25–29 June Kaunas University of Technology (KTU) Faculty of Civil Engineering and Architecture will host an international summer school for students of architecture and heritage protection and professionals of these fields. During the week in Kaunas, the participants will get familiar with the city’s landmark architecture and will solve practical tasks, connected to Kaunas urban development.
The school is being organised together with Kaunas 2022 Contemporary Capital and other partners. It is a part of wider series of events dedicated to the European Year of Cultural Heritage, 2018.
“The main aim of this Summer School is to develop a dialogue between contemporary architecture and heritage. Today in Lithuania we can see the situation when heritage is seen as a source of conflict between heritage protectors and the society, which regards heritage as an obstacle for progress”, says Vaidas Petrulis, Head of KTU Heritage and Architectural History Research Centre, one of the organisers of the Summer School.
According to him, higher education institution offering architectural studies can be a perfect place for constructive and creative dialogue between past and contemporary culture. This thought might be reflected in the quote by the architect Robert Venturi (1996): “I am open for challenges and uncertainty. While using complexities and contradictions, I am looking for liveliness and relevance”.
The Summer School will focus on the urban fabric of Kaunas. After getting familiar with the historical parts of the city Žaliakalnis and Naujamiestis, the participants will be invited to prepare experimental architectural scenarios for the future development of the territories.
During the Summer School students will listen to introductory lectures and do heritage walks with teachers to discuss the legacy of the modern city of Kaunas. Further work will be done in groups analysing selected case studies and providing ideas for architectural scenarios.
The workshops’ results will be presented to the public through open discussion and other means. A short documentary film produced during the Summer School will be shown for the UNESCO representatives as well as featured in European Capital of Culture and other Kaunas 2022 events.
Kaunas possesses the most significant and outstanding modernist architectural heritage in Lithuania. From 1918 to 1940, Kaunas’ urban and architectural characters were forged by the processes that were essential to that period – modernisation and progress. The modernist architecture of Kaunas was granted European Heritage status in 2015, while in 2017 it was placed on the nation’s tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage sites. In 2022 Kaunas will become the European Capital of Culture. All these events have been stimulated by a growing appreciation for modernist heritage and its recognition, reinterpretation, and reverence.
The International Summer School “Promoting the Progressive: Modernism and Its Value as a Historic Urban Landscape” will take place in June 25–29, 2018 in KTU Faculty of Civil Engineering and Architecture.
For more information, please visit the official page of Kaunas 2022 Contemporary Capital.
