A-Pla(y)ce in Ljubljana

A-Pla(y)ce in Ljubljana is a placemaking activity cycle, placemaking site and student workshop initiated by the University of Ljubljana (Faculty of Architecture) and prostoRož, as a 2021 follow-up of the 2020 activity cycle.

We establish a location-based continuity and set A-Pla(y)ce in the neighbourhood of the previous year activities, this is Bežigrajski dvor in Ljubljana. A-Pla(y)ce is situated in the buffer alleys between the fenced construction pit (AHiddenPlace) and the residential area. The neighbourhood is relatively new, it was built in 1996 on the location of the demolished artillery barracks, which had been occupying this location since the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. To this end, this area has weak ties to past development, it lacks social history and place-based identity.

Although alleys reflect the transitional character, they also embody the most vibrant part of the neighbourhood. This is where people pass, meet, chat, where children play. From this aspect they offer a great potential for placemaking practices and further building the identity by also engaging families in activities related to children play.

Activities

Placemaking by playmaking

A-pla(y)ce primarily addresses younger population and families with children to engage them in “placemaking by playmaking”. The idea is to rediscover the alleys, transform them from spaces of passing into a vibrant inclusive playscape, by means of creative practices initiated and introduced through the two-month student work and associated activities.

Implementation

The activities of the workshop will comprise of an exploratory and enactment phase with students of the Faculty of Architecture and The Academy of Fine Arts and Design Faculty (both University of Ljubljana). The activities are conducted by educational and artistic mentors, creating a learning podium for discussion, and generation of professional and tacit knowledge, by also arranging the dialogue with invited representatives of the local community, guest lecturers and professionals, teachers from the local kindergarten and interested NGO initiatives.

The process established within the framework of a workshop will encompass an insight into A-pla(y)ce morphologies, its dynamics and its social context. The interested local public will be invited to first express their opinions and expectations about the development of A-pla(y)ce and to further co-create it through the events and physical interventions on-site.

Types of Activities

The work will be carried out throughout the intertwinement of two elementary types of A-place placemaking activities:

1. Learning spaces for reflection (learn-place): weekly sessions organized in the framework of a workshop comprised of open guest lectures, debates with different user-groups and reflections on particular aspects of placemaking practices (participatory design, understanding needs of children, safety issues, inclusiveness, etc.) to discuss the potentials and meanings of a place which the different planned interventions/events aim to reveal.
2. On-site activities (spot-place): establishing and demonstrating the connection with the local community; “placemaking by playmaking” activities and events will be conducted by prostoRož and implemented throughout the preparation of physical interventions by students, primarily addressing children and youth, their parents/grandparents and kindergarten teachers.

Objectives

In accordance with the objectives of A-Place, the purpose of the planned activities is:

- To develop and apply creative placemaking practices in the course of a student creative workshop which help to reveal the manifold meanings and the role of place by involving residents of different age groups, and unfold its social potential through local interventions and events.

- To create cross-disciplinary learning spaces arising from the confluence of the creative design practices, paired with professional and academic ideas, public views, and tacit knowledge, as well as youth interpretations of A-pla(y)ce capacities.

- To fulfil by the implementation of local A-pla(y)ce actions the generic objectives: contributing to community building, enhancing intercultural dialogue, tightening links between partners, exploiting the capacities of digital technologies, generating capacity building.