The Red List of Sofia Threatened Spaces
2024
Presentation in Svetofar Bookstore
We are talking about those places in Sofia, distinguished by informality, but where we often meet and socialize.
“The Red List of Sofia Threatened Spaces” is a documentary research project by architect, urbanist and activist Viktor Damov. It is an occasion to talk about those places in Sofia characterised by informality – such as beloved cafés, old cinemas, cultural centres or park benches – which reveal themselves through the stories their creators and inhabitants share. For Victor these places are important because in them he discovers vanishing points of social justice, where the social is what is valuable. These locations are economically accessible, open to everyone, allow open communication and encourage the mixing of different social layers or overcome stuck prejudices. They are thus becoming important centres in the city, but increasingly in danger of disappearing.
Watch the films online
Read the essay The Red List of Sofia Threatened Spaces Unfolded by the Journal of Social Vision.
Viktor Damov is a practicing architect and PhD student at the University of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy. In 2021 he graduated with his Master’s project A Neighborhood for All People, which explores an (im)possible future for the Women’s Market District by interweaving anthropology, urban policies and architecture. Since then his academic interests have focused on analyses of the factors that produce architectural education and practice in Bulgaria, as well as the possibilities for alternative approaches to them, including socially engaged architectural practice. He co-founded the architectual education research collective Underschool_ ; as part of this he has been involved in research projects, organised events, lectures and alternative educational formats.
Part of the first edition of Nine Elephants in 2024.
In partnership with Center for Social Vision.
Links
Presentation of an audio guide that can be listened to individually or in a group during a walk through the city