The residency programme seeks researchers and practitioners who react to (geo)political, ecological, and social issues and their impact on spatial relations. We are interested in spatial research and practises that focus on at least one of these directions:

• imagining the new forms of more than human coexistence;
• aiming for a systematic and physical design that is inclusive and responsive to the needs of the most vulnerable social groups;
• exploring resources, energy, and materiality and their innovative (re)use and application.

The programme is open to various applied research formats. Creatives with various backgrounds are welcome to apply.

Architektūros fondas is a non-governmental, non-profit organisation that brings together a network of people, initiatives, and ideas, aiming to develop interactions between society and architecture and to expand the involvement of architecture in the processes of spatial change. Residents will be invited to participate in Architektūros fondas ongoing educational programme "Experiments’ Platform" and publication platform "Aikštėje".

The SODAS 2123 cultural centre is a self-governing community-based space operated and curated by the Lithuanian Interdisciplinary Artists’ Association. It brings together creators and researchers from different fields, with practises based on experimentation and developing unexpected formats.

With over 50 artists’ studios, rehearsal studios for bands, offices for design, film and visual arts organisations, exhibition spaces, event spaces, various workshops, a café, a public outdoor garden space, a public allotment, and more, SODAS 2123 provides space for a variety of art and cultural disciplines, and each resident of the centre is open to sharing, learning, and craftsmanship.

By giving the residency programme participants curatorial support, consulting residents about their artistic projects and research, and organising studio visits to local artists’ studios, project spaces, exhibition spaces, and other residency centres, the SODAS 2123 residency programme aims to build long-term relations between visiting artists and the local art scene.

Residency starts August 1, 2023, and ends September 31, 2023.

The residency grant is 1600 EUR per resident (tax inclusive). The residency also covers travel expenses to and from the residency up to 200 EUR.

Three applicants will be selected and invited to live and develop their residency projects in the cultural centre SODAS 2123.

Only applicants from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Estonia, and Latvia (as well as the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Åland) are eligible.

Residents will be living in the studio apartments at SODAS 2123. The centre is located in a repurposed school building about 15 minutes walk from Vilnius Old Town, in a calm and friendly neighbourhood called "Rasų kolonija". The residency provides individual rooms (28 m² individual room with kitchenette and bathroom or 27 m² and 19 m² individual rooms with shared kitchen and bathroom) and the opportunity to work in a shared studio.

Applicants have to fill out the Google application form by April 27, 2022. Applications will be evaluated by the SODAS 2123 and Architektūros fondas curatorial teams. The main selection criteria will be the applicant’s creative practise and experimentation experience, the relevance to the main residency directions, the necessity to develop residency projects in SODAS 2123, and their relation to Architektūros fondas activities.

If you have any questions, please contact SODAS 2123 residency programme curator Indrė Liškauskaitė residency@sodas2123.lt.

This residency is funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers’ Nordic-Baltic Mobility Programme for Culture. The activities of SODAS 2123 are supported by the Lithuanian Council for Culture and the Vilnius City Municipality.

The concept of Open House originated in 1992 in London to promote a better understanding of architecture for the public. At the heart of this idea is accessible learning through direct experience of the buildings themselves and interactions between professionals and citizens. Since 1992, almost 50 cities worldwide have adopted this unique format.

To improve and expand this format, a new collaborative project was initiated by 11 European cultural organisations that annually organise 12 Open House events in Athens, Bilbao, Brno, Dublin, Essen, Lisbon, Milan, multiple cities in Slovenia, Stockholm, Tallinn, Thessaloniki, and Vilnius. The project will seek to include Open House festivals in other European cities and further knowledge exchange by collaborating with the extended Open House Worldwide network.

The three-year project will focus each year on a new direction: sustainability, accessibility and inclusion, and future heritage. These thematic axes will allow Open House Europe to shape the agenda for a debate about contemporary and heritage architecture, its values and quality. The objectives of the project are aimed at introducing collaborative modes of knowledge sharing, strengthening the position of architecture culture organisations in the sector, promoting education about exceptional examples of architecture and urban environments, engaging audiences, and increasing cultural accessibility.

The programme of Open House Europe will introduce a range of new activities and events that will be organised across the continent. The project will include Annual Summits in different European cities, a Volunteer Exchange Programme, a digital platform, and a range of innovations in the Open House festivals. The visitors will be able to take part in open calls for visual stories that will encourage them to explore and interpret the annual Open House Europe themes through their own experiences and knowledge gained during the Open House weekends.

The launch event of Open House Europe promises to be an informative and inspiring experience for architects, cultural specialists, and the general public. It will provide insights into the aims and objectives of the project and further explain its programme. The launch event will be available online via the Open House Europe Youtube channel on March 3 at 18:00 (GMT +2).

The project is coordinated by Architektūros fondas and co-funded by the European Union.

Can flashy visuals and catchy names guarantee high-quality architecture? Where has the modernist ambition of building big and anew taken us? Could it be that unrealized ideas left on the margins are also a mistake? Or could they be the real starting point for progress?

The 29th series of talks, accompanied by the oxymoron “The Great Mistake”, will encourage reflections on the importance of learning to make mistakes, even in architectural processes, while showing that when viewed in hindsight, a mistake can also lead to great success.

Important information. The event will be filmed and photographed. Videos and/or photographs taken during the event may be published and broadcast live on the Organiser’s social networks (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube), website, as well as other advertising or information dissemination media.

From 3 November to 1 December, we invite you to join us at the National Gallery of Art for conversations with exceptional speakers. 

Events in English: 

10 November 19:00 | H. Ibelings | Modern Architecture, Planetary Warming, Environmental Decline

24 November 19:00 | D. Basulto | Scaling Architecture

Our activities are financed by the Lithuanian Council for Culture. Project is partially financed by Vilnius City Municipality. Series partner – National Gallery of Art. Media partner – LRT.

More information: www.apokalbiai.lt/en/

The exhibition will run from 5-19 November 2022.

Venue - cultural centre SODAS 2123, Vitebsko str. 23, first floor hall.

Visiting hours:

Tuesday-Friday, 17.00-19.00.

Saturday 13.00-18.00.

Pre-registration: gabriele.cerniavskaja@archfondas.lt

About the Experiments’ Platform

This year's Experiments Platform programme invites you to delve into three questions: "What do we have?", "What do we need?" and "What do we want?", which open up three interconnecting pathways for the participants' research and the platform programme.

The first question "What do we need?" is an invitation to look at the present, to raise ecological and geopolitical awareness and to explore the functional and dysfunctional present. The second question "What do we need?" leads to actions that can be taken now for a better tomorrow. Finally, the question "What do we want?" leads to dreams of speculative futures, personal desires and sometimes self-centredness, moving away from the role of architect.

During the second cycle of the Experiments’ Platform, the 13 participants of the platform, with the help of mentors, developed their thoughts and alternative approaches to architectural practice in the context of these three questions.

The processes that took place during the Experiments’ Platform programme offered a complex process to the exhibition concept - an unexpected interaction with the boundaries of architecture and non-architecture, provoking thoughts and a starting point for future architectural topics. We invite you to take a look at moments from this process in the exhibition.

Participants in the exhibition:

Agnė Rubytė, Evelina Ąžuolaitytė, Oles Makukhin, Erik Vojevodin, Evelina Bartusevičiūtė, Magdalena Beliavska, Emilija Rakutienė, Lukas Jusas, Augustas Lapinskas, Kamilė Vasiliauskaitė. Aistė Gaidilionytė, Augusta Orlauskaitė, Ieva Julija Bagdonaitė.

Mentors of the Experimentation Platform:

Architecture Uncomfortable Workshop (Dénes Emil Ghyczy, Lukács Szederkényi), Millonaliu (Klodiana Millona, Yuan Chun Liu), Miodrag Kuč, Erika Henriksson.

Curator and architect of the exhibition - Gabrielle Černiavskaja.

Coordinator - Gabrielė Janilionytė.

Lighting - Justas Bø.

Architektūros fondas’ activities are financed by the Lithuanian Council for Culture. Media partner - Lithuanian National Radio and Television. Friends - Comfort Hotel LT.

Taking place for the third time, the forum of Architektūros fondas will invite us to focus our attention on the relationship between education and architecture. We will look from three different perspectives at the broad phenomenon of learning environments: How do architectural methods and spaces contribute to contemporary educational practices? What knowledge about architecture and its processes is important for every citizen? What trends in architecture education exist, and what can we contribute to shaping its future?

Programme:

12:30 Arrivals and registration

13:00 Introduction

13:15 Presentation of Arhitektuurikool

Presenters: Karolin Kaup and Piret Anier

13:45 Discussion about children and youth learning environments and architectural tools for education.

Participants: Rokas Kilčiauskas, Marija Nemčenko, Živilė Etevičiūtė, Karolin Kaup/Piret Anier

Moderator - Martynas Germanavičius

15:00 Lunch break

16:00 Presentation of Institute of Contemporary Art, Design and Architecture of Art Academy of Latvia and Art Academy of Latvia Architecture department.

Presenters: Austris Mailitis and Dina Suhanova

17:00 Break

17:30 Discussion about Experimentation in Education

Participants: Miodrag Kuč, Millonaliu (Klodiana Millona, Yuan Chun Liu), Erika Henriksson, Ghyczy Dénes Emil

Moderator - Gabrielė Černiavskaja

18:40 Presentation of Experiments platform participants projects

Where? Cultural centre SODAS 2123, Vitebsko str. 23. The event will be held in English. Event is free of charge. No pre-registration is required.

Architektūros fondas’ activities are financed by Lithuanian Council for Culture. Media partner – Lithuanian National Radio and Television. Event's friend – Comfort Hotel LT.

Un-War Space Lab: Armina Pilav, Damir Ugljen, Karla Crnčević, Jonas Langbein in collaboration with Ilona Jurkonytė. Un-war space lab is a cross-media research-based practice on transformations of rivers, woods, land, architecture, interspecies society during and after the wartime lead by Armina, a researcher in ecologies of war transformation. Damir is an independent researcher in fields of archaeology, social anthropology, and spatial inquiry. Karla is a dramaturge and film worker exploring the politics of moving images and the creation of the experimental media space. Jonas is an architect, working on other forms of human cohabitation through architectural projects about inclusion, communication, care, more-than-human relations, and living-together. Within this project Un-war Space Lab team collaborated with Ilona Jurkonytė - a Lithuania born film, and moving image researcher and curator.

Exhibition is open until April 24th at the cultural centre Sodas 2123 and virtually.

About “Building Narratives”

In the micro-exhibition series, we present works developed within Architektūros fondas programme "Building Narratives" in 2019–2020. Creatives of the  “Building Narratives” programme explored the relations between architecture and narrative, when buildings aren’t shaped by mortar and concrete anymore – crucial and sometimes the most important ingredient is narrative. Whether it is purely a PR product or an organic construct it creates perceptions and shapes the way we see and understand our environment. Hearing, reading or assembling a narrative from smaller pieces helps us to determine if something is good, useful and even beautiful. At the same time, changing narrative has the power to change perceptions of our environment. Bad can become good, ugly-beautiful, all without any changes in physical structure.

As a new narrative has the power to transform architecture on its own, it becomes extremely important to understand how different ways of talking about architecture can shape its future. Therefore Architektūros fondas was seeking to discover personal narratives and encourage the creatives to get involved in this affair. Programme merged the ongoing projects of Architektūros fondas and their methods, while looking for common ground among podcasts and publications platform Aikštėje and Future Architecture platform creatives.

Creatives of the Future Architecture platform within the "Building Narratives" programme: Goda Verikaitė, Povilas Jankūnas, Sonja Lakič, Tatiana Letier Pinto, Benas Gerdžiūnas, Un-War Space Lab, Will Jennings. Curators of programme: Andrius Ropolas, Indrė Ruseckaitė, Justinas Dūdėnas, Sandra Šlepikaitė. Curators of micro exhibitions: Indrė Ruseckaitė ir Justinas Dūdėnas

"Building Narratives" is also a part of the Future Architecture platform and European Architecture programme 2020, co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union. Architektūros fondas' strategic partner is Lithuanian Council for Culture. Partner – Kaunas 2022 programmes "Modernism for Future" and "All as One".

The photograph series “Hidden Architecture” is inviting to observe closer and re-evaluate the uniqueness of the resort architecture in Neringa. Majority of the buildings in Neringa were designed by Lithuanian architects and built in the second half of the 20th century. Today architecture of that period is not always considered as highly valuable, Neringa is no exception. In his photograph series, Norbert explores the Soviet modernist architecture in Neringa as a subject within the contexts of nature and culture, as a piece of art, and as an entity constructed from fragments and details.

About “Building Narratives”

In the micro-exhibition series, we present works developed within Architektūros fondas programme "Building Narratives" in 2019–2020. Creatives of the  “Building Narratives” programme explored the relations between architecture and narrative, when buildings aren’t shaped by mortar and concrete anymore – crucial and sometimes the most important ingredient is narrative. Whether it is purely a PR product or an organic construct it creates perceptions and shapes the way we see and understand our environment. Hearing, reading or assembling a narrative from smaller pieces helps us to determine if something is good, useful and even beautiful. At the same time, changing narrative has the power to change perceptions of our environment. Bad can become good, ugly-beautiful, all without any changes in physical structure.

As a new narrative has the power to transform architecture on its own, it becomes extremely important to understand how different ways of talking about architecture can shape its future. Therefore Architektūros fondas was seeking to discover personal narratives and encourage the creatives to get involved in this affair. Programme merged the ongoing projects of Architektūros fondas and their methods, while looking for common ground among podcasts and publications platform Aikštėje and Future Architecture platform creatives.

"Building Narratives" is also a part of the Future Architecture platform and European Architecture programme 2020, co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union. Architektūros fondas' strategic partner is Lithuanian Council for Culture. Partner – Kaunas 2022 programmes "Modernism for Future" and "All as One".

Tatiana, in collaboration with Lithuanian architect and multimedia journalist Benas Gerdžiūnas, used similarvisual mapping approach to heritage technique for the Vilnius Concert and Sports Palace at "Mapping Heritage" – a workshop on expanding narratives of the built environment.  The case of the Concert  and Sports Palace in Vilnius is different in many ways. Instead of controversial financial links, the building embodies layers of trauma – from the Holocaust to the Soviet occupation of Lithuania, a tragic accident, and the subsequent decay in the tumultuous post-independence years continued with the non ending swirling upshots of the intertwining and contradicting storylines of heritagial and commercial interests. According to T. Pinto, although the fate of the Vilnius’ Concert and Sports Hall has already been decided, the future of historic buildings is constantly shaped by public debates – the proposals can be change or be cancelled as any building may be refurbished or demolished. It’s a never-ending debate and we all are just adding another chapter to the story.

In the micro-exhibition “Mapping Heritage” we invite you to go deeper into the visual mapping approach to heritage by Tatiana, the Tomteboda research and mapping process of the Vilnius Concert and Sports Palace.  Exhibition is open until January 11th at the cultural centre Sodas 2123 and virtually.

About “Building Narratives”

In the micro-exhibition series, we present works developed within Architektūros fondas programme "Building Narratives" in 2019–2020. Creatives of the  “Building Narratives” programme explored the relations between architecture and narrative, when buildings aren’t shaped by mortar and concrete anymore – crucial and sometimes the most important ingredient is narrative. Whether it is purely a PR product or an organic construct it creates perceptions and shapes the way we see and understand our environment. Hearing, reading or assembling a narrative from smaller pieces helps us to determine if something is good, useful and even beautiful. At the same time, changing narrative has the power to change perceptions of our environment. Bad can become good, ugly-beautiful, all without any changes in physical structure.

As a new narrative has the power to transform architecture on its own, it becomes extremely important to understand how different ways of talking about architecture can shape its future. Therefore Architektūros fondas was seeking to discover personal narratives and encourage the creatives to get involved in this affair. Programme merged the ongoing projects of Architektūros fondas and their methods, while looking for common ground among podcasts and publications platform Aikštėje and Future Architecture platform creatives.

Creatives of the Future Architecture platform within the "Building Narratives" programme: Goda Verikaitė, Povilas Jankūnas, Sonja Lakič, Tatiana Letier Pinto, Benas Gerdžiūnas, Un-War Space Lab, Will Jennings. Curators of programme: Andrius Ropolas, Indrė Ruseckaitė, Justinas Dūdėnas, Sandra Šlepikaitė. Curators of micro exhibitions: Indrė Ruseckaitė ir Justinas Dūdėnas

"Building Narratives" is also a part of the Future Architecture platform and European Architecture programme 2020, co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union. Architektūros fondas' strategic partner is Lithuanian Council for Culture. Partner – Kaunas 2022 programmes "Modernism for Future" and "All as One".

The project was curated by Justinas Dūdėnas and Tautvydas Urbelis, coordinated by Indrė Ruseckaitė and Sandra Šlepikaitė. Speakers on board in Vilnius – Julijus Balčikonis, Vytenis Burokas, Rasa Chmieliauskaitė, Kipras Dubauskas, Marija Nemčenko. Keynote listener in London – Will Jennings. 

Will Jennings is an artist and writer interested in the intersections of architecture with politics, place, history and culture. His architectural writing explores some of the issues surrounding architecture & modern place-making to a wider audience, connecting unexpected ideas to find a place in between. Over recent years he was involved with the successful opposition to the proposed Garden Bridge development in central London, and occasionally lectures & teaches.

Rasa Chmieliauskaitė is an architect-urbanist, manager of cultural-social projects, one of co-founders of 'TẽKA' - creative/culture initiative for restoration of river culture which from 2015 works with Kaunas city and Kaunas region riverside communities and international partners. Rasa is also actively involved in educationl-artistic projects involving various socially excluded communities (manager of experimental architecture projects for the blind 'ECHOtektūra' and '[Ne]matoma architektūra', author of the tactile educational publication for the blind, coordinator of 'Keliaujančios architektūros dirbtuvės' 2016 and 'TẽKA: (re)animacija', also curator of Kaunas architecture festival 'KAF'e'.

Vytenis Burokas is an artist, curator, lecturer, who received his BA and MA degrees in Sculpture and Art’s Pedagogy from the Vilnius Academy of Arts. He participated in Rupert’s alternative education programme. From 2015 to 2018 Burokas worked as education and exhibition curator in the National Gallery of Art, and since 2016 he has been working as a lecturer at the Vilnius Academy of Arts, where he teaches the Sculpture programme. Burokas’ interests include the history of art and culture, rituals of everydayness, social roles and changing belief systems in relation to knowledge systems. In his work he documents passing historical and personal time in the face of these changes.

Kipras Dubauskas lives and works in Vilnius. He studied Installation at the Royal Academy of Ghent and Sculpture at the Vilnius Academy of Arts. The artist’s works have been presented in solo exhibitions at POST Gallery in Kaunas (2019) and the Ex Elettrofonica Gallery in Rome (2018); and in the group exhibitions Waiting for Another Coming in Vilnius and Warsaw (2018), Some Pieces from a Cracked Sidewalk (through an intent gaze) in Gdansk (2017) and the 12th Baltic Triennial (2015), and Words aren’t the thing at the Contemporary Art Centre in Vilnius (2015); he regularly participates in film festivals, self-organised events in public spaces, and in exhibitions by other artists. Kipras Dubauskas is the founder of the “Spongé” analogue film laboratory collective.

Julijus Balčikonis is Vilnius Arts Academy graduate, holds one BA in sculpture and other BA and MA in photography and media. He condsiders history (espacially visual part of it) to be very special hobby of him. He is also interested in other related forms of collective and visual memory – it’s partly visible in his work. Julijus Balčikonis had been working on sculpture restoration, in advertising industry and CAC cinema. Currently he is teaching academical drawing, photography, graphic design and visual communication at Vilnius College of Design, also works as a freelance artist, advertising creative, graphic designer and filmmaker.

Marija Nemčenko is an interdisciplinary artist, one of the BRUT Collective project founders. BRUT Collective encompasses a network of artworks, public lectures, workshops, exhibitions and focuses on exploring brutalist architecture from social, cultural and political perspectives. In BRUT work, the concrete edifices, that changed Europe’s urban face in the post World War II climate, are discussed for what they really are – as affordable housing structures. 'We believe that by getting to know each other’s stories, struggles and successes, we can look at our own direct environment with a fresh eye, and with a strong sense of solidarity.'

About “Building Narratives”

In the micro-exhibition series, we present works developed within Architektūros fondas programme "Building Narratives" in 2019–2020. Creatives of the  “Building Narratives” programme explored the relations between architecture and narrative, when buildings aren’t shaped by mortar and concrete anymore – crucial and sometimes the most important ingredient is narrative. Whether it is purely a PR product or an organic construct it creates perceptions and shapes the way we see and understand our environment. Hearing, reading or assembling a narrative from smaller pieces helps us to determine if something is good, useful and even beautiful. At the same time, changing narrative has the power to change perceptions of our environment. Bad can become good, ugly-beautiful, all without any changes in physical structure.

As a new narrative has the power to transform architecture on its own, it becomes extremely important to understand how different ways of talking about architecture can shape its future. Therefore Architektūros fondas was seeking to discover personal narratives and encourage the creatives to get involved in this affair. Programme merged the ongoing projects of Architektūros fondas and their methods, while looking for common ground among podcasts and publications platform Aikštėje and Future Architecture platform creatives.

Creatives of the Future Architecture platform within the "Building Narratives" programme: Goda Verikaitė, Povilas Jankūnas, Sonja Lakič, Tatiana Letier Pinto, Un-War Space Lab, Will Jennings. Curators of programme: Andrius Ropolas, Indrė Ruseckaitė, Justinas Dūdėnas, Sandra Šlepikaitė. Curators of micro exhibitions: Indrė Ruseckaitė ir Justinas Dūdėnas

"Building Naratives" is also a part of the Future Architecture platform and European Architecture programme 2020, co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union. Architektūros fondas' strategic partner is Lithuanian Council for Culture. Partner – Kaunas 2022 programmes "Modernism for Future" and "All as One".