I am an architect and passionate urbanist active in various projects based in Nicosia, involving the local communities, especially young creatives. I have been involved in projects of the Urban Gorillas since 2015. Firstly as a project initiator (Fouskopolis festival) and later as a member of the production team ( Incommunicado workshop). My focus is community engagement on urban issues in the specific context of Cyprus , a divided island. I am interested in projects that vitalise public spaces and create memorable experiences with and for the citizens.
Which additional experience/skills can people of Placemaking Europe reach out personally to you for?
The theme of Borders has been fascinating me from a young age and through my research and practice I explore and map the complexity that characterizes separate socio-geographic entities and the in-between. Urban mobility, specifically cycling and public transport are also themes that I have worked on and approached them from bottom-up. The current projects I am working on explore the potential of rooftop placemaking and urban flaneries. I have also done a training on both non-formal education and transformative learning and I am always interested in finding ways to involve everyone in a group that I am working with!
Which experience/skills can people of Placemaking Europe reach out to your organisation for?
Urban Gorillas contributes to sustainable urban living by enabling projects that bring new energy and instigate change in city spaces and communities. UG transforms public spaces into lively hubs, cultivates civil society and impacts policies.UG fulfils its mission through pilot activities and concrete actions, extensive research, and bottom-up, low-cost, high-impact techniques.UG team shares expertise in arts and architecture, urban design and planning, landscape design, environmental engineering, economics, communications, cultural project management, as well as a love for innovation.
Describe one of the projects you are most proud of
The In-Communicado project included interactive workshops and open air screenings conducted on both sides of Nicosia. The workshop addressed the question of how borders (physical and virtual) contribute to the construction of stereotypes and devised ways to bypass them poetically. The results of the workshop were presented while eating dinner on 2 rooftops along the Green Line. Participants found alternative ways to create contact and communicate with the director conducting the workshop via Skype from one roof. The rooftop dinner was filmed simultaneously on both sides and the material produced is part of a wider research conducted by the organization.
