55 male and female students will design and build 5 houses for free-living cats in two Poznań neighborhoods. Would you like to join them?
report from the second edition of the Kotydż workshop
© SARP Poznan
Recruitment is underway for workshops for design students from Poland, Germany and Hungary. The Kotydż project is a joint educational initiative of SARP Poznań, the Common Point Association, the Magdalena Abakanowicz University of Arts in Poznań and the German universities TU Berlin and BTU Cottbus.
The participants' task, in cooperation with local communities and under the watchful eye of tutors (this year they will be: GAB studio, a studio that focuses on creating spaces for living, culture, work and leisure, and OBIEKT - Jan Szymankiewicz, an architect who has worked with OMA and MVRDV, among others, and Mirza Vranjaković, founder of the architectural studio STADTGRAD, and Gaizka Altuna, a researcher whose interests revolve around architectural design processes based on knowledge generated by prototyping, digital technologies and collaborative processes), will design and build habitats for free-living cats.
tutor: social.form
© organizers archive
Free-living cats are a permanent and legally protected (Article 21 of the Law of August 21, 1997 on animal protection - Journal of Laws of 2003, No. 106, item 1002, as amended) element of the urban ecosystem. According to the above law, they are a national asset and should be provided with conditions for their development and free existence. Free-living cats are not stray animals, therefore, it is not allowed to catch them, remove them, or hinder their existence in a particular place, the workshop organizers explain. - A large number of residents are aware of the existence of animals and try to help them, especially in winter, feeding them or leaving quilts, blankets and old towels in their bedding. Some cooperatives, meeting these problems, equip themselves with factory-built houses proposed by private companies - these houses, however, do not meet the basic safety requirements for these animals. Hence the strong need for workshops that will result in designs for functional and safe structures, which at the same time fit aesthetically into a given architectural context, they add.
tutor: Atelier Starzak Strebicki
© organizers archive
How to participate in the workshop? Recruitment is conducted through the website www.kotydz.com, applications can be sent until April 13 this year. The workshop in Poznan will be held from May 11 to 19 this year.
Kotydż workshop
© organizers archive
