Summary

The “Trace” project is a cultural project which examines the heritage value of the commemorative architectural objects from the socialist period in Bulgaria, for the purpose of integrating them in the social and cultural space of the modern city in a Europe, where presently historical cohabitation is a significant factor contributing to unity. The main issues center on the significance of these sites today and their potential as architectural and urbanistic works, cultural phenomena and constituents of the urban landscape.

In the focus of the “Trace” project are the monumental complexes of the period: from the late 1960s to the fall of the communist regime. Their modern interpretation reveals a duality, organized on the one hand around the issue of the development of the group memory of a society, and on the other hand, around the trends in the creation and management of public urban areas. The “Trace” project approaches these issues both from a strictly national and a wider, international point of view.

The monumental architectural complexes, which today are largely abandoned, bring to light the emptiness and lack of new landmarks in the post-modernistic European society. Haunting public areas like ghosts, these sites are a measure of the wanderings in the dark of a society in search of the landmarks of its identity. The total lack of ideas for their future – reconstruction, demolition, etc. – is a patent illustration.

The aim of the project is to initiate public debate on the future of the monumental architectural complexes. On the national and international plane, light ought to be shed on the questions and expectations raised by such places through a more analytical and artistic approach. Our team plans, without any taboos, to collect the opinions and formulate the expectations of European citizens concerning the rehabilitation of the public areas, richly imbued in memory, with which our urban areas abound. The project proposes the development of a work platform, where everyone will be able to leave a trace of their own memory with regards to commemorative urban space.

Our vehicles for the realization of the project are conferences and debates with representatives of various European countries, workshops combining architecture and art, artistic performances in situ, development of prospective urban scenarios.

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