Socrates Stratis

The work of « AA&U » was presented by Socrates Stratis at the conference “Activating the public space”, organized by “Phytorio- Visual Artists and Art Theorists Association, Nicosia « Counterpublics » is the substance of democracy for the commons! The event organized yesterday by the visual artists and art theorists gave space to points of view and people that the Cypriot society in its majority, undervalues. Happy to share with them my thoughts on critical urban practices that claim the city. An ecosystem of knowledge production and exchange on why and how practitioners including visual artists and architects among others may care for the public space, is being produced. « phytorio » is the name of the organization, after all.

Socrates Stratis was invited to TV Alpha to talk about the Cyprus Pavilion in Venice Biennale of Architecture, in which the "Hands-on Famagusta" project plays a central role. You can see the interview at http://www.alphacyprus.com.cy/shows/informative/alphaenimerosi/webtv/040716-i-ammohostos-sti-mpienale

Extended version in English Kaye Geipel has invited Socrates Stratis to talk about the theme "News From the Front", the 15th Venice Biennale of Architecture, as well as the curatorial project of the Cyprus Pavilion at the Venice Biennale of Architecture The German version at http://www.bauwelt.de/20.2016-2514318.html

SOCRATES STRATIS GAVE A LECTURE ABOUT THE NEED TO CREATE COLLECTIVE STRUCTURES THAT COULD SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT OF A COMMON FUTURE OF GREEK CYPRIOTS AND TURKISH CYPRIOTS OF FAMAGUSTA HE POSED FIVE QUESTIONS ABOUT CIVIL SOCIETY'S ENGAGEMENT IN DECIDING ABOUT THE CITY'S FUTURE

Interview of Socrates Stratis taken by Eleni Nicolaou Pavlide A group of 18 organizations have signed a letter of concern sent to the ministers of Interior, Finance and to the minister by the president in August 2015, in regards to the Government's intention of selling out State land to the private investors without any overall strategic plan. As a result such action may jeopardize both the future of public land as well as that of the actual Cypriot real estate. The interview is in Greek and you can read it further down.

RECLAIM THE CONTESTED CITY THROUGH OPEN COLLECTIVES: BEIRUT This year’s urban design studio examines the role of architecture and urban design into the production of the commons in contested fragmented urban environments, by looking towards collective practices around the notion of production in the city. The students spent a week in Beirut with their tutors visiting the city and getting lectures. Tutor: Socrates Stratis Assistant Tutor: Chrysanthe Constantinou

Hands-on Famagusta Video Release! "If you could decide now about the future of Famagusta in a reunified Cyprus, then get ready to explore and play with Imaginaries of Famagusta!" Watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aw64qtPB9ew

The AA & U proposal entitled "Open City" gained an honorable mention to the Architectural Competition about the connection between the Archeological sites in Paphos.

The Laboratory of Urbanism LU2CY at the Department of Architecture University of Cyprus, led by Socrates Stratis, is collaborating with KTH School of Architecture for urban design projects regarding possible futures for Famagusta.

«Imaginary Famagusta», an enthusiastic group of Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot architects, planners and urban designers and a bi-communal group of volunteers braved the summer heat and walked the streets of Famagusta last week to gather information on the region’s buildings and structures.

The “Hands-on-Famagusta” project comprises of inter-related activities, which use participatory urban design processes to facilitate dialogue about the urban future of Famagusta. The project contributes to the construction of common ground between groups in conflict and supports the planning of contemporary urban environments. It is based on the on-going work by the Laboratory of Urbanism, University of Cyprus (LU2CY), Imaginary Famagusta (I.F.), and ALA/Stratis. The “IF Team” (Imaginary Famagusta Team) is an initiative started by a group of architects and urban planners handling the Hands-On Famagusta project. The “IF Team” will be responsible for: the project coordination, development of urban tools and website content, web design and game interface coordination. Project Leader: Socrates Stratis Project Coordination Team: Emre Akbil, Esra Can Akbil, Nektarios Christodolou, Munevver Ozgur Ozersay Production Team: Chrysanthe Constantinou ( AA&U) Thalia Charalambous, ( AA&U) Architecture students and young graduates

Bernd Vlay presents the publication "The UAW-Book: About Urban Awareness", Damdi, Seoul, ed. by Socrates Stratis, at the Department of Architecture, University of Cyprus. Vlay uses the theme of curating, to revisit the content of the book

Socrates Stratis has performed an e-Do It Yourself Presentation for the University of Idaho, USA. Socrates invited by David Franco, Assistant Professor of Architecture has introduced an alternative way of communicating the work of AA&U to the students of Architecture at the University of Idaho. Instead of giving a preset lecture through skype he proposed to the students to study the AA&U website and give to him a list of preferable projects only when the skype connection was on. Socrates had to improvise in order to create links across the projects.

"Urban design should contribute to collective processes of deciding about urban space" Killing Free Time in Cyprus...in these times of summer and sunshine, many people would probably like to spend some days on the island. Due to its location and climate, it might be no surprise that Cyprus is largely dependent on tourism. However, the country is also a centre of military activity. According to Socrates Stratis, urbanist and teaching at the University of Cyprus this is a great paradox." In Cyprus tourist infrastructures are juxtaposed to military infrastructure present all over the island. I have always been shocked by the ability of tourists to turn off all their sensitivities while on vacation. This enables them to spend their vacation time next to war zones." In order to address the interesting combination between tourism and military infrastructure, Stratis and his colleagues created the 'Killing Free Time @ Cyprus' project. © EUKN, Simone Pekelsma

Τη Δευτέρα, 13 Ιουλίου 2020 στο Παττίχειο Δημοτικό Θέατρο στη Λεμεσό, έγινε η παρουσίαση της βραβευμένης μελέτης για τον αρχιτεκτονικό διαγωνισμό για την ανάπλαση της Πλατείας Ηρώων και Παρόδων στη Λεμεσό. Η παρουσίαση έγινε από τους μελετητές Σωκράτη Στρατή, Αναπληρωτή Καθηγητή του Πανεπιστημίου Κύπρου και Χρήστο Πασαδάκη εκ μέρους των AA&U και KIS-architecture. Οι μελετητές επικεντρώθηκαν στο ερώτημα γύρω από τους τρόπους που αντιμετωπίζει κανείς τον επανασχεδιασμό μιας πλατείας που σφύζει από ζωή και από συλλογικές μνήμες, όπως η πλατεία Ηρώων. Η βραβευμένη μελέτη πραγματεύεται την αρχιτεκτονική ως μέσο για τη διασφάλιση ενός δημόσιου χώρου προσβάσιμο από όλες και από όλους. Οι κύριες ενέργειες που προτείνονται από τη βραβευμένη μελέτη είναι: -Οργανώνει την πλατεία με βάση ένα «έξυπνο δάπεδο» ως πλέγμα υποδομών για κοινωνικές και οικολογικές διεργασίες -Αναδεικνύει κρυμμένες και ανώνυμες πρακτικές αστικής καθημερινότητας -Δημιουργεί μικρο-περιβάλλοντα γύρω από τα υφιστάμενα κιόσκια χωρίς να κατακερματίζει την πλατεία -Εισηγείται δομές για τη συλλογική διαχείριση του δημόσιου χώρου που απουσιάζουν από την Κυπριακή αστική κουλτούρα -Οργανώνει τις διαφορετικές χρήσεις της πλατείας για να διασφαλίζεται η πρόσβαση για όλους -Δίνει νέο ρόλο στα υφιστάμενα φωτιστικά με τις κολώνες τους -Κτίζει πάνω στην πολυσυλλεκτικότητα της κύριας πλατείας της Λεμεσού -Προσδίδει πρωταγωνιστικό ρόλο στο μνημείο των ηρώων για την ανάδειξη κρυμμένων καθημερινών δραστηριοτήτων της πόλης.

The curatorial project "Contested Fronts: Commoning Practices for Conflict Transformation" proposes new alliances for creating hand-in-hand relations between reconciliation and urban reconstruction of Famagusta, the day after Cyprus' unification. Such alliances could take place both across the Cypriot divide but also beyond State boundaries inviting international networks, practices and pedagogical programs. This is the content of the interview given by Socrates Stratis, the curator of the Cyprus Pavilion to Maria Panayiotou, journalist of Syntheseis, Phileleftheros.

Order your "Guide to Common Urban Imaginaries in Contested Spaces: the Hands-on Famagusta project" coming out this month by jovis, Berlin edited by Socrates Stratis at https://www.jovis.de/en/books/guide-to-common-urban-imaginaries-in-contested-spaces.html Can collective urban practices contribute to peace processes in divided cities? How can they be used in a targeted manner as part of urban policy, to challenge dominant divisive narratives and offer alternatives to segregating urban reconstruction approaches? The book is dedicated to this role of architecture and urban planning as a political instrument for transforming ethnic conflicts into urban controversies towards the city’s commons. The town of Famagusta in Cyprus serves as an example, a town characterized by polarizing narratives and burdened by memories loaded with conflict. In order to transform the contested territories into areas of common interest and action, the “Hands-on Famagusta“ project team developed methods for urban transformation. The guide brings together practical examples of this project and international articles from relevant literature, thereby communicating strategies and tactics for the formation and spatial organization of the collective. It actively encourages deeply contested societies to invest in common urban imaginaries. Socrates Stratis is the curator of the Cyprus Pavilion at the 15th Architecture Biennial 2016 in Venice with the project entitled “Contested Fronts: Commoning Practices for Conflict Transformation”. The “Hands-on Famagusta” project is the main part of the Cyprus Pavilion together with six international practices, networks and pedagogical programs: “Archis Interventions SEE”, “Build Up”, “City Reparo”, “Institute of Threshold”, “Mapping Controversies”, “Passages”.

Read the article of Socrates Stratis and Emre Akbil in Charavgi newspaper on the 14th of February by Spiros Soteriou.

The model of the whole city of Famagusta in a successful "Avant Première" on the side walk in front of the Department of Architecture, University of Cyprus, on Friday 20th of November 2015. The "Hands-on Famagusta" team was promoting, to the passers-by, the Launch event that will take place on the 28th of November in Sts Peter and Paul Church in the old city of Famagusta.

Socrates Stratis with Esra Can Akbil, gave a Key Note speech at the international conference Build Peace 2015 in Nicosia Cyprus. What could be the role of technology to Build Peace was one of the main concerns of the conference. http://howtobuildpeace.org/

The final jury of the Urban Design Studio, (3rd year students) took place on Saturday December 13, 2014. The students worked in 8 groups and presented their projects to a jury of invited guests. Their projects were exhibited during the day for public view at the ground floor of the Department of Architecture, University of Cyprus, on 68 Ledra street, Nicosia. The tutors of the studio are Socrates Stratis and Chrysanthe Constantinou

"GETTING ENGAGED FOR COMMON VISIONS FOR A POST-CONFLICT FAMAGUSTA” The Hands On Famagusta Project is heading along. The November Workshop is taking place on Wednesday the 5th of November at Goethe Institut in Nicosia.

Imagine Famagusta! Two interviews of the "Hands-On-Famagusta" project team were presented in the Cypriot Press on Sunday the 28th of September, both in Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot journals. "Imagine Famagusta" was the title chosen by the journalist Meropi Moisews for her article in Politis. Odul Asik Ulker in her "Face to Face" column in Yeniduzen presented a second interview that was given by the project team.

Socrates was invited by Costas Constantinou and Maria Hatzipavlou to give a talk in the context of an International Summer Program of the University of Cyprus on Peace and Conflict: the life of the buffer zone. Socrates presented his research on architecture's agencies that have a critical take on the buffer zone. He showed some of AA & U's projects that address such issues.

Part of the presentation was about the role of chrono-urbanistic practices in creating active co-existences in the contemporary urban environment. Socrates used examples from the international project "Urban-A-Where?" that he curated.

Socrates Stratis gives a lecture with Bernd Vlay on contemporary challenges of sustainable urban design, comparing dynamics of Nicosia with Vienna at Melina Mercouri Theatre, Nicosia. The lecture was preceded by a mobile workshop on public transport with the rest of the seminar participants www.facebook.com/friends.of.nicosia/

Urban Design as a mechanism to reclaim a unified city of Famagusta. The outcome of the Urban Design studio of the Fall semester 2012-13, about Famagusta is published in Politis newspaper