This article is part of our weekly series “Plattenbau stories”, introducing the topic of plattenbau districts in Europe and the world. ONE ARCHITECTURE WEEK 2016 will be held in Trakiya, a plattenbau districts in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, from September 30th until October 9th. The main focus of the festival is the topic of “citizen participation in the creation of the urban environment”.

An article from Cargo collective, for the full version click here.

“Return of the commoning” is a 1996 photo-documentation project by Hal Foster. It focuses on the open green spaces between panel blocks in five different districts .

The project helps several citizen associations to be included in the process of  planning and shaping of the spaces they live in without the arising of problems such as usurpation of free space.

One of the cases is in Novi Sad, where in 2014 citizens fight for accessible green spaces in two of the microregions. One of the spaces was about to be turned into a parking lot and the other was to be built upon. The ideas to create multi-purpose public spaces, that combine historical value, culture and green spaces, remained unrealised.

The contrast between urbanised and free spaces in Novi Sad can be seen on Europe boulevard. On its one side is the marshalling yard complex that was built in 1911 and is a monument of the architectonic heritage and the open spaces, that surround it. On the other side are the apartment buildings.

Conserving such green spaces tributes not only to the city’s green system, but also allows us to create places with social bonds that bind the inhabitants living nearby.