Residency for an architect in Slovakia

Cultural Center Malý Berlín and the City of Trnava are looking for Slovak or foreign architects, urban planners, and researchers - Deadline: September 3rd, 2023

By Creatives Unite Newsroom
August 18, 2023

Open call for architects, urban planners, and researchers. Are you passionate about small-city urbanism, ecology, or excluded communities?

Cultural Center Malý Berlín and the City of Trnava are looking for Slovak or foreign architects, urban planners, and researchers. Applicants will receive opportunities to work on a selected topic, get to know the local context, and propose a solution in direct collaboration with the main architect of the city Trnava and his department. At the end of the residency, the candidate will present his or her ideas and work to the public.

Candidates can choose from these two topics:

  1. Excluded communities – the housing solution for the Roma minority
  2. Living City – adaptation of socialist housing estates to climate change

The selected candidate will work in theoretical and/or practical disciplines. The residency is best suited to applicants with a clearly developed focus and/or approach who can work independently.

Short description of topics

1. Excluded communities
Trnava is one of the cities in Slovakia that has within its boundaries a segregated Roma community. The area where most of the Roma people are living is located in the brownfield, industrial area of Coburgova Street. The residents suffer from various forms of social as well as spatial exclusion, with an incidence of socio-pathological phenomena. Even though several other housing options in other parts of the city have been considered during the last 30 years, these may not bring a qualitatively better solution. The task is therefore to address these numerous forms of segregation and exclusion via urban forms that will enhance the quality of life of Roma residents and their sustainable integration into the city life of Trnava.

2. Living City
It’s part of a larger cultural-artistic-research initiative of Malý Berlín, within which we try to look at different aspects of housing in our city – architectural, cultural, social, and ecological. Within this residency, we are looking for ideas on how to adapt socialist housing estates mostly built in the 70s and 80s to current climate change.

Duration:

October – December 2023 (3 months)

Who are we looking for?

The open call is aimed at architects, urban planners, and researchers from diverse backgrounds, educations, experiences, and aspirations. Previous experience with international projects is not necessary but can be an advantage. 

The selection of candidates will be based on experience, intent, and the relevancy of past/present projects in a portfolio. An important part of the final decision will be interest in the selected topic and in the local context.

Criteria for participant:

  • suitable for those who already have experience or are just interested in the topics of this call;
  • Young or mid-career architects, urban planners, and researchers, (students included);
  • fluent in English or Slovak;
  • previous experience with international projects is not necessary but can be an advantage.

What does the residency offer?

  • scholarship of 1.000 EURO per month (3.000 EURO in total),
  • reimbursement of travel expenses up to 500 EURO,
  • accommodation during the residency,  
  • networking opportunities with the local scene,
  • the opportunity to present his or her work, interests, activities, and ideas to the public,
  • full access to city office departments, especially territorial development and planning department, building and environmental (Odbor územného rozvoja a koncepcií).

Expected outputs from the residency:

  • active participation,
  • reports on a weekly basis,
  • public presentation of his or her work and activities.

The deadline for applications is 03.09. 2023

Find out more and apply: here