The 2023 Design Unit "Architecture and Urban Space" immerses itself in the intricate and fragmented urban landscape of Skopje, a city that has served as a significant testing ground for architectural and urban design modernization strategies since Kenzo Tange's masterplan. Through the exploration of innovative disciplinary approaches, this course seeks to redefine contemporary spatial concepts for habitation and promote coexistence among diverse individuals, social groups, ecologies and cultures.
Within this context, the pedagogical experiment places particular emphasis on the intermediate spaces within the urban fabric, where building development often straddles the line between formal and informal, as seen in the neighborhood of Kisela Voda. Here, various projects converge and overlap, aligning with the municipality's regional guidelines.
Over a span of four months, students conducted on-site visits and were assigned specific study areas, significantly influencing their projects by integrating real-world experiences and insights. In a broader sense, the final outcomes represent projects envisioned as infrastructures capable of shaping new conditions for coexistence and spatial production processes, bridging various social groups, economies, normatives and ecological practices.