youth-architecture projects

the new plot for a youth-meeting-center

project " P H O E N I X " - planning a house for youth-meetings

Initial position for the meeting "Phönix I", a burnt house

the participants on the plot of the new house


An international artistic youth exchange to build "environmental sculptures" in the National Park Braslaw at the banks of the Ukla lake took place for the first time in KAJA summer 2003. Before starting the meeting two neighbouring empty houses were rented. Already within the first days the "station outside" burned down due to a defective stove. After their initial shock and mourning the feelings calmed down, hope germinated again, that the house could be rebuilt in the following meetings with students of architecture and civil engeneering. Hence the title "Phönix" : from the ashes of the ruined house should be born an innovative project for a great house for up to 20 persons, a better base for meetings and projects in the future.

the challenge for a new ecological project

the challenge for the architecture students from Latvia, Poland, Germany and Belarus: planning a house for youth-meetings in nature park Braslaw, in the North of Belarus, near the border to Lithuania . Various workshops to develop outlines, plans and models of a building and organization of the participation in building the house by professional and nonprofessional youth of Europe. After a house was burnt during the camp in summer 2003, we have the chance to plan and build a new one , on our own plot,  adopting new ecological building concepts like “ passive solar architektur".

ruins.....after burning

 

Ecological concept for the new building

The chance was seen , not the chance of rebuilding the traditional just in the same place, but of building an ecological house according to the concept of the passive solar architecture, with the building-materials on the spot given by nature: clay, thick foundlings and loam made of the earth, straw of the field and round log from the woods.

The intensive examination of the spot confirmed this concept: the bank with trees in the north rising by 20 degrees would allow to dig the house into the ascending bank of the lake. From the perspective of the north, thus from the road leading to the house it should be hidden under a green roof of gras, corresponding to the hilly landscape, and then open itself fully with its integrated greenhouse to the sun in the south.After having finally found the concrete spot according to the ecological conception, the young people formed a big oval, the possible ground plan of the new PHOENIX house, on the scheduled site for the building.

imprerssions from the workshop - process

results

result of the summer camp was : three different concepts / designs / models for PHOENIX, -   vision of a house for youth meetings . We will continue the project with those people , who are interested to develop a final common project on the basis of the participation concepts. In Germany, in the architecture faculty of University for Applied Sciences in Münster, we have the positive situation, that 3 of 4 students, who came to Belarus in KAJA summer 04, continue the works for the PHOENIX - project as an official part of their studies. But for them an individual project was more important then developing offers for a common project.

phoenix- project exhibition poster of the Polish team