Amber trail in Petržalka

In parallel with the ancient trade route connecting northern and southern Europe, which is also linked to the unfinished street (or rather the road) Amber Road passing through the central axis of Bratislava's Petržalka, we want to revive cooperation at various levels. In an interdisciplinary framework between teachers and students of various fields of fine arts, architecture, urbanism and landscape design. In the institutional framework between the university, the city government and local organizations. In a participatory framework, then between the professional and lay public. This cooperation is symbolically situated in the environment of the central park of the former largest village and to this day the largest housing estate of the former Czechoslovakia and its unfinished Amber Road.

The output of the project should be a joint exhibition of site-specific interventions in the public space of the Petržalka central axis, a new Amber Trail through works of art and small architecture along the Croatian arm of the Danube. The trail will follow the informal paths (desire lines) that this largest Bratislava park is interwoven with, and through various installations it will respond to the specific situations of the Petržalka housing estate. However, it will not only be the exhibition project itself, but the enrichment of the city district with a temporary branch of the Academy of Fine Arts - an open studio where participants will create and where the focus of the accompanying cultural program - lectures, discussions, screenings and workshops.

The assignment of the project is part of a long-term studio research, which is further developed at the level of a semester, bachelor's or master's thesis (vertical studio). The subject of the theoretical part of the work is the analysis, classification and reinterpretation of the given urban situation and their selected specifics in the design or planning process through contemporary tools and methods. This preparatory phase is the content of the already ongoing winter semester 2019/2020. The practical part of the creative process is the interdisciplinary cooperation of architecture students with students of sculpture, painting and intermedia. This type of cooperation is currently lacking not only in the academic environment, but also in practice. Implementation workshops and an accompanying program with a focus in a common publicly accessible studio in the House of Culture Lúky at the end of the Petržalka central axis will also enable the involvement of local residents.