Co-habitation

Co-habitation is a project that addresses issues of common living in urban and European areas and aims to stimulate creativity and critical thinking among young people while also teaching them about active citizenship.

A new series of workshops organized within the Disco school project dealt with issues of common living and was carried out in cooperation with teachers and students from six primary and secondary schools from Austria, France and Slovenia.

The aim of the workshops was to open up a space for discussion about the challenges of common living in urban environments and their possible solutions as seen by children.

The content of the workshops varied from school to school, and the final works and the results of their collaboration were presented in an exhibition at the Le Corbusier Cultural Centre in Firminy from 16 December 2022 to 19 February 2023. The works will also be presented at the Vienna Design Week from 22 September to 1 October 2023.

FIRMINY, France

Participating schools: primary schools La Tardive and La Stade and secondary schools Waldeck Rousseau and Les Bruneaux

The Firminy Vert is one of Le Corbusier’s largest and most important groups of buildings in the world. Inspired by it, students and residents of Firminy took on the role of architects and urban planners and had the opportunity to experience their architectural heritage in depth over three phases: (i) UNDERSTAND – through a guided tour of Le Corbusier site, they learned about the story and history of the building and the professions of architects and urban planners; (ii) IMAGINE – inspired by old photographs, they imagined and drew the future appearance of the different neighborhoods of Firminy; (iii) CREATE – with drawings, pictures and videos sent to them by students from Murska Sobota and Vienna, they created a model of a utopian European city, as if they had been commissioned to create a new city, ideal for European children.

MURSKA SOBOTA, Slovenia

Participating school: primary school Osnovna šola III

Mobile apps such as Tiktok are a universal and immersive medium that allows easy communication and expression of ideas, which the young people of Murska Sobota decided to use to present their city to the citizens of Firminy. The pupils of the primary school Osnovna šola III focused on buildings and places where or near which they have experienced their happiest moments, such as a first kiss, making new friends, playing with their mates. The places they showed in their videos aim to transmit these emotions to the students of Firminy, using Tiktok as a means of a common language. They also created a new model of Firminy based on drawings and photographs submitted by the Firminy pupils.

VIENNA, Austria

Participating school: Kenyongasse AHS

Since the students of Murska Sobota decided to break the boundaries of communication and project themselves into the future, the young people of Vienna decided to talk about the city of the future. Thus, they created new ministries to improve their daily lives in the Vienna of the future. Based on the common problems of everyday life, they formulated well-intentioned solutions to create prosperity, safety, cleanliness and good health in the urban space.

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Co-habitation is part of and a continuation of the Disco School project, which encourages children to take on the role of designers, leaders and active citizens, imagining and co-creating the future of their city, teaching them to critically address socio-cultural issues, while giving them the space to express their hopes and dreams. The aim of this project is to foster new, key skills in children and to stimulate their interest in community life from an early age.