Sharing Creativity – MSc. Thesis, Aalto university, Helsinki, Finland
Creative Spaces and Their Impact on Culture-led Urban Development
The Case of Sofia, Bulgaria
This thesis work investigates the possibility to utilize and redesign public spaces and city-owned property as well as misused or abandoned places for creative projects in Sofia’s urban setting.
The project focuses on culture-led development and the importance of cultural clusters in urban regeneration. It takes advantage of already existing built up spaces and brownfields to give a sustainable temporary solution for urban growth with no additional footprint.
The main research questions guiding the project are related to: the ways to apply the tools of sharing economy in the urban and architectural setting and how those concepts relate to the trend of temporary uses in culture-led urban development; the most favorable conditions for a temporary cluster development; and the ways to adapt those world acknowledged strategies to the Bulgarian setting.
The thesis is divided in three main steps- a theoretical frame; an analysis of the current urban state and the potentials for temporary uses in the city of Sofia suggesting a culture-led urban regeneration strategy; and an architectural project showing the adaptation and reuse of an old tram hall as a temporary space.
