USA

The film aims to repurpose 2000 acres of underperforming and marginalized land for shared timber farming to enact a more adequate synergistic relationship (socio-economically and environmentally) between the built space and the fragmented Hudson Valley’s forest. In Hudson Valley, most of the trees are privately owned, growing on land at the fringe of urban development- Wildland Urban Intermix (WUI). Tackling the large-scale U.S. monopoly of engineered-timber products, the project envisions a bottom-up timber economy- a vertically integrated, resilient timber supply chain- as a way to incentivize private landowners to sustainably manage their own forests while directly accessing a shared infrastructure of researching, harvesting, manufacturing, and retail, waste-recycling, and branding for their timber product. By creating shared collaborative infrastructure for local forest and small-timber-business owners and entrepreneurs, new social partnerships and equally-distributed amenities will be created, boosting local economies while preserving the local and regional forest ecologies. By sustaining long-term forest-plant-based economic development through this shared co-op system, Hudson Valley’s scaled-down timber industry will be funneled while a more socially adequate distribution of profits between diverse communities will be achieved. Composed of four entities, the Center for Resilient Forestry, which is clustered with Wood Innovation Facilities, the Certification Centers, the Sawmill and Distribution Center with additional facilities for Recycling and Storage and Renewable Energy Generation, this project provides a lasting infrastructure that promotes a holistic framework for profitable and sustainable timber agroforestry that ensures the wellbeing of both the forest and its inhabitants.

Albania

Bridging the Highway is a study of pedestrian behavior on a highway bridge in Tirana, Albania.

Georgia

Vernacular extensions of modernist buildings have been created since the 1990s as an organic response to the new, “lawless” times after the fall of the Soviet Union. They increase the living space and are usually used as terraces, extra rooms, open refrigerators,It is said that a Russian journalist named them “kamikaze,” drawing a parallel between the romantic and suicidal character of such an endeavour and the typical ending of most Georgian family names “-adze.” This architecture also refers back to the local palimpsestic building technique, which since the Middle Ages has allowed new houses to be built on top of existing ones on the steep slopes of the Caucasus Mountains, thus not monumentalisation of the past but expanding on it for the future. Three residence from different flat which have extensions tell their stories, why they decide to build it and how they use this part of house. The facades of all these types of buildings look chaotic, but from the inside they are all ordered.

Georgia

Italy

Sometimes memories suddenly caress you through sounds, images and even smells. They bring you back in time and, maybe, they can make you feel better.

Azerbaijan

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.