Valga Architecture Residency (VARES) invites architects, landscape architects, ecologists, artists, engineers, inventors, and other spatial practitioners with an interest in the ambiguous and changing boundary between water and land to apply for the early summer residency Liquid Landscapes. During a month-long residency in Valga, Estonia, from May 27 to June 30, participants will work on projects that explore new ways in which the presence of water can enrich the city. Applications are open until March 30.
«Valga is a town shaped by various types of wetlands, squelching, sinking, unstable and liquid surfaces, and a variety of water body typologies — wetlands, rivers, streams, ditches, bogs, springs, reservoirs, and fountains. Water is an unstable element that keeps landscapes in constant change. It falls from the sky, flows from stream to river, presses the air out of the earth, makes the ground beneath us soggy, or evaporates into the air. The springtime streams, swollen with water, recede by midsummer into network of veins buried under the grass,» says the call from VARES.
The aim of the residency is to re-evaluate and create new ways in which the urban environment can engage with the presence of water, rather than ignore or limit it. Wetlands and riverbanks are diverse ecosystems, inhabited not only by nature but also by local communities. Rather than draining or restricting these water bodies, the residency invites participants to think about new ways in which the presence of water can enrich everyday urban life.
During the month-long residency, participants will work on projects interpreting the residency theme in their own unique way — through architectural or landscape interventions, installations, ecosystem enhancements, site-specific art, research, performances, or playful explorations of water’s journey from sky to earth. VARES expects participants to take a sensitive and sustainable approach to project implementation, choice of materials, and shaping of the environment, as well as personal commitment and enthusiasm for the work.
The residency will take place in Valga, Estonia, from May 27 to June 30. VARES will provide accommodation for the participants, and a workshop with basic equipment will be available at the residency. Additionally, workshops for more specific needs of the participants will be provided in Valga if possible. The residency will end with a public event from June 27 to 30, during which participants will present their projects in the form of lectures, exhibitions, installations, workshops, or other formats.
To apply for the Liquid Landscapes residency, participants must submit a CV and portfolio (if available), as well as a statement of interest in your preferred format: a motivation letter and/or a rough action plan, visual material or project description for the residency period, and a connection to the proposed theme. The application can be submitted until March 30 to the email address info@vares.space with the subject «Liquid Landscapes your name».
You can find more information about the Liquid Landscapes residency on VARES website.
VARES is an international interdisciplinary residency for spatial practice, whose main task is to seek, find, and create alternative spatial practices that are not based on market logic, but rather on the desire to create spaces and places that enrich everyday life and empower the local community and town of Valga. The Liquid Landscapes residency is part of a broader, ongoing initiative by VARES dedicated to the relationship between water and urban space. It is, among other things, an effort to contribute to the shaping of Valga’s identity by influencing and empowering the town’s existing landscape and its perception. This initiative began last year when we organised a vision competition for the opening of the Pipraoja (Pepper stream), which is channelled through a pipe beneath Valga’s city centre.
Viedokļi