A Place for Us
In Bucharest, public space is primarily dedicated to vehicles rather than pedestrians, causing tensions between drivers and pedestrians and prompting inventive ways to claim space due to a lack of action from authorities. There is a growing movement advocating for pedestrian prioritization and reclaiming public spaces, but community consensus is needed for progress. A Place for Us is an initiative using a simple bench installation during Street Delivery 2020 to reclaim a pedestrian area, highlighting the need for public spaces that foster social interaction and long-term community benefits
PopUP Răspiua – Inclusive, Mobile Playground
PopUP Răspiua, part of the Răspiua initiative, is a mobile, inclusive play installation designed to connect able-bodied children and those with disabilities. Featuring geometrical, modular designs that stimulate imagination and sensory perception, it supports cognitive and social development.
La Firul Ierbii Community Centre
The La Firul Ierbii/Grassroots project creates a public, well-equipped and inclusive civic space for city and neighborhood interaction. It aims to evolve into a local civic forum, fostering community engagement.
Răspiua – Inclusive Playground
“Răspiua” fosters personal development for all children through a multi-sensory playground, inclusive of those with disabilities. This initiative aims to create accessible public playgrounds nationwide, promoting empathy and social education. Designed with input from children, the project includes a playground installed in District 4 (2016-2017) and a sensory garden added to enhance multi-sensory experiences (2018-2019). “Răspiua” signifies the opposite of “time-out” in Romanian childhood lingo.
Empathy Retreat
During 25-29th of August 2022, we organised the Empathy Retreat in Sibiu, an intersectional research project that brought together 32 people from different social and professional categories: architects, urban planners, landscape architects, expert citizens, local councillors from city halls, activists, all of them from the LGBTQIA+ spectrum, or with visual, locomotor or hearing disabilities, neurodivergent and (temporarily) able-bodied people.
Inclusive dialogue is the first step for accessibility to become a priority in the design and development of public or private spaces. The goal of the retreat is to challenge individual perspectives on human diversity and how they define our relationship with the environment.