Currently, the project database contains 1,100-1,200 school buildings in Bulgaria, architect Boris Tikvarski - author and head of the project - explained in an interview for BNR's Horizon channel. Member of the team is also the Belgian photographer Alexander Dumarey who was impressed by this very topic when he first came to Bulgaria.
"Our focus was on a not so colorful topic - the depopulation of Bulgaria. We thought that this topic was interesting because in the period in which Bulgaria did not appear at the Venice Architecture Biennale, there were two population censuses and the population decreased by about 10%, or about 800,000 people. We felt that the photographer's work best represented these statistics," commented architect Boris Tikvarski.
The team decided to further develop the topic after the opening of the Bulgarian pavilion at the biennale at the end of May. It is very difficult to arrive at the exact number of abandoned schools, Boris Tikvarski pointed out.
"We're not exactly interested in the total number, so much as in supplementing the information beyond the number. We're trying to find clear dates - when the school opened, when it opened, where it is located, what population still lives in the respective village or town, what is the condition of the infrastructure that leads to this school, has its building been converted into something different."
The ambition is to prepare an interactive map on which this information is present, to make it clear which of the school buildings have the potential for a new life. According to arch. Literally, these public buildings are a valuable resource.
The project aims to show the scale of the problem, he specified.
The Bulgarian pavilion at the Venice Biennale can be seen until November 26 when the forum will be officially closed.
Read also:
An interview of Vesselina Milanova from BNR's Horizon channel
Photos: https://biennale2023.kab.bg/entries/proekt27
Translated and published by Rossitsa Petkova
The Patriarchal Election Church Council has been convened on 30 June to elect a Patriarch of the Bulgarian Orthodox church and Metropolitan of the Sofia diocese. The Bulgarian Patriarch and Sofia Metropolitan Neophyte passed away on 13 March leaving..
On 29 and 30 June the lake in Pancharevo near Sofia will be hosting the Dragon Boat Festival . During the two days dragon boat races will be held on the rowing base, which everyone can watch. The festival with free entrance will be held in two main..
The three-day Cherry Festival begins tonight in Kyustendil's Velbazd Square with the preparation of 1,500 ice creams with cherry syrup , reports BNR correspondent Kiril Falin. Especially for the event, which traditionally attracts thousands of..
The village of Ribaritsa (Teteven Municipality) is hosting the twelfth edition of "Trabant Fest", announced the organizers from the Trabant National..
Burgas hosts the fifteenth edition of the European Cynology Week, BTA reported. It starts on July 6 in the area of the Horse Base in the Burgas Sea..
“80 hours in the country everyone wants to leave”, this is the title of a video from Bulgaria by the famous YouTubers YesTheory, Dnevnik writes. The..
+359 2 9336 661