The Making and Unmaking of a Caravan

Getrix Comunitate wants to change Craiova for the better, with the tools that a team of architects and urban planners have at their disposal, with the involvement that people are capable of and with the support that the administration can offer. We propose a pact for a city friendly to pedestrians, cyclists and drivers, to people with disabilities, to children and adults, to people of all kinds. So far we have held informal architectural workshops, proposed bike lanes, collected and launched ideas in public space. Our concepts entered urban planning documents or settled in the public space to stay. Getrix Community is about enabling people's engagement in the communities they are part of to transform where they live.

In order to come together, ideas take time. In order to spread around, ideas need wheels. After many years in which Getrix Comunitate worked in Craiova with its own resources and help from all sides, recently, one of the ideas from the chest of ideas has materialized in a mobile installation. When unfolded, the Caravan attracts the curious like a magnet. And we, we have the opportunity to interact with each one individually. We guide them through the history of the city and through our visions of the future. Together we draw mind maps and build pieces of the city. We explore block yards and count lindens. We ask each other questions and give each other answers. We exchange ideas. The caravan is a tool that allows us to actively interact with the people whose place we want to change for the better through our role as mediators between the people and the administration. When needed, the caravan can cover large areas, but when closed it takes up less space than a parking space. Movable elements - tables, benches, display stands, props, consumables and exposition panels - are efficiently put together in the fixed and semi-fixed furniture of the caravan, which in turn also includes steps, shelves and secret pockets. The Caravan’s components can adapt to different locations and activities required for the interactive process. The various spatial configurations of the Caravan allow it to become a support for exhibitions and quizzes, workshops for children, work meetings, outdoor conferences, play spaces and dialogue. The caravan met the people of Craiova in the Marin Sorescu National Theatre’s square, where we talked about nature, art, architecture, urbanism, mobility and community. Then he made friends with the residents of Constantin Brâncuși Alley, where we collected data from the field, local experiences and suggestions for improving the block’s yard. Last time, the Caravan stopped in front of the Cultural Home in Dioști, where the children learned about the royal history of their village and revealed their aspirations. The Caravan keeps going. We are going to return to where we left off and, having collected ideas, let them take a form that will remain at the disposal of those to whom it is most useful. We are going to visit other places. We are going to put other ideas to work.