Azerbaijan’s education culture is built in a way that after graduation from high school those who are capable of having to move to Baku for university education and eventually to start a “better” life there. It is mostly because, unfortunately, there are not many opportunities for young people in the other districts of the country and the decentralization process is very slow in the regions. The situation makes many young people leave their life behind and start a new beginning in a huge and gray city. Many things do not translate the same when you move from a district where life is slower, nature is beautiful and green, people are kinder and know each other and most importantly there is a sense of community around the neighborhood you used to live in. In return, Baku is very hectic, the weather is toxic, people always rush somewhere and the high buildings and city infrastructure leave you with minimum contact with people and nature. Most women who have mental health problems such as general anxiety and depression find it hard to adapt to a new toxic environment. Most women also feel more insecure about their safety and security in Baku due to the higher chances of harassment compared to the regions. The sense of being a “stranger” to a big city you newly moved in also adds up to the general anxiety and mental health problems. Some spaces help to relax and find peace such as the shore of the Caspian Sea. However, it is getting increasingly crowded and dirtier every other day. Conditions in the country leave many young people with little to no choice but to move to the capital city at some point in their lives. The city design with its many problems from transport to overpopulation makes it hard for most to adapt.

"Unlocking the inner child" portrays the everyday difficulties of Sophia, who, due to her ADHD diagnosis, sometimes has problems letting her energy run free in an urban environment. That's why she likes to come to the trampolines at the harbour to exercise between her work and other commitments. Here she can live out her inner child and feel free. Leah Meinhof directed, shot and edited the film. Sophia Livecchi tells her personal story.

“Tiny Victories 2.0. A Tale of Empathy” tells the story of Chioco Design's team journey when building a micro home for an individual who has struggled with chronic and sustained homelessness. How organizations like AIA Design Voice and Mobile Loaves & Fishes works timely to offer hope for the community. The word “empathy” serves as a prompt in the development, and execution, but mostly the idea of leaving behind preconceptions of what it is like to live without a home. Director/Editor Gus Bernal www.gusbernal.com Producer: Alexandra Chaves & Gus Bernal Music: www.hooksounds.com Special Thanks to: Chioco Design Jamie Chioco, Christy Taylor, Ben Dimmitt, Vanessa Francis, Tim Petersen, Mau Garza and May Wong Page/ - Design, Architecture, Engineering Shelby Blessing, Wendy Dunnam Tita & Jen Bussinger Mobile Loaves & Fishes Sarah Satterlee Photos Chioco Design - Tiny Victories: Leonid Furmansky AIA Austin DesignVoice: Jason John Paul Haskins & Sarah Satterlee

Unlike the promises of modernity in design, a single solution fulfills no one's wish. Even if all of us live in the same city under the same environment, everyone is different. Each one of us has individual voices filled with different needs and wants. However, in cities full of modernist structures across the globe, individual differences or cultural uniqueness can no longer be seen. Can design provide a space for uniqueness? Can every citizen be represented equally in a collective space? Instead of alienating ourselves in this concrete habitat, can we re-learn from nature and cultural expressions?" This film speaks for providing people opportunities to design our future knowing the importance of belonging, of nature, of community and connection. Instead of learning from standardized modernist practices full of concrete and computer programs, we need to learn from our past, from nature, and from our own hands. In order to let everyone's voice be heard, we need to first create a space that enables us to embrace our differences in its design.

A personal short story about one fractured foot.

Baku is an industrial oil city and the country's primary export - oil and gas is sucked off from the Caspian Sea which has a significant contribution to the city's identity, infrastructure, design, and culture as well as its economy. The oil industry has been expanding and shaping the destiny of Baku for almost more than 5 decades now and without it, neither the city could be the way it is now, nor the country. The industry brings major challenges to the city during resource-demanding oil production by emitting alarming levels of greenhouse gases, polluting air and water bodies, degrading land, and mismanaging toxic oil waste. As a result of it, the Caspian Sea is highly polluted, and most coastal areas of the sea even have a hazardous level of toxicity for swimming. On top of everything, most citizens are very irresponsible with their trash around the coast and it adds up to the catastrophic pollution of the Caspian. The city’s major identity comes from the Caspian Sea, however, it is heartbreaking to see the trash and oil leakage pounding the shores of the 16 KM long Baku Boulevard when you walk along it. Due to the mismanagement of waste and lack of public awareness the shores are getting dirtier every other day and it is becoming impossible to find a clean spot to swim in the summer to survive the heat waves. Also, the privatization of the beaches is another challenge, and access to clean shores is becoming more and more commercialized and expensive to enter. Thus, access to swimming is becoming very exclusive for the working class and many had to bear the smell, inconvenience, and ugliness of public beaches.

Kuramba The Dream, is a film adaptation by Anita Szentesi, of the oral narrative that Sechaba Maape recounted, of the dream that he had about a living land character, the water snake, who destroyed his hometown. Sechaba Maape arranges to visit Mmakgabo Sibidi to seek advice about the dream, taking the artworks he has created of the dream with him. In the film, the artwork of the water snake comes to life as an animated dream sequence. Sechaba Maape’s face transitions into the face of Mmakgabo Sibidi, showing his intention to visit her. After greeting one another, Sechaba Maape unrolls his artworks, and a discussion ensues about the dream and the subsequent creation of the five buildings artwork. During the discussion, the five buildings rise above, hover, float and vibrate, whilst witnessing and listening to the discussions. At the end of the film, the five buildings descend into the ground, forming the foundations for the conceptualisation of an appropriate contextual architectural approach.