After successful completion of the course, students are able to understand

• the dynamics of informal settlements, the role and the interplay of the stakeholders that are involved in administrative, regulatory and development issues, especially in the context of marginalisation and racism that affects the Romani communities;
• the policies that are determining different approaches in planning and interventions in Romani settlements in several countries, in a comparative manner;
• how to carry out an urban planning or architectural task while dealing with extreme poverty, or aiming for the upgrading of existing informal settlements, with a focus on segregated communities affected by poverty, while using participatory approaches.
• some of the basic tenets of applied ethics in design, and of the specific role of the architect within a group of urban actors.

Despite global challenges, most of the academic institutions persevere in ignoring the so-called informality, its scale and the structural inequalities that might be enhanced by the recent crisis. In order to become honest professionals, active citizens, and contribute to social mobility, future architects should be introduced to the understanding of the basic needs of housing and experience the kind of down to earth design that serves the public interests, and addresses the invisible, marginalised communities that most cities have. 

Part of the bigger picture of informal settlements, Romani slums and ghettos can be found in Central and Eastern Europe, with especially difficult situations in the Balkans. The topic is impregnated with myths, cliches and misconceptions that will be deconstructed during lectures and informed by the means of a virtual excursion. Communities that live in confined, temporarily abandoned „non-places“, always under the pressure of a local community that „allows“ this, or till local institutions and developers come up with interventions aiming to remove them are always in need of decent planning and complex understanding of their problems. What influences their marginalised living conditions, and how can architects and urban planners have a positive impact on the current situation? How can we develop a more harmonious living together, while embracing differences and providing solutions that work for everybody? Is mutual learning possible?

Keywords like resilience, redensification, redistribution, re-organisation, reuse, recycle, reduce, rethink, renew, co-working, co-living, inclusivity, new living paradigms, and many more suggested by students themselves, will be at the core of an alternative approach to the routine one.

The chosen sites are located in Albania and Romania, bringing together cases of Romani communities at risk of being evacuated or old military structures used as temporary accommodation solutions. Interventions in much larger settlements will be used as examples in order to deconstruct the issues that usually lead to failure.

Bucharest and Tirana went through major changes after communism. Demographic changes have been managed differently according to the communities involved. Due to the current situation, the course will be held by combining online teaching methods to the classic ones.

Different local and international actors and specialists will offer their insights, methods and experience in order to make the design process a consequence of the understanding of the particular dynamics of the Romani living conditions. International and interdisciplinary teams will serve the goal of having a holistic approach. A final design is very important but the process is crucial. This experimental design course will be accompanied by lectures.

Informal is/was alway the new formal will provide a theoretical-contextual framework and will have a final output in a design exercise. The approach is interdisciplinary and this will involve the collaboration and dialogue with local stakeholders and specialists with various professional backgrounds. The theoretical part will be supported by several texts that will be shared and analysed within the design teams.

Participation is obligatory.

The following steps will be followed during the semester:

·         Discussions related to the lectures regarding the dynamics of informal settlements,          focusing on Romani settlements

·         Analysis of the project area

·         Discussions related to chosen reference projects

·         Sketching and working models

·         Active participation in supervision and correction/improvement sessions

·         Mid-term presentations and mutual feedback with the active participation of the students

·         Final presentation (posters in free technic + models) guest critics

immanent by design

STB Studio