosovo is struggling to find its own independent identity within Europe. Historically marginalised, the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian inhabitants of Fushë Kosova are isolated socially, financially and physically from the city. Tim proposed interventions at a small and large scale which could help to develop an independent community for the future. A social ‘Bakehouse’, based on the intimacy of the home, would build economy within the community through bread making. ‘Hothouses’ would reuse abandoned buildings for small scale CHP plants, providing local energy independent from unreliable and cancerous coal-fired power stations. A promenade would connect the community with the rural land to the west, and celebrate the cultural tradition found in the Balkans of walking as a social activity. The declining use of fields for agricultural use could create opportunities for plantations to grow biomass fuel and filter water. 32

3. Craft and Cultivation Ross Keenan In the aftermath of the war, agricultural infrastructure was badly damaged resulting in small unconnected subsistence farms with low yield, despite the rich land. Rossâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s proposal would re-establish an agricultural infrastructure through the means of narrow gauge railways collectively known as the Culti-rail. Where these railways meet the settlement a new junction would be formed where farm products could be directly transported onto the main train line and exported throughout Kosovo and Europe. This junction could help create new work opportunities in cultivation, long standing craft traditions and education. A large platform and timber structure would provide a space for food storage, sorting and transfer to the main line, whilst the craft buildings straddle the settlement and farmland, defining courtyards and orchards. The idea is that similar craft and cultivation hubs could arise through local cooperatives at similar locations throughout the country.

Tim Coles

4. Puppet Theatre Magda Pelszyk Magda was interested in exploring cultural and educational awareness primarily around FushĂŤ Kosova and beyond. She decided to propose a collaboration between Infrakos, Balkan Sunflowers and Artpolis to create a small Puppet Theatre with workshop facilities where local young people could be invited to participate in puppet making and organise cultural events like a summer film festival or music and theatre festivals. Her proposal would re-use disused rail facilities as the chosen site is located on former railway land. The theatre would occupy some of the neglected rail buildings (coal storage and repair sheds). Ideally materials for construction would be gathered locally. Her idea was to highlight the identity and the history of FushĂŤ Kosova by re-introducing former railway track for theatre purpose.

5. Spaces for Civic Use Farrokh Aman Fushë Kosova came to exist as a result of the introduction of railways in the agricultural landscape surrounding Pristina. This instigated the urbanisation process of the land surrounding the railways. Gradually, Fushë Kosova has become part of Pristina. Currently, the Kosovan railways are in decline, future development of the railway is on the horizon as part of the national growth plan. This could easily bring more urbanisation to Fushë Kosova. Farrokh’s proposal considers maintaining several remaining pieces of land as civic spaces for this new part of the capital. Based on the idea of the ‘Caravansarai’, the proposed internal and external spaces would house communal activities as well as providing accommodation for travellers.

6. Biomass Power Station & Public Gallery Steven Pirks Steven was interested in the semi-redundant state of the railway and proposed to re-imagine the station as a civic centre where the ethnically segregated community could integrate with society through cultural activities and events. This would be achieved by liberating the station atrium, to become a multifunctional space. A new public gallery would connect existing buildings on the site and provide elevated views to the city and the landscape beyond, whilst a new educative power station would demonstrate clean energy alternatives to the existing coal fired power stations.

7. Community Room John Stiles Johnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s research highlighted the physical and cultural junctions that define the character of the place. Departing from this theme, he proposed a new community room. Forming part of a masterplan for a community campus, the scheme also incorporates a learning centre, craft workshops and a brick factory. The intention is to redevelop contaminated land whilst densifying the settlement centre to enhance the civic character. New public, semi-public and private courtyards would unite these buildings and connect the scheme to the surroundings, providing a new route between the central square and the busy market. New paving would define key pathways and new brick buildings would attempt to offer a sense of permanence within a highly changeable context. A place where buildings are erected in as little as an afternoon, the strength and resilience of the community is would be embodied in what is intended to serve as a robust resource for everyday life.

8. Civic Spaces & Working Mews Adriana Keast For Adriana the field trip research revealed a need for a greater civic character within Fushë Kosova. The site she chose is surrounded by private houses, some of which are inhabited, while some are derelict. There are two busy roads which enter the site, but these roads do not connect and it is not possible to pass from one to another by car. She identified the typology of ‘comb streets’, where narrow, dead-end residential roads span off a main road, already visible in the settlement. She was interested in the way these streets density offered a feeling of security to those who use them. She decided to maximise space within the site by planning a group of smaller ‘comb streets’ which would have a similar character to the existing neighbourhood. She proposed three public buildings for this new ‘comb street’ development: a Town Hall, a tile factory and a waste sorting factory. Her idea was to provide potential for enterprise within the settlement. She also planned the reconnection of the two roads which would provide access for deliveries and collections as well as pedestrians.

9. A New Urban Village Green Matthew Farrer Matthew was interested in a small open green space located in the centre of the eastern neighbourhood in FushĂŤ Kosova. Narrow alleyways, passages and dirt paths weave through the buildings creating shortcuts to the surrounding areas. Privacy, exclusivity of use, and escape are tied up within these routes and are a central component for the spatial arrangement of my proposed scheme. From conversations with local residents it became clear that there was a sense of helplessness over the lack of opportunities to find work and get children into school education. In response to these issues he proposed a group of buildings with mixed uses, including a child and adult education centre, apartments, a shop, community space and workshops. The new workshops would provide space for the fabrication of elements of the tower and school buildings, where the local people could play a key role in the construction of these new facilities.

Matthew Farrer

Part Two : Return Trip Our proposals would not have been complete without presenting them at the place where they originated, in order to reassess our ideas, collect feedback and give back something of the hospitality we experienced during our previous time there. In September 2012 we returned to Kosovo for one week, again making our home on the hills overlooking Pristina. Our agenda on this occasion not only focussed on presenting our work in two exhibitions, but also on collecting new analysis on other aspects of the urban and cultural environment in Kosovo. Further collaboration with NGOs and extensive walking tours of Pristina and Prizren served as the initial steps of an ongoing research project. We were fortunate to receive the RIBA WCCA Travel Award 2012, which provided additional funds to make this trip possible.

FushĂŤ Kosova Exhibition The first of two exhibitions was held at the school run by local NGO Balkan Sunflowers, at the centre of the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian community. Beginning on Sunday 16th September the exhibition was opened to the whole community, young and old, before any invited guests were shown the work. This space was chosen as it is well known to the families of the neighbourhood and is very much part of their community. Later in the day the NGOs which we had worked with whilst in Kosovo were invited to explore the work and feedback their opinions. The exhibition was then on display in the school for two further days and was open for public viewing for two hours between lessons in the middle of the day. During one of these days people from the local municipality were invited to see the work, in-situ within the area concerned.

Pristina Exhibition On Wednesday 19th September the whole exhibition was moved from FushĂŤ Kosova to the nearby capital. In order to show the exhibition to the widest audience it was decided to hold it outside the Ministry of Culture on Mother Teresa Boulevard. The exhibition was only at this location for one day; however it was open from 9am until it was dark at around 7pm. With such a prominent location, on the cities only car-free street, this exhibition received a wide range of visitors from interested passers-by to personally-invited ministerial figures. There were also many visitors from the professional community within Pristina including architects, engineers and Non-Governmental Organisations.

Collecting Feedback One of the primary goals of the return to Kosovo was to collect feedback on the work and the ideas presented. This was done in a number of ways: •

Written feedback – where possible we asked people to leave written comments about the work, particularly if people had made constructive criticisms.

•

Oral interviews – with many people uncomfortable leaving written comments we attempted to document all the conversations which were had about the work.

•

Post-it feedback – this was used in the Fushë Kosova exhibition to allow people to make comments on individual drawings or just highlight images which particularly interested them.

•

Drawing pads – as children played an important role during the first trip we worked with them to try to draw out their thoughts and opinions.

“First of all thank you for the brilliant ideas and sensitivity of the society regarding the spaces for the Roma. Personally I find it very interesting but still I would like to see something better, say a project inside your ideas connecting Roma society together with other societies living in Kosovo. I know it is important that making something which could connect Albanian, Serbian and Roma community together would be very helpful for the future of all Kosovo”. [Jetmir Idrizi, Pristina, Sept 2012] 50

Edge vs Enclave During the Fushë Kosova exhibition, an argument took place between two residents, Beni and Fikret, who we had met on our first trip to Kosovo in November 2011. Fikret works part time for the Ideas Partnership, a local NGO and Beni previously lived in Naples for several years, before being deported in early 2011 as an illegal immigrant. Both are Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian (RAE) and are well known in the community, but between them they had very different ideas about which proposals were most appropriate for the community. This animated exchange has drawn further attention to the issue of ethnic segregation in Kosovo and how this social condition manifests itself in the built environment and physical infrastructure. Two schemes in particular highlighted these opposing views. John’s community room proposal in the centre of the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian neighbourhood and Steven’s public gallery scheme at the station. Fikret argued that community infrastructure should be in the centre of the neighbourhood to have the most impact. He identified with the community room proposal as it sought to enhance the civic character of the established neighbourhood centre; an enclave that he feels comfortable within. However, for Beni the station proposal represented an ambition to become integrated with the Albanian majority in Kosovo. He appreciated how the proposal aims to reuse the semi-redundant station as a civic centre and community resource. This fits with his ambition for the ethnically segregated community to become more integrated through cultural events and activities. The station is situated on the edge of the city at the end of a low-density high street, a location that has the potential for greater connection with Pristina. In the context of the argument, community room proposal represents the cultivation of the community through improvements within, versus the station proposal’s ambition to cultivate connections outside the settlement, with the city and beyond. 52

Albanian Occupied Albanian Public Buildings Albanian Centre RAE Occupied RAE Public Buildings RAE Mahallë

House of Beni

istin

s Pr ard

Tow

Station Proposal

ĂŤ

Fush

ova Kos

High

Stre

House of Fikret

Roma Ashkali Egyptian Mahalla

To wa

rd sA

irp

Mahalla Proposal

Drawing Key 1. Perspective view of station proposal, people arriving at an event 2. Diagram of station proposals outward focus 3. Axonometric view of station proposal 4. Axonometric view of neighbourhood proposal 5. Diagram of neighbourhood proposals inward focus 6. Approaching the community room in the neighbourhood

3 54

â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think the ideas are really great, but by building them in the neighbourhood you are perpetuating the problem. People need to be integratedâ&#x20AC;?. [Meriton, Pristina, Sept 2012] 6

5 5

6 55

Concerns of Scale and Implementation Since 1999 Kosovo and particularly Pristina has undergone a rapid and ambitious urbanisation with the capital’s population doubling in less than 10 years. This growth has been largely supported by the private investors who seek to maximise profit from every piece of land, taking advantage of weak planning enforcement. Existing single or double-story buildings have been built up, out and around with wholesale urban densification. For an outsider looking in, it appears that each development seeks to be bigger and ‘newer looking’ than the last. One saying which can’t be avoided is, “it’s the biggest in…” whether it be the half-derelict Former Yugoslavian youth centre, or the 5m deep 180m long lake-sized outdoor swimming pool, which is drained every winter to leave a meteor-sized crater. This attitude of ‘bigger means better’ made it extremely difficult to convey the scale of our projects during presentation. It is difficult to translate small-scale livelihood economies with a limited vocabulary; when the urban planners from the local municipality were presented the schemes the comment, “we already have a zone for factories,” highlighted the gulf between bottom-up projects and the Spatial Plan of Kosovo 2010-2020. Ambitious and optimistic, this document does raise a lot of important issues for a country struggling to establish recognition in its own right, but the thought that ideas can come from a local level, start small and maybe even stay small is difficult to translate.

“We already have a zone for factories on the municipality plan, this zone is residential” [Directorate of Urbanism, Municipality of Fushë Kosova, Sept 2012]

“I think the appreciation does not exist for old building as the FYR [Former Yugoslav Republic] destroyed everything 60 years ago.” [Nigel & Andrew, Pristina, Sept 2012]

“I hope that this project will be realised if the municipality is behind it. But knowing that the corruption is at a very high level I am a little pessimistic.” [anon., Pristina, Sept 2012]

Image Source: Kai Voeckler - Prishtina Is Everywhere. (see further reading) 56

Publicity and Media Interest As a means to publicise the exhibition in Kosovo the use of the ‘ARCSR in Kosovo’ Facebook page was invaluable. We were able to utilise and exploit the connections we made on our previous trip including local NGOs and the Pristina architectural community. The publicity this generated, through people talking about our event on Facebook, led to the local media interest during the Pristina Exhibition. We were interviewed for national television and radio channels, and were published in a number of online media outlets as well as local and national newspapers. This was a fantastic opportunity to make people aware of Unit 6’s work and the university’s continued involvement in Kosovo. During the exhibitions we received recognition and positive feedback from UN Habitat, the Kosovo Ministry of Urbanism and the Kosovo Environment Ministry. 58

Part Three: Possibilities for the Future Following the Diploma Unit 6â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s original trips to Kosovo in the early 2000s, and the recent trips in 2011 and 2012, it is important to examine the research undertaken within the broader context of a young and growing country. The potential for future stable development is evident from the interest shown towards our work and the experience of hospitality from the people we met.

People The aim of exhibiting Diploma Unit 6â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s recent work in Kosovo was to increase the level of public discourse and engagement surrounding architectural and cultural issues. As a long-term strategy this relies on continuing relationships with local people and organisations; an approach that has been successful in the past for the work of students in India. A pattern of the successful engagement of Diploma Unit 6 with Indian NGOs has emerged. Access to poor and marginal communities is facilitated by such local organisations. Over a period of years, initiated by field work, which then forms the base to the design work of an academic year, a local development discourse is generated, encouraged and enriched by discussion. It is continuously referenced back to the host community and connected into global debates on change, resources, sustainable, humanitarian and development agendas and architecture. Brought to the attention of funders and other interested parties by publications, lectures and particularly the end of year show, this raised discourse then leads to live projects, further improving the quality and reach of architectural education at London Metropolitan University.

Following the example set in India, we aim to cultivate long term relationships with individuals and organisations who we have already made connections with, and we hope that these links may facilitate projects in the future. These individuals and organisations include: Crystal Whitaker, former London Metropolitan student now working and residing in Kosovo, and Kafu Kinolli, who acted as a guide during our stay in November 2011. The NGOs working in FushĂŤ Kosova, including The Ideas Partnership and Balkan Sunflowers. The Faculty of Architecture at the University of Pristina: Dean Dr. Flamur Dolli, Professor of Urbanism Dukagjin Hasimja and their students, who acted as guides, translators and critics. Governmental departments including technical staff at the Directorate of Urbanism, Municipality of FushĂŤ Kosova, and international organisations including UN Habitat.

Investigating potential locations for future study In order to examine possible areas of study for Diploma Unit 6 in the future we undertook a number of walking tours in both Pristina, a place we were familiar with, and Prizren, a historic city in the south west of Kosovo. Visiting Prizren towards the end of our trip offered us the opportunity to examine a city with a well preserved history. Of particular interest is the Terzi Roma neighbourhood which is an integrated part of the urban fabric, in contrast to the settlement of FushĂŤ Kosova which is separated from Pristina. The aim was to find areas with rich spatial and social relationships that could potentially lead to stimulating student projects, and in particular areas containing marginalised communities. Using the tools and methods we had developed during our first trip, we set out to identify, understand and represent unique local phenomena, that could contribute to the overall discourse of the unit. In Pristina, we followed the neglected railway and a hidden river to the edges of the city, as well as exploring pockets of interest within the centre. Whilst in Prizren we identified a Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian settlement embedded within the city, and a former school block that had been squatted and re-appropriated by Albanian families. In the pages that follow are a series of maps, photos and sketch of potential areas of interest in both cities.

SERBIA MONTENEGRO

FushĂŤ Kosova

Pristina Days 1 - 5

KOSOVO

Prizren

ALBANIA

Days 5 - 7

Skopje

MACEDONIA 0

40km

Above: walks location map

Pristina Walk 1 - Along the Railway Greatly diminished since the split of the Former Yugoslavia, the railway network is representative of the shortcomings in development that Kosovo still requires post-war. Despite dereliction however, this infrastructure provides a walking route that cuts through Pristina, providing a unique section through the city. Partially redundant the tracks act as a pedestrian route through the city.

Railway Disused Railway Underground River Landmarks Investigation Area

Walk 2 - Market The market is a thriving aspect of life in Pristina and is found within the oldest part of the town, which is unique to retain some historic Ottoman fragments of the old city.

Walk 3 - The Hidden River Despite having lent the capital its name, the Pristevka river was paved over in the 1950s. Tracing its route through the city centre to its re-emergence at the eastern edge of Pristina revealed an interesting relationship between industrial zones, suburbia and transport infrastructures.

Walk 4 - Park and Velania Exploring the park and residential areas uphill from the south of the centre, a couple of streets remain derelict as a reminder of the warâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s impact; an abandoned Serbian enclave.

River Investigation Area Walk through mahalla Squatted buildings Prizren walks location map.

Prizren Walk 1 - Terzi Neighbourhood A historic Roma community, sitting within the fabric of the city, the “Terzi” neighbourhood is a culturally-rich contrast to the peripheral Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian settlement of Fushë Kosova found on the outskirts of Pristina. The streets here travel up the steep hills, while the houses alongside are tightly-knit and multicoloured, with intricate and multi-levelled interiors.

Walk 2 - Squatted School Adjacent to the Terzi Mahalla, a small community of Albanian families occupies a series of large derelict school buildings, a small enclave in the city.

new wealthy Albanian neighbourhood Roma enclave

abandoned Serbian neighbourhood

Walk 3 - Abandoned Serbian Neighbourhood Rising steeply from the main square of Prizren the hillside is littered with abandoned Serbian homes and Orthodox chapels. This area which commands prime views across the city acts as a constant reminder of the 1999 conflict and more recent riots of 2004.

Pri

1km

1km 1km

FushĂŤ Kosova as an Edge Terzi Mahala as an Enclave Key Prizren city centre Pristina City Centre Enclave : Roma mahalla integrated as urban block Egyptian mahalla, isolated from the city Edge: Roma, Ashkali and

Edge and Enclave Within both the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian ‘mahalla’ (neighbourhood) of Fushë Kosova and the Roma mahalla of Prizren there is a feeling of a single cultural entity, independent from that of the main city; however geographically they exist as very different entities. As with the majority of less wealthy, ethnic minority communities in Kosovo, the Fushë Kosova mahalla is isolated from the main city, being located at the very edge of the urban sprawl. By contrast the Prizren mahalla is an enclave, confined on all sides by the city. As a result the two communities have very different urban grains, with the Prizren mahalla having a much greater density.

Ter

Priz

Enc

1km

1km 1km

Terzi Mahalla Enclave - Integrated Urban Block Terzi Mahala as an Enclave Key Prizren city centre Prizren City Centre Enclave : Roma mahalla integrated as urban block Enclave: Roma mahalla

Potential Collaboration Our continued engagement with Kosovo offers many rich opportunities for collaboration and creative exchange. We have already worked with a number of NGOs operating in the country and made new links on our return visit. In September 2012 the Faculty of Architecture and Spatial Design at London Metropolitan University merged with the Sir John Cass Faculty of Art, Media and Design to form the CASS (a new, combined arts and design faculty). Out of this comes the exciting potential for us to share our new dialogue with Balkan culture with other designers and makers.

Balkan Sunflowers & The Ideas Partnership In FushĂŤ Kosova, small projects run by NGOs have begun to train local women to produce beadcrafts (Balkan Sunflowers) and olive oil soaps (The Ideas Partnership). Such have the potential for retail in Pristina city centre, as demonstrated by an existing shop below the Youth Centre and sales alongside our exhibition on Mother Teresa Boulevard.

craft from Roma, Ashkali & Egyptian communities, including FushĂŤ Kosova sites of successful sale within Pristina city: Youth Centre craft shop & during exhibition on Mother Teresa Blvd

1km

Filigree Prizren is renowned for the production of traditional filigree silverware, with jewellery sold in the touristic centre. A trip to the Filigran workshop on the edge of the city revealed an enthusiasm and creativity for craft and strengthened an existing relationship that contains potential for collaboration with UK designers as well as students.

Filigran silversmith workshop, on city edge

tourist area containing filigree shops, including Filigran

1km

Part Four : Exhibiting in London It was extremely important for us to remember that, whilst there was great richness to be discovered in our extensive social and cultural engagement with Kosovo, we were working within the context of an academic environment. In order to contribute to architectural discourse in the UK we arranged to hold an exhibition and lecture in London so that we could share our work and research with our peers and the profession.

Edges & Enclaves

discovering potential in changing landscapes Suspicious of the tendency of strategic and large-scale policy planning to distil out rich but fragile local interactions, studio work within the Architecture of Rapid Change and Scarce Resources (ARCSR) research area at the Sir John Cass Faculty of Art, Architecture and Design at London Metropolitan University encourages students to work outwards from the observed fragment of lived experience (the moment), i.e. from the bottom up. Design studios aim to explore how the urban landscape is inhabited and made and remade through personal and collective acts, events, memories or experiences. Students develop tools to cut through surface concerns to expose the undercurrent of silent issues that constitute the everyday. They discover how a place is changed by practice within a slowly evolving urban topography.

In November 2011, nine students from Diploma Unit 6 travelled to Pristina, Kosovo to spend two weeks surveying and engaging with the community of FushĂŤ KosovĂŤ which resides on the edge of the city. This work formed the basis of a collection of ideas or proposals which explore the architectural possibilities of the place. In the spirit of the ARCSR research ethos we have explored various polarities and juxtapositions within this peripheral community: the centre and the edge, modernity and tradition, local and global, continuity and change, assimilation and nostalgia, fundamental and secular, factory based technology and site based craft and loose and tight fit construction. In this process of discovery and proposition we have had to value and consider those particular one-off qualities which pertain to the moment of study as well as those which are common to more than one situation.

Lecture

Thursday 18th October 2012 6:30pm

Private View

Thursday 18th October 2012 7:30pm Exhibition

19th October - 25th October 2012 Monday - Friday: 10am - 6pm Saturday: 9am - 2pm Closed Sunday

London Met Lecture and Exhibition The exhibition was opened on 18th October 2012 with a joint lecture by Professor Maurice Mitchell and the five students who had recently returned from the trip. The lecture described Kosovo’s political and historical background from Maurice Mitchell’s experiences during the original trips in 2000 and 2001, with some of the on-going research concerns illustrated by examples from the subsequent visits. We presented some of the difficulties and issues of curating an exhibition in another country, the rapid changes in the built environment found between each trip and the relevance of Unit 6’s methodology to work in the UK.

Held for two weeks in the ASD Gallery at Spring House, the exhibition was divided into three parts: - The first section included the work that was presented in Kosovo: working methods and the students’ proposals from the previous academic year. - The two exhibitions from Fushë Kosova and Pristina were illustrated through photographs, with display of the response we received, including personal comments and media coverage. Two ideas which emerged from the feedback were discussed: the opposing points-of-view described as ‘Edge vs Enclave’ and the rapid urbanisation of post-war Kosovo through ‘Turbo Architecture’. - Finally, we reflected on the research from the most recent trip, thinking about potential points of interest for future research in Kosovo. These included further sites of interest discovered via walking tours in Pristina and Prizren, the development of relationships with NGOs and investigating local traditions of craft. Alongside photos, drawings and diagrams, the exhibition also displayed site models, research booklets by Unit 6 and Adriana’s film ‘One Day in Fushë Kosova’, a short documentary submitted to the Rolling Film Festival.

Rapid Change Our trips to Kosovo can be seen within an on-going research area at the university, interested in the Architecture of Rapid Change and Scarce Resources. This subject had been pursued for several years with field work and live projects in India but had yet to be investigated within a European context. The following are examples we observed in Kosovo: Left Opposite: Halil is an example of a typical resident we met in Fushë Kosova. In the process of self-building a third extension to his house, he has control over the incremental growth of his own home, an ability which is important in the community. Below: The internet café in the western neighbourhood of Fushë Kosova, grew in size over the course of 2 days during our trip in November 2011. Throughout the settlement are examples of opportunistic building to meet immediate needs.

Internet café before, during and after completed extension 91

Settlement development, as seen in November 2011. (Tim Coles)

Predicted development for 2013. (Tim Coles)

Following our first trip in November 2011, we had some predictions of how the settlement might develop in the future. These assumptions were proved correct on our return in September 2012, less than a year later, with many new houses completed or under construction in the area. Building takes place when money and resources are available, such that the settlement is dynamic and constantly changing.

The internet cafĂŠ still in use, September 2012. 92

Flour factory

A house under construction in November 2011.

The completed house in September 2012.

In situations of rapid change and scarce resources, the approaches that result from the architectural constraints give an insight into potential opportunities. The entrepreneurship of building or adapting your own home or business, is a trait communities have the potential to exploit for their own benefit. The domestic-scale of the internet cafĂŠ demonstrates how services or small industries could be community-driven. This approach could also be translated to the largerscale, in opposition to the top-down masterplanning approach, for example the flour factory on the edge of the settlement.

View towards the settlement from western edge, November 2011.

View towards the settlement, showing new houses, September 2012. 93

Appendix 1: Rules of Engagement There is some apprehension when one approaches the task of defining ‘rules’ for people to follow on how to engage with one society or another. However there is much benefit in the sharing of personal experiences of a culture different to one’s own; and that is what we hope to do here. One must always remember that in a complex multifaceted society there are no single right or wrong ways to approach people, but it does help to be aware of sensitivities which might be different to those held by one’s own culture.

Kosovo: A country of many faces On first arrival in Pristina, one finds themselves in a chaotic, bustling capital city, struggling to find spaces to grow and an identity, whilst shaking off the shackles of Kosovo’s recent turbulent history. As of the 17th February 2008 the Kosovo Assembly declared Kosovo independent; in theory this declaration created the newest European State, however its status is still disputed despite it joining the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Currently over 70 countries have recognised Kosovo as a state, including the UK, United States and Germany. However, countries such as Russia, China - and most significantly, Serbia - reject Kosovo’s independence and as such it is yet to gain a seat in the UN. Kosovo may be the poorest country in Europe, however it has been swift to recover (at least in its capital city) from the conflict of 1999. Now the signs of the war are limited to tribute and idol; on arriving at the central bus station visitors are greeted with the dominant Hotel Victory and its ‘Statue of Liberty’ adornment. Bill Clinton Avenue is lined with images of local political idols, be it Ibrahim Rugova or the war heroes of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). This does not however mean that the cultural effects of the war are not still very much part of people’s mindset.

The Albanian / Serbian Divide With the conflict having only ended in 1999, there is still tension between the majority ethnic Albanians and minority Serbs (along with the other minorities such as Roma and Ashkali whom tended to side with Albanians and Serbians respectively). There are still parts of the country where tension between the Serbians and Albanians is very strong and something to be approached with caution. That said, in the majority of the country the Albanians and Serbians are living alongside each other without obvious conflict, however they still tend to keep their lives very separate. For example there are two schooling systems within Kosovo, and although many of the Serbian schools will share facilities with an Albanian school, the children will rarely have opportunity to interact.

International Involvement Having so recently been controlled by a United Nations interim government (1999-2005), society in Kosovo tends to be very open to international involvement. Even in the very poor insular community in which we were working they were used to seeing international workers and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO’s). With that in mind, and particularly with the presence of so many NGOs, it is important to be very clear to people about what you are doing and why. Particularly in the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian community it was important for us to be clear that we were not building anything but only working on an academic project. It is our belief that as ‘internationals’ we were perfectly accepted by the majority of people we encountered, and we were definitely given more exposure to people and media than we would have expected. Kosovo as a nation is ambitious to grow economically and we found the prevailing attitude is that anyone who is supportive of Kosovo is received well. There is however a lot of bureaucracy involved in any work which you partake in within Kosovo; as such we were very dependent on a contact of ours who worked for an NGO within Kosovo and could help us in these matters.

Religion The majority of the Albanians in Kosovo are Muslims and this is the predominant religion of the country. There are of course many mosques and in some areas the call to prayer can be heard daily, however as a visitor it would be inappropriate to assume all of Kosovo to be strict followers of Islamic rules. For example most people do drink alcohol and this is very much part of the Balkan culture. Also it is uncommon to see people in traditional Muslim dress and most people wear western clothing similar to that of other European countries. The other religions of the country tend to be Roman Catholics (usually people of Albanian ethnicity) and Serbian Orthodox Christians. To the Serbian Orthodox Church, Kosovo is in many ways seen as their heartland, containing important monasteries such as the Patriarch of Peรง, a fact that has always increased the tension between Serbia and Kosovo. 99

Dialect The two official languages of Kosovo are Albanian and Serbian, and as well as being the first language of the respective ethnicities, Serbian tends to be spoken by the Roma minority and Albanian by most others. With such strong international presence in the country English tends to be frequently spoken, particularly by younger generations and within the cities. Also as much of the UN forces within Kosovo have been German this language also tends to be well known and in some areas is extremely widely spoken.

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Stories from Fushë Kosova Handshake – The usual professional greeting within Kosovo is for handshaking, however we did have one incident within Fushë Kosova where a Muslim man felt his religion prevented him from shaking hands with female members of our party. Men walking arm-in-arm – It is very common for men to walk arm-in-arm in the streets, particularly young men; however homosexuality does not have an overt presence within Kosovo yet. Removing shoes – Before entering people’s houses it was common for us to remove our shoes. Offering of food - Many of the families in Fushë Kosova were generous in offering us food and drink in their homes but were reluctant to receive anything we offered in return, for example they were unwilling to eat food we had bought from a restaurant located outside of their immediate neighbourhood. However, some of the children were happy to take snack food that we offered them as a way of thank you for helping us with our work. This was part of the culture of hospitality that we experienced.

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Appendix 2: Lessons from Kosovo Putting on an exhibition for the purposes of the general public comes with its own organisational implications, but putting on an exhibition for different audiences in a country where three languages are spoken required a great deal of formatting, curating and translation.

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Location The first exhibition we held was in the neighbourhood in which we had been working. The location of the Balkan Sunflowers School provided us with a neutral position, one of the rare places where you will find a good mix of people of different ages and genders, unlike other parts of the town which would contain mainly males of working age. In Pristina we held the exhibition in the open space of Mother Teresa Boulevard. This is the main high street in Pristina, with Wednesdays being the busiest day for pedestrian traffic. Although only being 5 miles from Pristina, a lot of the residents of Pristina knew little about FushĂŤ Kosova or its exact location, therefore it was especially important to bring that connection to the capital.

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Throughout the mĂŤhallĂŤ there are many spaces which have been left by absent families. Sometimes the neighbourhood appropriates these spaces and sometimes they are abandoned. My chosen site is abandoned and is situated at the intersection of the dense urban area and open rural plots, alongside a busy informal public square. I proposed three simple buildings, each with their own identity but part of a single collection, like chess pieces on a board. Between them they could help to create a new economy for the many unemployed but skilled people in FushĂŤ Kosova. One building would be an open-plan workshop space with small offices. Another building would be a meeting house where the collaborative approach required to create a sustainable local economy can be discussed. And the final building would be a cinema and reading room which help with education for those looking to start their own livelihood.

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Reading Room Site Plan Construction over time East Elevation

Language We used the three languages of Albanian, Serbian and English on all of our handouts and exhibition text, so as not to discriminate between any ethnic group. We tailored the project text towards each exhibition as we would have a different audience at each. At the FushĂŤ Kosova exhibition, visitors were likely not to have been to school or left at a young age, and not used to architectural terminology. Instead of the bulk text used in Pristina we decided to frame the text as questions and answers, as if the student was being asked their opinion. This made the project also appear more like a personal position adopted by the individual student, which is perhaps less definitive and less antagonist. Pristina, because it is very international, it is fair to say is more culturally aware. We were also expecting certain number of design professionals, urban planners and agency workers attending the exhibition and so the text was written in a more formal manner. We were also aware that we needed to be very passive in our wording and presentations so as not to antagonise or to give the impression that what we were advocation was the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;rightâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; way of doing things - only suggestions for another way of working. We also referred to our projects as â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;ideasâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; to make clear that these were theoretical and were not going to be built.

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Location Map It was hugely beneficial to have the location map in the exhibitions, to help locate where the studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; projects sat within the context of the neighbourhood. What it lacked however, was labels to identify landmarks such as the mosque, the train station and the classroom we were standing in. These had to be communicated verbally, but having the location map available helped illustrate our discussions.

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Site Model The interactivity which the timber model provided was invaluable. In FushĂŤ Kosova, the children would try to find their houses and in some cases point out how it was different now. In Pristina, the model helped draw the attention of passers-by, who would then take an interest in our exhibition.

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Use of Translators The use of translators was imperative, but we were lucky enough that we had architecture students who could also act as translators. Having worked with us during the first trip in 2011, they were familiar with our way of working, and were able to interpret and translate our architectural language into a more understandable dialogue for the passer-by.

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Obtaining Feedback We used a regular comments book in Pristina, as again this is a population used to attending exhibitions and so conventional methods worked well. In Fushë Kosova, with the lack writing ability with some of the visitors, we used sketch books and post-it notes. The post-it notes became quite effective as they were used similar to Facebook ‘likes’, where the children wrote their name and stuck it on the images they liked. However, this method did not necessarily provide feedback we could work with, as children mainly drew pictures of things they enjoyed such as football, and images were only liked for their aesthetic quality as opposed to an opinion on the projects. We would have liked to have encouraged more criticism of our work. A lot of the feedback we received was quite generic, with ‘this is good’. Perhaps the culture of criticism is not as prevalent as it is in the UK, but there appeared to be an almost blind acceptance of our methods and ideas. There seems to be an ‘international is better’ attitude in Kosovo that one can presume has evolved from years of the UN supervised government.

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Acknowledgments Adriana, Darren, John, Steve and Tim would like to thank the following people for their support and guidance during the assimilation of this book and both trips: Crystal Whitaker Stefanie Rhodes Maurice Mitchell Francesca Pont Elizabeth Gowing and The Ideas Partnership Kafu Kinolli The Balkan Sunflowers The University of Pristina, Staff and Students And the following organisations who helped fund our trip: RIBA WCCA Travel Award 2012 The Water Trust Further reading: Elizabeth Gowing, Travels in Blood and Honey (Oxford: Signal Books, 2011) Maurice Mitchell, Shamoon Patwari & Bo Tang, Learning from Delhi (Surrey: Ashgate, 2010) Maurice Mitchell, Rebuilding Community in Kosovo (Machynlleth: Centre for Alternative Technology Publications, 2003) Unit 6, EdgeLands : Kosovo and India (London Metropolitan University, 2012) Kai Voeckler, Prishtina Is Everywhere. Turbo Urbanism: the Aftermath of a Crisis (Amsterdam: Stichting Archis, 2008)

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