Brief Biography:
Antonina Ilieva is an architect with an interest in the lively exchange between architectural theory and practice. She is one of the four architects in the dontDIY studio and since 2012 Antonina Ilieva has been working on her research on contemporary Japanese architecture in parallel.
Everything is interconnected. The completeness of each of the links in the city's image-forming interaction between citizens - institutions - business is equally important for the harmonious development of the urban environment. There is a reason, although still supported by a small number of successful examples, to claim that over the last 5 to 10 years the mentality of the citizens and the city government in Sofia has been undergoing a constant change from the pessimistic and passive to the proactive and problem-solving attitude. Even if we assume that this increased activity in the interaction between citizens and institutions at this stage is mainly at the level of confrontation, it is visible.
The role of business in this tripartite interaction is currently less clear. Compared to other actors in the urban environment, business in the Bulgarian context is the youngest and most burdened with the burden of catching up and making up for the hypothetical missed opportunities. Since business is definitely not the first instance in communication with citizens, who ultimately set the trends in the urban environment, it initially lacks the opportunity to receive up-to-date information that would enable it to renew itself and move from a position of catching up with urban trends to a position of actively creating them.while Sofia's city-shaping business scene has already gained some mass and experience, it has yet to develop that strategic courage that will lead to taking the path of the lesser known, which, however, if well planned, has the potential to lead to radical solutions to the city's problems.
Sofia lacks a number of interesting typologies of small and medium sized public and commercial buildings whose specificity goes hand in hand with a certain business model and whose emergence would allow business to be immediately recognised as a positive actor in the development of the urban environment. Within this blog post, we take a look at some of the most acupuncture ones. What the selected topics have in common is that each of them addresses some of the most recognisable problems of the urban environment in Sofia. What the selected success stories, which come from both foreign and Bulgarian cities, have in common is that all of them go off the beaten track of what is well known in their own context, sometimes even with a dose of humour, and thus both stand out, as is important for any business, and create added value in the city.
Looking for: multi-storey car parks above ground in the city centre
successful example: mixed-use building with multi-storey surface car park with frontage landscaping in Hong Kong. Aedas
Parking has been an important issue for cities since the world came of age with cars as the primary means of personal transport. In the developing and growing city of Sofia, the issue is on the agenda and so far has no radical solution of its own. Above-ground multi-storey car parks are an appropriate choice in densely populated central urban areas.And although car parks are a vital public facility whose functionality has already been recognised, including in other Bulgarian cities, the aesthetic and environmental appropriateness of these infrastructures in an urban context is sometimes questionable in a city like Sofia, which is struggling to assert its historical identity. A little more research into thematic projects built around the world in the last decade shows that surface multi-storey car parks can not only be compatible with their urban neighbourhoods, they can actually contribute to their revitalisation. Thoughtful intervention in their facades, which are the least functionally loaded element in this particular building, can have a surprisingly positive impact on the social, environmental and cultural climate of the city. Combining such a building with a proper business plan with adequate subscription and stay fees would logically make it a welcome innovation in any residential neighbourhood.
A successful example: the roof of the multi-storey parking lot Stadsberget (City Mountain) is used as park space in summer and as a toboggan run in winter. The car park is a favourite meeting place and an important tourist attraction in the centre of the Swedish town of Piteå. Designers
Seeking: public and commercial buildings drawing popularity from the restoration of a historic building
Successful example: the Magazia 1 project transforms a 1906 warehouse building at the Port of Burgas into a multi-purpose public building with a unique atmosphere, building on the historic architectural elements preserved and exhibited in the building. Designers. Desislava Stoyanova, arch. Mariana Serbova, arch. Petya Tanamova
Due to a certain coincidence of circumstances, at least because it is the largest and most spontaneously developing city in Bulgaria, Sofia has been suffering from a certain loss of identity for years. The balance between the beloved and priceless old and the necessary and functional new. It is a well-known fact that the adaptation of historic buildings has been successfully used all over the world to create new urban spaces - buildings and infrastructure emotionally recognised by the public. In Bulgaria, too, there are already carefully and adequately realised examples of the same model. Supported by a variable business model that includes a variety of functions, these buildings are able to pay off for any business that takes the risk on the specific processes involved in adequate redevelopment - especially in the Sofia context, where this has not really been done on a significant scale yet, and where interesting as features and potential old buildings and structures are abundant.
Housed in the building of a former slaughterhouse, this contemporary cinema centre in Madrid lifts the veil on previously inaccessible urban typologies. Designer
Seeking: non-standard solutions to trivial problems, perhaps with a dash of humour
Successful examples: public toilets in Australia, Japan and China. Simon Knott and Tim Black, Shuichiro Yoshida, X-urban Asoshitos, respectively
Ending on a somewhat humorous note, we can add another interesting typology of a small commercial building that goes hand in hand with a unique business model providing a solution to a perennial urban problem: public toilets. As much as we try not to think about them, everyone has to use them from time to time. In an effort to make them invisible, we standardize them, bury them in underground bunkers, and neglect them. But what if a brave entrepreneur accepted the daunting challenge of swimming against the tide and it was beautifully maintained and uniquely designed public toilets that became the foundation of his business?