From ruins and homelessness to Urban Hotspot

When self-building our first project in Kyiv on Turkhaniv island we received help from a veteran suffering of PTSD, and who having lost his home and family in the war lived with others in an amazing concrete "skeleton" on the Dniepr river. There are other "cracks" that are used like this -like the sprawling garage box areas in the margins of the urban fabric - or for shoestring creative initiatives in semi abandoned factories destined for standard gated development schemes. Inspired by many well known initiatives across Europe (I am a member of Yes We Camp), we would like to explore the ways - from legal to design and governance - to make these places thriving community centers partnering in a European network of like minded spaces.