Rebuilding: Ukrainian architecture and urban development

While the war in Ukraine continues to cause massive destruction, work on rebuilding the country is already underway. 
The Royal Danish Academy, in collaboration with a number of Danish and international partners, has focused on the architectural, cultural, and societal challenges associated with reconstruction through a series of seminars, workshops, and discussions.

In September 2022 The Royal Danish Academy, in collaboration with a number of Ukrainian, and Danish and partners, hosted a seminar on rebuilding the country and the potentials for collaboration.

This seminar has been followed by multiple collaborations and meeting with Ukrainian peers - all focusing on the architectural, cultural, and societal challenges associated with reconstruction during and after the ongoing war.

Based on close collaboration with the National Union of Architects of Ukraine, the program has included physical seminars in Copenhagen, online events, and exchanges between Ukrainian and Danish students. The activities have aimed to strengthen professional dialogue and share experiences on sustainable rebuilding in times of war and post-war.

In the discussions, Ukrainian and Danish architects, educators, and decision-makers discussed how to rebuild in the midst of an ongoing war and how to balance rapid action with long-term sustainability. There was a clear focus on how architecture can respond to acute needs without compromising on quality, local values, and global climate goals.

In particular, there was discussion of how international actors can contribute constructively without taking over the local agenda, and how reconstruction can become a driving force for social and cultural development. Attention was also directed toward the difficult questions of building heritage, identity, and hostile traces in the physical environment—and how to deal with them in a reconstruction process.

The discussions marked the beginning of an international commitment: to support Ukraine's reconstruction in a strategic, socially responsible, and sustainable manner – with architects as active co-creators of a better future.

Rebuilding Ukraine seminar partners: The National Union of Architects of Ukraine, The Danish Association of Architects, The Danish Architecture Center, BLOX,  BL – Danmarks Almene Boliger and Housing Europe, Architects Without Borders, and Jan Gehl.

The Royal Danish Academy - Institute of Architecture and Technology is part of UREHERIT. Architects for heritage in Ukraine: recreating identity and memory. UREHERIT is a three-year international European cultural project with the aim to build competence on the heritage protection, regeneration of culturally meaningful plans and projects and empowering of local communities as a tool for building the new, democratic, and sustainable Ukraine with a unique yet European cultural DNA.
 

“UREHERIT: Architects for heritage in Ukraine. Recreating identity and memory” is a project co-funded by the European Union under a dedicated call for proposals to support Ukrainian displaced people and the Ukrainian Cultural and Creative Sectors.
The project is a cooperation between the consortium of 11 organizations: Architects Association of Lithuania (LT), Architects Sweden (SE), Federal Chamber of Architects and Chartered Engineers BKZT (AT), Royal Danish Academy, The Institute of Technology and Architecture IBT (DK), Romanian Order of Architects OAR (RO), The National Council of Architects, Planners, Landscapers and Conservationists CNAPPC (IT), Federal Chamber of German Architects BAK (DE), Estonian Association of Architects (EE), The National Union of Architects of Ukraine (UA), Ro3kvit: Urban Coalition for Ukraine (UA), Kharkiv School of Architecture (UA) with the Architects’ Council of Europe (EU) as associated partner.

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or EACEA (European Education and Culture Executive Agency). Neither the European Union nor  EACEA  can be held responsible for them.