"Gardens of Inclusivity" - lecture by Michał Kowalski - Instytut Pileckiego

The scholarship project “Gardens of Inclusivity > <” is inspired by modernism – a turning point in the history of the distribution of space and a time of reformulation of social paradigms.

“Gardens of Inclusivity > <” a lecture by Michał Kowalski

08.12, 18.00 | Online lecture | Register here: https://forms.gle/FQb7Kn3F7k17aMfj8

The scholarship project “Gardens of Inclusivity > <” is inspired by modernism – a turning point in the history of the distribution of space and a time of reformulation of social paradigms. Today we desperately need a change in the way we inhabit ‘our’ planet and the way we relate to each other. No one should ever again be left behind, without water resources, in ghetto settlements, neglected neighbourhoods or gated border zones. While the idea of spatial justice and inclusive, accessible green spaces may seem utopian, small interventions have the potential to make a bigger change.

During his presentation, Michal Kowalski will focus on four main axes as a result of his journey and research in Israel and Berlin:

• Gardenscapes of the kibbutzim. Space inclusive for kibbutzniks but not open to all the outsiders. The phenomenon of co-living, co-working and  co-learning  in gardenspaces of kibbutzim in the past and nowadays.
• Form follows microclimat. How to remodel the modernism paradigm “form follows function” to make it more responsive to the climate crises of the contemporary world? What are the ways to integrate nature into design following the modernism tradition? How to make architecture part of the ecosystem?
• Stories and counterstories of the modern world.
• Inequalities in the space versus spaces of equality. Following the social paradigms of modernism, how can we support the struggle for equal rights nowadays?

In search for the examples of spaces and initiatives introducing social change.

Future “Gardens of Inclusivity > <” will be the places where the ethical meets the aesthetic, where open and inclusive communities benefit from the opportunity to learn from themselves and from the achievements of previous generations, places where architecture is integrated with nature.

Michał Kowalski is an architect, urban planner and researcher with over 20 years of experience as a designer and planner. He is a member of the Polish Chamber of Architects and the Polish Association of Urban Designers. Author and co-author of housing projects in various scales and forms. Involved in the reconstruction of social housing in Poland. He has gained professional experience in Poland and abroad, in the commercial and public sector. His research interests include inclusive public space and inclusive urban planning. As part of his own ‘How thinktank‘, he also investigates space in its non-physical dimension, as a field of individual existence, the sphere of interpersonal relations and collective memory, as well as their interpenetration with the constructed and natural landscape. He writes about material and immaterial space that multilevelly integrates diverse users with the natural world.