Current Art and Architecture: The Shared City and the Pandemic?

Sharing has become a trend in many directions. Sharing or commoning affects all levels of the functioning of the city⁠—the participation of the population and mobility. Digitalization raises questions about the relationship between individuality and community as well as gender and inclusion in public space. Social networks⁠—community and commercial digital platforms, have transformed the way we coexist, travel, and experience the city. The pandemic has brought a limiting situation of sharing in the form of health risks. How is the pandemic transforming participation? How to move safely (with distance) through the city? What are the rules for designing testing and vaccination centers?

Milota Sidorová is the director of the office for participatory planning of the Metropolitan Institute in Bratislava. A moderator, architect, and feminist, she has completed a number of foreign internships, co-founded reSITE Prague, and Women in Public Space Prague. She focuses on inclusive participatory planning and gender-equitable cities. She is the author of the book How to design a fair-shared city? (2017), the editor of the book Nepredať! Zveľadiť! (2020) and currently the editor of the manual for participatory planning and socio-spatial mapping How to understand the city and its people? (2021). Since 2018, she has co-moderated a program on Radio FM titled Živé Mesto FM.

Tomáš Cach is a transportation urbanist specializing in cycling. He has been dedicated primarily to the spatial operational shaping of urban environments, landscapes, and transport structures at all levels to make them more welcoming for both walking and cycling. He completed his studies at the Faculty of Architecture of the Czech Technical University in Prague and undertook a year-long study stay at ENSA in Paris. Initially, he worked in the nonprofit sector (the Auto*Mat initiative) and subsequently in the Commission of the City Council of Prague for cycling transport. From 2007 to 2012, he conceptually and methodically oversaw the integration of cycling into Prague and prepared implemented pilot measures, while also being a member of the team for the National Cycling Transportation Development Strategy. From 2013 to 2015, he also worked in the Office of Public Space at IPR Prague, among others co-authoring the Manual for the creation of public spaces. Since 2009, he has continuously collaborated with the Ministry of Transport, preparing primarily dozens of general plans and studies for cities, city districts, and regions.

Krištof Hanzlík is a member of the studio coll coll, founded in 2009 with a vision of inner freedom and an interest in speculative architectural design. This allows participation in projects in all phases of development, whether it is about functional design or the development of urban units. He is a graduate of The Bartlett School of Architecture University College London (UCL), and also studied at the Czech Technical University in Prague and TU Wien. He is a co-author of the book titled One More Tree ⁠–⁠ One More Tree, which was published in 2013.

NGP On Air | Contemporary Art and Architecture is a series of online discussions that will open the topic of the impacts of the current pandemic on contemporary art and architecture. In a regular monthly cycle, the curators of the Collection of Modern and Contemporary Art NGP, Helena Huber-Doudová and Adéla Janíčková, will alternate both sectors. Invited guests will present their ongoing as well as canceled projects. The subsequent joint discussion will focus on complex issues that aim to transcend new approaches in the given topic, rather than seeking a way to return to those already known.

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