The spaces of modernist planning are still unfinished images of the utopias of the past. However, they are not just images but lived realities of many. Realities that are symptomatic of dysfunctional transport, poor quality public spaces and social exclusion. In the first edition of the Never Never School, we turned to the concept of utopia present in the socialist urban planning tradition and reassessed not only the built and social aspects of space but also the problem-oriented approach of the past, which is still present in urban planning today.
The space of our investigation was the prefabricated housing estate Ťahanovce in Košice. The construction of the housing estate began in the 1980s, but due to the regime change it was never fully realized. The unfinished urban structure fails to cover the needs of its inhabitants and brings problems related to traffic, crime and dysfunctional public spaces.
"You cannot solve a problem with the same mind that created it." – Albert Einstein's statement is at the heart of the Never Never methodology, even if we don't expect to solve the problems. To approach the socialist tradition of planning anew is to liberate architecture from its philanthropic pursuit of the 'greater good', its 'scientific' problem-oriented approach to design, and its false hope of the only possible future. Instead, we use design as a tool of inquiry, imagination and activator of discussion about possible futures.
We grasp the concept of utopia – so obviously present in modernist planning – not as a form of representation of radical alternatives but "as an imperative to imagine them" (Fredric Jameson). We do not see utopias as strictly separate from our world, but as a near-future scenario, imaginable but improbable. We see them as speculations that give us the opportunity to engage with important questions of modernist planning: How do socialist urban neighbourhoods respond to changes in the political and economic system? How can they be fulfilling places to live and not just places to sleep? Can new utopias meaningfully respond to old ones?
The summer school was attended by 26 people from the fields of architecture, urban design, sociology, graphic design, art and IT. Among them also invited experts: Nika Dubrovsky, Jana Kočková, Mišo Hudák a Lynda Zein.
Team of organizers: Viliam Fedorko, Lýdia Grešáková, Tereza Haumerová, Viktória Mravčáková, Zuzana Révészová, Zuzana Tabačková
Thanks to EASA.sk and Tabačka Kulturfabrik for their cooperation. Never Never 2018 was supported by the Košice K13 city funding call.