What if cities welcomed the forest, the weeds, the puddles, instead of chasing them away? Rebuilding to Last set out to answer that question, inspiring independent cultural centres to revisit their relationship with nature, their communities, and the spaces within their walls, in their courtyards and beyond.
About the initiative
Humans tend to exercise control over other living organisms, using knowledge and technological advances to push away forests, rivers and animals. Cities have turned into enclosed places where other living beings are strictly supervised and policed, with "unwanted" or "harmful" species driven away, leaving little room for the diversity or spontaneity present in nature.
Housed in spaces of abandonment, TEH members, much like unsupervised plants, open up the possibility of spontaneous encounters. They spring up in areas of neglect and often bring a necessary alternative to mainstream discourse, becoming refuges for those feeling unseen, unheard or simply unwanted in the city. Embracing this correlation, Rebuilding to Last turned to the knowledge and open-mindedness of TEH members to prototype ideas of co-existence, and to create a clear roadmap for others to follow.
Rehearsals of coexistence
Together with three non-governmental cultural centres in Slovakia, Denmark and Greece, we tested our ideas and explored possibilities of coexistence within their eco-systems. Having Identified context-specific challenges, we co-designed solutions embracing what we usually overlook to create welcoming spaces for all living beings.
Recycling and materiality of fabrics
Communitism, Greece
What if gentrification holds an opportunity?
Communitism is an independent cultural centre from Metaxourgeio, a neglected neighbourhood in Athens. After being expelled from their previous cultural centre of 6 six years, Communitism is setting up a new space, titled Kookooli, to nurture their vision and mission. We used this transitional moment for the centre to experiment with new practices of reusing materials and spaces. And to build a foundation to create a space that welcomes, includes and bridges social gaps.
Becoming a forest
Institut for X, Denmark
What if puddles were also an opportunity to welcome the diversity of life that we usually push away?
Institut for (X) in Aarhus, Denmark is a small spontaneous settlement at the back of the abandoned railway station. It lies in the lowland, welcoming unwanted water from all corners of the city. Here we experimented how abundance of water can be used to imagine a 'new city' - amphibious, welcoming
and open to change.
Conquering the highway
Stanica, Slovakia
What if weeds were our best friends?
Stanica - the railway station abandoned for years - is today a vibrant independent cultural centre. Tucked away underneath a major motorway junction, the station is one of the many third places that team along the endless concrete infrastructure. It welcomes artists, castaways and so-called weeds. Using the water collected from the bridge, we will explore how to help pioneering plants to transform deserted spaces into places open to coexistence of living beings.
Final event: "Towards a New Co-Existence"
To close the project and celebrate its achievements, partners gathered in Helsinki on 1–2 October 2024, joined by thinkers and practitioners to reflect on the relationship between independent cultural spaces and the ecosystems surrounding them, especially in light of the climate crisis.
A few glimpses from the interventions
More details
The project is funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union (Mid-scale Cooperation Project).
Project's final publication
We are happy to share our philosophy, learnings and observations in the form of the book, titled TEH: Building A Cultural Regeneration Project for Europe.
A four-dimensional publication that combines an in-depth examination of expertise of independent cultural centres in ecological renovations with a hands-on manual for cultural workers on how to make their spaces and communities more in balance with ecosystems they are part of.
Build your eco-awareness with project's online classes
A set of 11 online courses tackling diverse topics related to environmental sustainability, from upcycling of materials to co-existence and humans and non-humans relationship.
All classes are free, self-paced and offer a great mix of theory paired with examples of existing practices among TEH members.
Project's latest news
Funders
