VARES began its visibly powerful journey in February 2024. The residency of VARES is organized by the NGO EESTI NOORE ARHITEKTUURI SELTS. VARES is an international interdisciplinary residency for spatial practice, whose main task is to seek, find and create alternative spatial practices that are not based on market logic, but rather on the desire to create spaces and places that enrich everyday life, empower the local community and town of Valga.
We are interested in finding ways to practice slow architecture, critically rethinking the discipline of architecture, learning and resurrecting vernacular and traditional crafts, gathering old and used materials and creating a place for lifelong learning for architects and spatial artists.
VARES team member Ulla Alla answers LOORE's questions:
1. What does it feel like to run the residency?
Empowering and exhausting. The list of tasks for setting up and maintaining a good place is endless, but so far, creating our nest has been wonderful, building a space we've dreamed of for years that allows do-it-yourselfers to experiment, play, and develop manual skills.
2. What is the most important thing to know about your residency?
Perhaps the most important aspect of VARES is to be an example of how to engage in space-making while avoiding the pressures of market economics and effectively focusing on action. VARES is a place where one can concentrate on manual activities and practice slow architecture (a process where, when a problem arises, the first question is “Is this even an architectural problem?” and the second is “How to solve the problem by doing nothing or with minimal intervention?”).
3. Why are you LOORE members?
As a newly opened creative residency (February 2024), we have much to learn from established creative institutions, from program creation to paperwork. LOORE members and network offer support on how to run and lead creative spaces, and we hope to share our experiences and knowledge in the future.
4. Mighty Crab grants one of your wishes, what would you wish for?
A sufficient amount of funding so that we can continue managing the VARES nest peacefully; we do not seek to be greedy.
5. What will VARES be like in 15 years?
The dream would be for VARES to still be around in 15 years, leaving traces in the city of Valga and South Estonia. VARES would become a regional hub where alternative space-making is conceptualized and practiced, increasingly challenging mainstream wasteful habits. The leaders of VARES may change over time, but the place will remain.
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146 bricks by Ola Lewczyk, photo: Ola Lewczyk
VARES yard, photo: Karolin Kull
DE JENZ, Waba Wangla, photo: VARES
Ben Weir Hot Piees, photo: VARES
VARES house, photo: VARES
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