The Yellow Narrative
Debris of memories in space,
We are the time travellers.
Layers of history unfolds,
As we restore the forgotten.
Here the layers that I talk about refers to not only the building but also to us, as human beings. This workshop was a very unique experience of collaborating with the 'Valga County Chamber for the Disabled'. I think these exercises were a beautiful approach to emphasize on less material and more psychic side of humans, creating a sensorial narrative for living (humans and spaces).
Restoring this abandoned building in the city center into a cafe and working with the chamber whilst doing so was the attempt to weave the community together, tackling the prevailing Apathy. These enriching encounters still make me wonder how lost I am in some superficial race where even the finishing line defined by others.
I wonder how many aspects (not things) of life I took for granted.
How many of my layers need to be restored.
The Yellow Embrace
Thoughts of school in the chamber,
We were the true learners.
For learning is embracing,
And to embrace is to belong.
When we repainted walls of this pandora's box, it still hinted the layers of graffiti through the years below the yellow paint. And every time I looked at it I would wonder, can we actually ever restore something broken? Is it even possible to restore a community?
One exercise we did with the Chamber for Disabled was where we asked them to sketch an impression of their town, Valga and their vision for it. The thoughts they produced were purely emotional and experiential. Thoughts which weren't hindered by other person's thought or what was the quality of the sketch and were still attempts to restore their community nonetheless. Someone wanted a zoo, someone depicted their road to school, someone wanted waterslides in the city center while some wish for more buses.
Maybe objects in the cartesian plane can't always be restored and change is inevitable. But a community is first and foremost a feeling of belonging, which can always be restored. It's just an embrace away.
The Yellow Continuum
We built a continuum in space,
We are the conquerors.
Do the ends meet? Who knows,
But the wheel is now in motion.
How impactful would your work be? How significant would be the final product? Is it even a final product?
In hindsight I realized how many lives were touched WHILE doing this workshop, how many people had contributed into this. A burdened organizer providing the food and immediate support, a passing by person showing gratitude by lending his wife's favourite table or even the little girls hesitantly asking for chips and pizzas while we worked. That's why I think of this as a CONTINUUM.
Present Day
I believe that the resultant of any vision is way broader than what our imagination can fathom. So I thought of sharing with you the humble and subtle cafe that we designed while we restored an abandoned building as a continuum of the workshop. To our biggest delight, the continuum is intact even today, as this place is modified and inhabited today by the local community by opening a day-cafe in the backyard.
Maybe this wasn't the consiously thought end product but then again can such things even have an end?
All we can do is start a continuum.
The Yellow Narrative
Debris of memories in space,
We are the time travellers.
Layers of history unfolds,
As we restore the forgotten.
Here the layers that I talk about refers to not only the building but also to us, as human beings. This workshop was a very unique experience of collaborating with the 'Valga County Chamber for the Disabled'. I think these exercises were a beautiful approach to emphasize on less material and more psychic side of humans, creating a sensorial narrative for living (humans and spaces).
Restoring this abandoned building in the city center into a cafe and working with the chamber whilst doing so was the attempt to weave the community together, tackling the prevailing Apathy. These enriching encounters still make me wonder how lost I am in some superficial race where even the finishing line defined by others.
I wonder how many aspects (not things) of life I took for granted.
How many of my layers need to be restored.
The Yellow Embrace
Thoughts of school in the chamber,
We were the true learners.
For learning is embracing,
And to embrace is to belong.
When we repainted walls of this pandora's box, it still hinted the layers of graffiti through the years below the yellow paint. And every time I looked at it I would wonder, can we actually ever restore something broken? Is it even possible to restore a community?
One exercise we did with the Chamber for Disabled was where we asked them to sketch an impression of their town, Valga and their vision for it. The thoughts they produced were purely emotional and experiential. Thoughts which weren't hindered by other person's thought or what was the quality of the sketch and were still attempts to restore their community nonetheless. Someone wanted a zoo, someone depicted their road to school, someone wanted waterslides in the city center while some wish for more buses.
Maybe objects in the cartesian plane can't always be restored and change is inevitable. But a community is first and foremost a feeling of belonging, which can always be restored. It's just an embrace away.
The Yellow Continuum
We built a continuum in space,
We are the conquerors.
Do the ends meet? Who knows,
But the wheel is now in motion.
How impactful would your work be? How significant would be the final product? Is it even a final product?
In hindsight I realized how many lives were touched WHILE doing this workshop, how many people had contributed into this. A burdened organizer providing the food and immediate support, a passing by person showing gratitude by lending his wife's favourite table or even the little girls hesitantly asking for chips and pizzas while we worked. That's why I think of this as a CONTINUUM.
Present Day
I believe that the resultant of any vision is way broader than what our imagination can fathom. So I thought of sharing with you the humble and subtle cafe that we designed while we restored an abandoned building as a continuum of the workshop. To our biggest delight, the continuum is intact even today, as this place is modified and inhabited today by the local community by opening a day-cafe in the backyard.
Maybe this wasn't the consiously thought end product but then again can such things even have an end?
All we can do is start a continuum.