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How the Ukrainian design community – and beyond – is responding to war in Ukraine

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Ukrainian Aleksey Nilov shares what life is like under incessant attacks, how the de-occupied territories are reawakening, and what the design community is doing to help his country rebuild.

In the early morning of 24 February 2022, Russia launched missile strikes on the territory of Ukraine. Military infrastructure facilities and airfields were destroyed, multi-apartment and private dwellings were damaged. Kharkiv and Mariupol were almost flattened from artillery shelling and bombs, bleeding for two months, day after day. On the outskirts of Kyiv in places like Bucha, Irpin and Chernihiv, villages and farms, food depots and small factories were practically wiped out. The cost of the damage from the destruction reportedly already exceeds €463 billion – and sadly this is not nor will be the final figure.

Fortunately, Kyiv has survived the siege to date, but it has paid a high price: thousands of civilian lives and destroyed homes. According to a report from Kyiv’s mayor Vitali Klitschko, 546 buildings were destroyed in the Kyiv region – including 28 multi-storey residential buildings and 441 estates, as well as educational institutions and hospitals – while 1,329 were partially damaged. Since the liberation of the occupied territories, hundreds of rescue teams have been busy searching for bodies beneath the rubble. At the time of writing, the government was planning to restore electricity, water and gas supplies, and mobile phone service in the affected communities by the end of May. The work is further complicated by the fact that, in parallel, mines are being cleared from sites, buildings, bridges and roads, which is why civilians are still dying even in liberated territories. These events forced 13.1 million people to hastily leave the hotspots under shelling, many migrating across the country while 5.4 million went abroad.

Aleksey Nilov.

Today, the international community of architects and designers is actively helping Ukrainian refugees to find work in different countries and supporting the initiatives of Ukrainian bureaus. Some international firms are transferring a portion of their technical work for which they do not have enough time or resources to Ukrainian specialists who have fled to Europe or can work remotely.

Meanwhile, designers on home soil are responding to the situation in various ways. Balbek Bureau founder Slava Balbek presented RE:Ukraine, a project for a modular camp for internally displaced persons. The team analysed international examples of how to construct such structures and added their own vision. ‘We propose to combine different types of modules: residential, public, kitchen and sanitary,’ says Balbek. ‘They are suitable for different terrain and investment volume.’ One of the primary tasks was to maintain a decent standard of living: ‘Unfortunately, it is possible to take away a house, but you can’t take away dignity.’ There are currently 24 people on Balbek Bureau’s RE:Ukraine team, and constructions will soon appear in six Ukrainian cities: Chernivtsi, Kyiv, Uzhhorod, Bucha, Ternopil and Tyachiv. To date, representatives from 14 countries (including the US, UK, Japan, Canada and UAE) have approached the RE:Ukraine team with proposals for cooperation. Readers can support the project financially via Balbek.com/reukraine-donate.

Ukrainian design firm Balbek Bureau presented RE:Ukraine a modular camp solution for internally displaced persons.

Nataly Bolshakova from Bolshakova Interiors gave priority to developing a service that will generate high-quality projects and interiors within six months. This will be extremely useful when time and budget become of the utmost importance during the rebuild period. Bolshakova Interiors is also developing a social housing project in Cyprus, now home to many migrants. It will be possible for those who plan to remain there to purchase residences inexpensively under a state programme.

Today, the war in Ukraine is in its active phase and its outcome is unknown, but that doesn’t prevent us from thinking about what lies ahead. We’re currently witnessing bright representatives from the global community of architects and designers expressing support for Ukraine. For example, according to the mayor’s office of Kharkov, British architect Sir Norman Foster and his firm Foster + Partners are ready to join the reconstruction of the city after the war.

The project will be constructed in Chernivtsi, Kyiv, Uzhhorod, Bucha, Ternopil and Tyachiv. Re:Ukraine can be supported here.

When speaking about the future architecture of cities that now lie in ruins, it’s worth considering the mistakes of past years and force majeure: avoid high-rise buildings, immediately design bomb shelters and their equipment in case of hostilities and chemical attacks, do not locate military bases and infrastructure near residential areas and civil facilities.

Any war begins with a tragedy. Any war ends with negotiations and a peace agreement. Are tens of thousands of lives and the ruined legacy of cities worth delaying the slightest opportunity for peace?

Aleksey Nilov is the editor in chief of L'Officiel Hommes Ukraine and the editorial director of Vavilon publishing house. After the annexation of Crimea in 2014, Aleksey moved to Kyiv where he is now facing a full-scale military offensive.

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