POKROVSK_ENG

POKROVSK THE STARTING POINT

METACITY: EAST

POKROVSK: THE STARTING POINT The siren of an ambulance rushing to the mobile military hospital distracted us from the concentrated city contemplation from the window of our minibus. Our driver commented on the ambulance passing by, saying the locals are already accustomed to the medical vehicles constantly carrying the wounded from the frontline. Everyone in the car held his breathe and stayed silent for some time. We were brought back to the reality, distracted from the urban dreams and searching for potential. We understood how close we were to the war. It reminded us of itself every time we heard the ambulance siren. That is when you clearly understand how important the transport, mobility, road crossing issues, and even the imaginary connecting function between points A and B are for the city.

“The city is communicative. It is lucky to be at the intersection of the roads. It exists and always will”. - Natalia Vasylivna.

When one says “Pokrovsk” (formerly known as Krasnoarmiysk), you think of a city that is difficult

to describe immediately. The image of the city is complex, diverse, just like the people here. The city is different, active, and vivid. And the association with the speed and movement is not accidental. Pokrovsk is the movement, it is its train station, a constant transition.

In our research, we tried to identify the main characteristics, locations, and features that constitute the starting point for Pokrovsk, identifying the factors that might influence its development.

Factor No. 1 – The Railway Pokrovsk was founded as Hryshyne village in Bakhmut county of Katerynoslav province with the emergence of the Katerynoslav railway in the second half of the 19th century.

The development of the railway also stimulated the emergence of new enterprises and processing of the mineral resources. The first coal shafts appeared.

Actually, the first thing we were shown when we came to Pokrovsk was its train station. It is the main starting point for the city. It is the beginning and the end. The locals recall the beautiful brick station with nostalgia and mention it as something the city is proud of.

“Is there something in the city you are proud if?” – “The former brick railway station”.

Railway station before and after renovation

Factor No. 2 - Locomotive and Wagon Depot Pokrovsk was considered to be the “Western Gate of Donbas”, because the trains from here went in several directions. Now, due to the occupation of parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, Pokrovsk is practically a dead-end station. And still, the feeling of networking and crossroad is still in the air.

Pokrovsk depot serves the entire Donetsk railway.

The employee who conducted the tour explained to us that the cars and locomotives that are being repaired here would have been taken out of use in the other railways. There is no budget for the new ones, and so they “sort” and repair those they have.

The employees in one of the workshops of the depot

The territory of the locomotive depot

The depot is quite large, with a lot of employees, with its own way of life and a special atmosphere.

Throughout our tour through many shops of the depot, we saw a lot of happy smiling faces and felt that they all are a family and are really satisfied with their work.

Whole generations of people work here—they respect the history and the workers of the depot; there is even a museum room that carefully preserves important exhibits, photos, and documents.

Factor No. 3 - The Water Towers None of the other cities in the project had so many water towers as Pokrovsk. We counted five of them. And each one is unique. They create the special charm of the city. Most of them are located along the railways: the large locomotives needed the large water supply.

Nowadays, four out of five water towers are not used. It is very interesting for the Metacity: East project, because these constructions are very limited in functioning, small in size, and can be redefined within artistic projects.

Factor No. 4 - Housing/Barracks The housing topic is always interesting in terms of forming a community. The barracks were built close to the enterprises and railways, and they reflected the social structure. On the one hand, it demonstrated the differentiation of various segments of the population (for instance, only the workers and their families lived in the barracks, not the engineers); on the other hand, it contributed to the formation of a strong working community.

Often your neighbour in the house was your colleague at work; it was actually a closed society where people lived for years. Life in the barracks formed a separate community, as an enclave in society. We haven’t investigated this social aspect in depth, but it is obvious that it influenced

One of the Water Towers

Housing/Barracks

the dispersal of the residents.

Factor â„– 5 - Two Active Mines and Heaps There are two active mines in the city, and a lot of locals work there. And, of course, there are heaps. The heaps are usually mentioned in a negative sense because of their harmful effects on public health and the environment.

At the same time, this is one of the places locals love, associate with their childhood memories, and like to spend their leisure time in winter. It might be strange to hear this from a researcher, but the heaps are divine. Their beauty is unique and atypical, especially for the people that are accustomed to urban landscapes.

Illustration: Yegor Shtefan

Factor № 6 - The Heterogeneity of the Urban Space Density We noticed that a lot of the functions are concentrated in the city center, and there was an impression that the center is over-saturated. There’s too much of everything, and it’s all too diverse and inconsistent. Both all of it is already created and is still under construction. A university, a cinema, a church, a market, a bus station, administrative buildings, and also a shopping center that is still being built. But why here? Why at this boulevard? There is a large market nearby.

After the study—which included interviews with the locals, SWOT analysis, in-depth surveys, and other methods—we identified the spaces that could be transformed in the framework of the project. Here is the list of seven potential locations: 1. Komarov’s Club 2. Myr (The World) Cinema and the Space behind It 3. The Territory in front of the Historical Museum 4. The Space in front of DonNTU (Donetsk National Technical University) 5. Yuvileyny (Jubilee) Park (the Remnants of an Airplane) 6. A Pond with a Bridge 7. The Space in front of the Lyceum №38 We planned to choose one of the locations using the so-called “weather map”* that defines where

S Ch

S

Ch

Ch Ch S Ch Ch

S

S Ch The weather map imposed on the selected locations * The weather map shows the factors that are strengthening (S) and challenging (Ch) the potential temporary transformation at a given time.

S (strengthening factors): abandoned territories, good transport connection (public transport stops), high density of young people (educational institutions, young people’s favorite spots), the places loved by the locals.

Ch (challenging factors): private sector (low-density construction), organized places.

the transformation will have a greater effect.

As we can see from the diagram below, the greatest transformation effect would be at locations 2, 4, and 5.

In the end, the Metacity: East team chose location â„– 2 (Myr Cinema) and â„– 5 (Yuvileyny Park), due to the close attachment of the residents to these objects. All of the respondents that we talked to, without exception, noted the importance of the cinema and the park for them and for the city.

The Myr Cinema and Space behind It The residents mostly feel nostalgic about the times when the cinema was working. They only want to see the cinema there. And the Metacity: East team really liked the idea of restoring its primary function. If the reconstruction of the building itself within the project seemed to be too complicated (it required significant investment), to get the films back to people seemed quite feasible and legitimate. To do this, Formografia team offered to use the back wall of the cinema and the space nearby (the flower bed) as an open-air cinema. The nearby university inspired us and provided us with the idea that the space might be constantly used for lectures, discussions, and film screenings.

The very building of the cinema is quite compact and nice, located in the center of the construction ensemble, and the park avenues lead directly to it. The cinema is built at the intersection of

The cinema after the fire

pedestrian routes, in the most passable place. The movement and the flow of people are constant here.

Unfortunately, the idea wasn’t implemented. A couple days before the work was about to start, there was a fire at the cinema... We can only think of the reasons for that fire. The representatives of the local authorities promptly offered us another location, in a park nearby, and that happened to be the place where Zalizniak emerged.

Zalizniak space

Yuvileyny Park We were studying the territory of the park and negotiating with the local administration at the same time. The authorities, of course, told us about the planned reconstruction of the park and that there was no sense in doing anything there.

We noticed the pedestal that used to be a foundation for an aircraft, and that—in the words of the main architect of the city—was not in the zone of the park that was supposed to be renovated. The concrete pedestal seemed very interesting for us, and our colleagues from Formografia had already made the first sketches.

“I especially love the places with water beds and where the eyes can reach the horizon”, said a local resident.

Yuvileyny Park

For us, it was crucial to show the residents that you don’t need to spend 110 million UAH on the park reconstruction in order to feel comfortable there.

According to the official data, about the half of the money will be spent on installing amusements.

Thus, we found the starting point of Pokrovsk.

But what kind of a kick should it be to make the city move forward?

And, as it always goes, the potential is hidden in intangible things. It is in the people, in children, in young people and their education.

The problem of many cities, including Pokrovsk, is that the people do not identify themselves with it; they do not want to stay there and look for a better life elsewhere.

Yuvileyny Park

That was the same problem we faced when talking to students of the recently displaced Donetsk National Technical University. In the perception of the students, Pokrovsk is more of semi-Donetsk, and they don’t want to spare their time on the city.

Why is it like that? Because of the feeling of ownership; the understanding of its value can only be grafted from childhood.

To get closer to the understanding of these processes, we went to the Young Technicians Station (YTS), the only out-of-school educational institution of vocation training in Pokrovsk.

The YTS director told us most of the kids that come here are the kids from the streets, the boys in the risk zone. Therefore, their parents are not willing to pay for the additional classes, and the budget is An astronomy class in YTS

Motorway modelling class in YTS

not that big to invest into the class upgrading and purchasing equipment. Nevertheless, the enthusiastic teachers still work there, passing on their knowledge in astronomy, ship and aircraft building, motorway modeling, and carting.

You can feel the sincerity, love, and fatigue of the constant struggle to survive in the walls of YTS. It is extremely surprising how the ingenuity of the teachers helps them to master models for several dozens of dollars with what they have: soldering, repairing, collecting. And they also manage to go to the competitions and win medals and awards.

The technical education in Pokrovsk is underestimated, although there is potential for its development.

What can we start with? With the support of these initiatives by the city authorities, with the attention from the parents, and with the formation of genuine interest among the children.

Iryna Yakovchuk, urban curators

Reference: 1. Гайворонський, П. (2013). Історія міського статусу Красноармійська. Донецьк: Каштан.

2. Олейников, М. (1974). Красноармейск. Ист.краевед. очерк. Донецк: Донбас.

3. Oswald, P., Overmeyer, K., Misselwitz, P. (2012).

Urban Catalyst. The Power of temporary use.

Title collage: Anastasiya Ponomaryova Photo: Svitlana Kolodiy, Іryna Yakovchuk, Anastasiya Ponomaryova Bogdan Martynovsky digital version is available on a web-site: www.urbancurators.com.ua