The initiative is about reinventing a meeting and interaction place in East Poland that contribute to addressing the needs of territories, communities and individuals that need a particular and urgent attention because of invasion of Ukraine by Russia and violent war.
By combining sustainable development, aesthetics and social inclusion, the space, which is to inspire culture and art and mobilize for Ukrainians infrastructure rebuilt, technology/business cooperation, will be revitalized.
INSPIRATION
Opportunities to transform an unused abandoned space into a dynamic and inspiring community on a tight budget.
Users will inspire, cooperate (cross-sectorally), exchange knowledge and create unexpected and paradigm-changing creations. The village also needs meeting places such as a coffee shop, conference room, a plaza, and an event space to stimulate meetings and interaction.
DESIGN
COWORK VILLAGE will be designed like the event space and can be used separately or as an extension of the square for network events, lectures and symposiums, but also for music and film evenings. At the beginning there is a coworking space to which "streets" lead. Next to the Event Space there is a large set of stairs (similar to the Spanish steps in Rome) that can be used as a common space and for outdoor lectures.
KEYWORDS:
Circular design, Community, Container architecture, Low cost design strategies, Modular design, New paradigms, Open Space Project, Sustainable Development, Upcycling, Workspace, Coworking.
LOCATION:
EASTERN POLAND: Dębica / Straszęcin at the highway junction (2 minutes from the motorway)
INFRASTRUCTURE
The dimensions of the building and its area are appropriate for the potential of a small community, and for startups they provide inexpensive and closed office space. If over time there is a need to provide more space for work for users, then we will demolish it modularly using containers on the undeveloped part of the plot.
The 20 ft shipping containers used for scaling are a "cheap", "low energy" and "upcycling" solution providing a kind of "free" atmosphere in which young startups can quickly feel at home with the resources to develop, innovate, grow and professionalize. If a startup needs more space, it can move around COWORK VILLAGE, as well as develop cooperation within a digital platform acting as a digital virtual co-working with other startups and the HOST organization in the form of HUGE TECH.
Please highlight how the concept/idea can be exemplary in this context
The concept assumes launching, first, as a pilot, a site that will be a hub for the needs and challenges related to the need to rebuild the country after the war in the case of Ukraine and the introduction of changes and construction technologies that have a positive impact on the climate in the case of Poland. Both countries can achieve synergy in this field due to a highly motivated society.
AUTOMATIC WAY OF OPERATION - 24 H / 7 FOR USERS WITH DIFFERENT NEEDS
Shared offices have the potential to "fundamentally change knowledge work and catalyse innovation in the future involve the physical transformation and regeneration of territories, including small villages, rural areas, shrinking cities, degenerated city districts and de-industrialised areas.
HYBRID MODEL OF POST-COVID-19 / POST-WAR OFFICE ENCOURAGES FLUID WORK ENVIRONMENT
Co-working spaces provide a productive, creative, and satisfying work atmosphere that will show how community services, new ways of bringing various communities (e.g. multigenerational settings) and/or various functions (housing, social inclusion, education and training, etc.) together can bring new solutions to address specific needs.
We want to illustrate how mobilise transdisciplinary approaches, build on participatory processes involving relevant communities and demonstrate replicability in the sense of providing local solutions to after war challenges.
Children and young people can also make an important contribution to the reconstruction and transformation of cities and villages. Most often, at such a young age, they do not use advanced architectural design programs yet, but for this purpose they can use tools in the form of Lego blocks and let their imagination run wild.
Please highlight how the concept/idea can be exemplary in this context
VERTICAL GARDEN
The vertical garden, which will be arranged along the entire height of the building, uses elements of living nature in construction.
The concept of the plant facade was created in this case by nature and time itself (please pay attention to the current state of the facade). We will follow this path by showing an example of how the built environment can contribute to the protection of nature and biodiversity, taking into account cultural and social needs.
POWER ART
We want to achieve the perception of space as a stage for socio-economic relations, as well as the possibility of its production and transformation.
Please highlight how the concept/idea can be exemplary in this context
We will use an unconventional approach to designing our physical and digital space.
Design Thinking and Service Design are methods that always put the user first in the creation process.
The process of creating the proposed space and effective and comprehensive services improving user experience includes four phases:
• Phase I: Discovering. The essence of this phase is to understand the problems and experiences of users.
• Phase II: Defining. The main goal of the phase is to analyze the problem in depth so as to define its essence before starting the process of solving it. The tools presented in this phase are intended to help designers formulate the challenge and gather key research findings.
• Phase III: Developing. This phase initiates the development of a solution. Team or community members start generating ideas, describing them, visualizing and evaluating them. The tools presented in this phase are intended to support the designers / team in describing and presenting suggested solutions.
• Phase IV: Delivering. This phase consists in planning the implementation of the designed solutions, appointing adequate people and teams, and planning preparatory works.
Straszęcin is located in eastern Poland in the province. Subcarpathian. The town is located 140 km from the border with Ukraine and is directly located at the entrance and exit of the A4 motorway, which is important from the point of view of the project.
Please highlight how this approach can be exemplary
Sustainability, from climate goals, to circularity, zero pollution, and biodiversity.
The building that will act as a physical Hub connecting the users of the project will also be the facility on which various new construction solutions will be implemented and tested. It will be a kind of testing ground for selected solutions. It will also be a carrier of various forms of expression, communication and artistic identification. By definition, it will not strive for any specific final character, but rather is to be an expressive expression of constant changes.
Aesthetics, quality of experience and style, beyond functionality.
Images of devastation reached Ukrainians from across the country: dozens of fatalities, including children, as artillery pounded residential neighborhoods; a missile striking the TV tower in Kyiv; another one landing on the central square of Kharkiv in the east.
Inclusion, valorising diversity, equality for all, accessibility and affordability.
Many Ukrainians have taken up arms to defend their country, while others are relocating to the west of Ukraine where things are "relatively calm and safe" to continue work. They are now trying to cross the borders to Poland, Romania and Moldova in the hopes of joining people who have already fled Ukraine. With the country's major airports hit by missiles, many have taken to crossing the borders into Ukraine's western neighbours by car. We are open to international cooperation proposals except for projects from Russia and Belarus in order to be able to support the economy of Ukraine.
Innovative dimension as compared to mainstream concepts and practices:
INTERNATIONAL AND INTERGENERATIONAL NETWORKING AND KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER AND SKILLS
The innovative nature of the project is based on the long-term involvement of the inhabitants of Poland and Ukraine - participants of a geopolitical crisis from different age and social groups, to interact and cooperate with the use of a set of features and skills characteristic for a given group. Re-inventing a place to meet and interact requires taking into account the age difference and communication abilities / skills.
EDUCATION FOR ALL - SUPPORTING DIGITAL INCLUSION
Technological education, digital competences, access and inclusion in new construction solutions that are environmentally friendly, and affordable and geographically available.
A NEW APPROACH TO TEACHING AND LEARNING
Education in the STEAM trend presupposes great involvement of the learner in the education process. The participants themselves look for answers to questions and create the tools needed to obtain them, and the teacher becomes his mentor and support on this path. STEAM is an innovative approach to education, developing the skills of critical and project thinking, inquiry and analysis, as well as cooperation and creativity. STEAM competencies are mainly built through practice.
The building will undergo modernization works
Windows and utilities supply installations will be replaced.
Works will be carried out to arrange the space and greenery around and on the facade of the building.
Professional project promotion.
Intensification of works allowing for the return of a safe building, which will be subject to further works and experiments.