“I didn’t know I was interested in architecture” is an impression often heard from visitors of Tools for Better Living. The festival, organised by the Outsider Magazine, is not just another forum for architects and related professionals. It has evolved into a multi-faceted, interdisciplinary program, and includes events with speakers from various fields, international competitions and practical workshops, all aimed at finding creative and sustainable solutions for issues of contemporary living.
National
Slovenia
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It addresses urban-rural linkages
It refers to other types of transformations (soft investment)
Yes
ERDF : European Regional Development Fund
For organisation of 2020, 2021 and 2022 editions of Tools for Better Living festival, we partnered with Centre for Creativity (Center za kreativnost, Ljubljana, Slovenia), which is funded by the European Regional Development Fund.
No
Yes
As a representative of an organisation
Name of the organisation(s): Z.O.P. - Zavod za Oblikovanje Prostora Type of organisation: Non-profit organisation First name of representative: Matevž Last name of representative: Granda Gender: Male Nationality: Slovenia Function: director Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Ulica aktivistov 6 Town: Ljubljana Postal code: 1000 Country: Slovenia Direct Tel:+386 41 220 006 E-mail:matevz@outsider.si Website:https://outsider.si
Tools For Better Living is an ongoing interdisciplinary project, organised by the Outsider Magazine in Slovenia. It was launched in 2017 and consists of five key elements:
• 1) TOOLS FOR BETTER LIVING FESTIVAL: The festival itself is an annual event, featuring speakers from different fields, such as architecture, heritage conservation, art, literature, building technology and others. It aims to encourage the interdisciplinary exchange of new ideas, technological developments and examples of good practice. All this with the goal of promoting sustainable, environmentally friendly and socially conscious building and living.
• 2) EVENTS AT “PLEČNIKOVA TRAFIKA”: In 2021, we had revitalised Plečnikova trafika, a long unused kiosk in Ljubljana, designed by one of Slovenia’s most important architects, Jože Plečnik. Today, the kiosk is used as an open-air venue for monthly "Trafika at Sunset" events, which present another format of 'Tools for Better Living' festival, one that was at once better suited to pandemic restrictions and allowed us to bring the conversation out of the lecture halls and into the public square.
• 3) ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITIONS: Since 2016, we have organised 11 international architectural and 3 literary competitions, some in collaboration with other stakeholders. These are devised as an extension of the annual festival, further exploring the issues highlighted by the speakers through participation of a wider professional public.
• 4) PRACTICAL WORKSHOPS: By 2021, we had expanded our project to include workshops, related to topics covered by the festival, such as building with natural materials.
• 5) MEDIA CAMPAIGN: All of the above events are simultaneously supported by articles in Outsider magazine (4 issues per year, with a print run of 5000 copies) and on our website (with over 60.000 monthly visitors).
Education
Exchange of experience
Inspiration
Sustainability
Know-how
OBJECTIVE 1: To spotlight novel and innovative examples of sustainable building practices. As the construction and use of buildings accounts for a large share of global energy use and carbon footprint, our project aims to promote practices that lead to more sustainable building and living in the long-term, such as use of natural building materials. HOW IT HAS BEEN ACHIEVED: The majority of our competitions directly address this goal, such as Rammed Earth House competition, 2021. The issue of sustainable building and living is also a consistent theme of the annual festival. The second edition of the festival (2018) was dedicated to the exploration of different materials. 2021 and 2022 festivals were heavily focused on exploring the use of natural materials, primarily earth. Events at Plečnikova trafika also address these issues, with topics such as “Metabolism of heritage” and “Towards the earth”.
OBJECTIVE 2: To advocate for renovation over the construction of new buildings. We support the conservation of our architectural heritage, which co-creates our sense of spatial identity and gives us inspiration for the future. We believe that renovation is almost always a better option than building new. HOW IT HAS BEEN ACHIEVED: The competition which led to the launch of the festival addressed this very issue: A House For The 21st Century (2016) explored creative solutions for the use of houses built in the last 70 years. In 2017, the Salt-Pan House competition drew attention to the issues of decaying traditional houses on the Sečovlje salt pans.
HOW IS OUR INITIATIVE EXEMPLARY: Our initiative does not stop at connecting professionals through events, but encourages the participation of the wider public through design competitions. Secondly, it is the only event of its kind in Slovenia that actively encourages and promotes dialogue between different disciplines. Thirdly, our project aims to implement the ideas and solutions generated at the festival in real life.
OBJECTIVE 1: We believe that architecture is not a self-sufficient, self-contained field. Therefore, we want to improve the communication between architects and experts from other fields. HOW IT HAS BEEN ACHIEVED: The annual festivals have become an important meeting place at the intersection of different professional fields. In addition to architects, the speakers at our festival include artists, philosophers, economic innovators and scientists. Judging by the feedback we get from the events, architects are surprised by the number of visitors from other fields. These, in turn, report gaining valuable insights into the world of architecture.
OBJECTIVE 2: To complement the material ways of improving our quality of life with exploration of mental, interpersonal and societal tools. HOW IT HAS BEEN ACHIEVED: Our design competitions promote exploration of aesthetics and quality of life: we organised the competition Museum Above the City, (2017, in partnership with Museum for Architecture and Design and Velux) focusing on the use of natural light. Together with Municipality of Maribor, we organised the competition Floating Pavilion on the Drava River (2022), which explored the idea of urban public spaces on the river. Revitalised Plečnik’s kiosk (Plečnikova trafika) has been again put to use as a newsstand, where one can buy Outsider Magazine or Trafika, our free publication in traditional newspaper format. It challenges the notion that physical newsstands are a thing of the past, and encourages active use of public space around it. It has become an integral part of the city’s fabric.
HOW IS OUR INITIATIVE EXEMPLARY: Our competitions generate creative responses, which is evident by the number of entries received (more than 460 entries from around the world for Rammed Earth House competition). Revitalised Plečnik’s kiosk has been well received by the public and professionals alike - it has been selected as one of the finalists of 2022 European public space prize.
OBJECTIVE 1: To reach a broad and diverse public. Opening up the discussion of spatial issues to wider public is crucial, as it forms the basis of a participatory decision-making process. HOW IT HAS BEEN ACHIEVED: We provide the vast majority of our content for free. This includes attendance at our events and workshops, participation in competitions and articles on our website and the Trafika newspaper.
OBJECTIVE 2: To strengthen interpersonal relationships. HOW IT HAS BEEN ACHIEVED: Since starting the project, we have discovered an immense positive impact of in-person contact when it comes to networking and exchange of ideas. We want to promote growth of genuine relationships and communities of persons sharing the same interests. This is why our events have all been held in person, except during the pandemic, when they were being held online.
OBJECTIVE 3: To promote participatory and bottom-up approaches to addressing societal and spatial problems. HOW HAS THIS OBJECTIVE BEEN ACHIEVED: We see our competitions as a reflection of the discussions taking place during the festivals, a dialogue between a local community of professionals and a wider professional field that includes architects, designers and innovators from around the world. In 2021, we organised Kiosk for the Future, a competition that addressed the issues of inclusivity by exploring different visions of the role and form of newsstands of the future. We also organised one-off events when we felt the need for an immediate response to a social issue. In 2019 we organised an initiative “Where Are the Walls of NUK2?”, which prompted new progress towards construction of a much-needed new National University Library in Ljubljana – a project which had been dormant for years before.
HOW IS OUR INITIATIVE EXEMPLARY: Our project is bringing issues of spatial policies and sustainability in architecture to the forefront of public consciousness and provides wider public with tools to influence decision-makers.
Participants of our events have the opportunity to gain new knowledge on a wide range of topics. The events enable them to network and participate in open panel discussions (at least one at each festival).
As an extension of the festival, various workshops have been organised (such as rammed earth workshops in 2022), which enabled participants to gain practical skills and knowledge of building materials. In line with our attention to immaterial “tools for better living”, we had also organised guided excursions in the woods with professional forester, aimed at raising awareness of ecological issues and sustainable forestry practices.
Another kind of practical workshop that we organised was the “Architectural Clinic” where students of architecture helped citizens by solving minor architectural problems (such as interior design, minor renovations etc.).
We conceptualise our design competitions as a reflection of discussions taking place during festivals. By doing so, we want to ensure that the dialogue between a localised community of various professionals and a wider professional field (e.g. architects, designers, innovators from across the world) successfully translates from theory to practice.
We had collaborated with multiple institutions and companies at various levels during different stages and years of our project. These collaborations included the use of venues for our events, financial support for the project, help with the promotion of the events etc.
• On the local level, we had at various occasions collaborated with Municipality of Ljubljana, Municipality of Maribor, and multiple local companies.
• On the regional and national level, we had collaborated with Museum of Architecture and design, Slovenian National and University Library, Maritime Museum Sergej Mašera from Piran, Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia, and multiple major companies (such as Velux, Knauf Insulation, Baumit, Triglav, Alfanatura, Wienerberger etc.).
• We had also collaborated with Centre for creativity from Ljubljana, which is supported by the European Regional Development Fund.
While the main focus of our organisation and the Outsider Magazine is architecture, an interdisciplinary approach is a crucial part of Tools for Better Living project. At our events, we hosted:
• Architects (e.g. Martin Rauch, Peter Gabrijelčič, AleaOlea architects, Maruša Zorec, Nande Korpnik, GregorcVrhovc, Hanno Burtscher),
• Experts on conservation of heritage (e.g. Franco Juri and Falvio Bonin from Sergej Mašera Maritime museum in Piran)
• Artists (e.g. ceramic artist Marta Rauch-Debevec, interdisciplinary artist Matej Andraž Vogrinčič, sculptor Metoda Maj)
• Writers and thinkers (e.g. Carlos Pascual, Idis Turato)
• Experts in building technology (e.g. companies Geberit, Velux, Baumit, Lumar, Axor)
Invited experts from these different fields had the opportunity to exchange experiences and ideas by giving short presentations/lectures and participating in panel discussions.
This interdisciplinary approach created affordances for new collaborations across disciplines, raised awareness of issues facing different disciplines and at times, jump-started bottom-up initiatives to solve crucial problems (such as the petition aimed at shortening administrative procedures for gaining a building permit).
Design competitions are often supported by a stakeholder (an institution or a company) that is looking for a creative solution to a problem they are facing. In other cases, they are supported by stakeholders who want to explore creative and novel uses of their technology (for example, our latest design competition, in collaboration with Modular Timber has invited participants to explore ways of using wooden modular panels).
While festivals connecting experts from different field may be a tried-and-true approach, we had scaled this model up by branching out into different directions:
• Architectural/design competitions, which mirror the issues discussed at festival events.
• Smaller monthly outdoor events at recently revitalised Plečnikova trafika.
• Practical workshops, which are thematically linked to festival talks.
This multifaceted approach enables us to address the wider public (some are primarily interested in practical workshops, others in discussions). Our approach is also unique in the way it always works towards real-life implementation of ideas and solutions raised at the festival.
The proof of efficiency, relevance and replicability of our initiative can be seen in the fact that other organisations in Slovenia had taken steps into similar direction: following the revitalisation of Plečnikova trafika in 2021 and a success of subsequent events held there, another Plečnik’s kiosk (on Prešernov trg) had been renovated by the Municipality of Ljubljana in 2022 with a similar approach.
If we conceptualize our approach as a multi-disciplinary festival, complemented by design competitions, workshops and smaller monthly events, we can say our initiative can be easily replicated with all its aspects, be it in different county, pertaining to different professional fields etc.
Our approach could be described as ‘Poetics of Pragmatics’- using material limitations as creative constraints. Its key pillars are:
PRESSING TOPICS: We are looking for most pressing and interesting issues facing the architectural field or pertaining to the issues of built environment. We aim to choose topics which would greatly benefit from interdisciplinary approach.
INTEGRITY: We do not want our partnerships with sponsors to influence our choice of issues or general themes – we arrange partnerships only in cases where they complement and support our already chosen topics.
EXPERTISE: We make sure that the invited speakers are experts in the chosen topic, have a unique body of work which directly relates to the topic or have an interesting “outsider” perspective. We look for speakers with a potential for contributing to a dialogue in an innovative way.
EFFICIENCY: When planning our events, we are careful to be as efficient and cost-effective as possible.
IMPACT ASSESSMENT: After the event, we evaluate its success and form plans for subsequent branching events, such as competitions, workshops etc. Our decisions are based on discussions and ideas raised at the festival.
LONG-TERM LEGACY: In the year leading up to the next festival, we organise thematic design competitions, workshops and events at Plečnikova trafika. Award ceremony for the winners of the design competition is usually included in the next edition of Tools for Better Living festival.
Tools for Better Living project addresses two key global challenges by providing local solutions:
Climate change, energy/resource consumption and carbon footprint. Local solutions:
• Raising awareness and informing public through our events and articles on our website and in the Outsider magazine about good practices (renovation instead of building new, sustainable building materials and technologies). In the last years, we are seeing increased interest in sustainable building practices among our readers and attendees of our events.
• Organising workshops on building with rammed earth, where we learn about the technology of building with this natural, sustainable material, with a great potential for use in architecture.
Conservation and renovation of heritage. Local solutions:
• Raising awareness about important heritage buildings through articles on our website and the magazine.
• Leading by example: revitalisation of Plečnikova trafika, which had been unused for decades before being revived as a newsstand and an outdoor venue for monthly events.
Throughout the years, our project has received overwhelmingly positive feedback from attendees, with comments such as:
• “At your festival, I met a new colleague, which was a beginning of our successful long-term collaboration”.
• “I find your institution’s position in our field very valuable. Looking at problems from outside their usual framework opens up completely new insights”.
• “I think I have fallen in love with architecture again”.
Compared to other similar initiatives, our events have been incredibly well attended. We have welcomed between 200 and 300 annual visitors per festival (total around 2000 since 2017), between 20 and 50 attendees per event at Plečnikova trafika (more than 500 altogether). With more than 100 total participants, our workshops attracted a lot of interest too.
We published more than 20 stories relating to the topics covered by Tools for Better Living festival in the Outsider Magazine (both print and online). These stories garnered a lot of attention and positive feedback among the wider audience, with a joint readership of around 15.000.
All of our activities revolve around a common theme: the awareness of space not as a constant, but as a variable, susceptible to our influences (either positive or negative). By building better spaces (both in terms of architecture and landscape), we can influence and improve the wider society. This has been recognised by the attendees of our events as one major positive results of our project.
In the future, we plan to consolidate our methodology, which has been so far developing organically, and work towards an even better integration of our different activities. In 2023, we will again organise the two-day festival, multiple events at Plečnikova trafika, and multiple workshops focused on building with earth.
Our project allows for the development of a wide range of new competences, for the visitors of the festival, workshops and other associated events.
In the context of the European Competence framework on sustainability, we are particularly committed to developing new skills and competences related to building with natural materials, primarily earth. In our workshops, we develop skills in building with earth, knowing when earth is suitable as a building material etc.
Our workshops always include a media dimension: participants are invited to express their opinions and hone their writing skills. We consider this area of competence to be crucial for the effective communication of sustainable building and the culture of space.
Interdisciplinary approach: we encourage participants in our events to collaborate with experts from other disciplines. This opens up new ways of working, new methodologies and knowledge bases. These skills and the ability to collaborate are crucial to the development of new creative ideas.
