Self-Determination towards Profession– Kragujevac as a Creative ContextSubversive Aspects of Architectural Practice – Researching Spaces of Freedom
The lecture problematizes the question of personal determination in relation to architecture as a profession based on the personal narrative and determination to practice this profession in the small city environment in which one lives – i.e. Kragujevac. The focus is shifted from research presentation and valuing of the discipline based on the results of work, to considering developmental and creative aspects and processes of architectural creation. The necessity is indicated of different formats in which one may think about architecture today, through critical reconsideration of current attitudes and influence on creating new ones that may contribute to bringing changes, primarily on the local level as the fundamental context of action. Every architectural work involves its own world of forms, direction and the set of problems of interest, and it involves the question of finding a coherent position, considering the current state of architectural production and socio-economic relations.
The very nature of the task of architecture, which involves finding the best possible solution combining the external conditions of the context, in the widest possible sense, and internal conditions of the project task, implies something subversive, in the sense that a space is opened for designing new models of sociality, i.e. a space of freedom is opened. Simultaneously, in this space of freedom a model of thematization is established, of one’s own work and gesture, and constitution of one’s own task and standpoint, since architecture primarily exists on the level of ideas, and only subsequently on the material level.
For us, every project has implied exploring the space of freedom and has impacted our creative behaviour – the series of conditions and gestures comprising the work which is repeated in each individual project, as either a pattern, or the trail being followed. Every project involved reforming the practice in relation to the context, from an ordinary design studio of a smaller format, to a studio with a workshop as its integral part and orientation towards completing the process, from design to realisation.
The exhibition presents projects and designs having Kragujevac as their creative context, and made in cooperation with individuals and institutions from the private and public sectors, which in the course of our quadrennial operation, have had impact on the continuous reconsideration of the ever-evolving practice.
ADDICTED DESIGN STUDIO (Kragujevac, 2020) is a multidisciplinary studio for contemporary spatial design. The studio’s founders are architects Aleksa Đurić and Natalija Bogdanović. The practice is based on an interdisciplinary and integral approach, and project and research development based on design and build methodology and simultaneously operated in the studio and the workshop. The ADS’ portfolio includes realised, unrealised and theoretical designs and projects, made in cooperation with individuals and institutions from private and public sector. The ADS’ focus is on experimental and hands on approach, and thus the majority of the projects and designs were realised in our own workshop. The ADS’ field of activity covers different areas, from architecture, research design and urban design, to ephemeral architecture and design of exhibition structures, interior architecture and furniture design.
