HouseEurope! is an international initiative campaigning for changes in European Union legislation to make the renovation and reuse of existing buildings the new norm. In Latvia, the movement is represented by Reuse Atelier, which, in collaboration with the idea platform Tandeems, is running a mapping campaign Fix it! to identify empty and abandoned buildings and sites across the country. The campaign runs until September 1. One of the project’s initiators, architect Olga Trebukhina, shares her way of exploring the city in this edition of the Nice Touch column.
«I use film photography as a research tool and my companion for strolling around the city. A device without a display surprisingly frees up creativity and allows you to be in the moment, leaving room for surprise. My first camera, a Smena 8M, was bought for 10 euros and, as it turned out, only took multiple exposures — that means that instead of 36 frames, I only got about five, but they were very rich in detail and views. You could say that my first city collage was a collaboration with my camera.»
Olga Trebukhina is a practising architect, urbanist, and photographer. In addition to her work at the Ruume office, she develops research-based visual essays using photographs and collages and explores the fragile relationship between built and natural landscapes. Olga’s most significant architectural and urban planning projects include various proposals for the transformation of post-industrial areas in the Baltics, and as a lecturer, she participates in various urban activism workshops and educational events both locally and internationally.
The mapping campaign Fix it!, which Reuse Atelier is implementing in collaboration with Tandeems, is part of the European Citizens’ Initiative Power to Renovation created by HouseEurope! — an instrument of direct democracy that advocates for fairer construction and more inclusive housing policies in the EU.
Viedokļi