Social Fabric #3
A series of research and creative residencies and a landscape study of Fabric's interior courtyards, with concrete proposals to transform them into shared green spaces.
Social Fabric #3 consisted of a series of research, artistic and creative residencies, situated at the intersection of community activation, anthropology, urbanism, architecture, cultural landscape and participatory art, centred on the Fabric district of Timișoara. The programme brought together invited residents alongside creators selected through an open call.
A key component was a careful study of the interior courtyards. Through direct observation, the team analysed how residents use these spaces, identifying very different characters — from mineral courtyards covered in concrete, to segregated ones or those used only as passageways, as well as well-kept examples arranged for community use.
From these observations came intervention proposals: expanding green areas, replacing hard boundaries with vegetation, creating paths and meeting places, ornamental fountains inspired by the buildings' decoration, and practical solutions for parking, bicycles and waste. Among the resulting products is a printed publication dedicated to the Fabric district.
Within this programme
The Neighbourhood's Player Cards. A residency with Andrei Becheru
A photographic documentation of the third edition of the Football in Traian championship, through a wide series of portraits gathered into a document-album and a set of cards featuring every player.
The Trees and Their People. A residency with Studio Peisaj
A micro-research project on the relationship between trees and the people of Fabric's inhabited courtyards — and on the roles trees play within their communities.
Vanishing Forms of Social Life. A residency with Vasile Ernu
A series of "meditation-sketches" on the Fabric district, written by Vasile Ernu; the first text — "The Last Non Stop in Timișoara" — retraces the history of the round-the-clock corner kiosk.
The Cultural Lives of Infrastructures. A residency with Adrian Deoanca
An anthropological inquiry into how people in Fabric live together — in spite of, or thanks to, ethnic, religious and class differences.
The Tensions of Urban Regeneration. A residency with Macrina Moldovan
Research into the tensions surrounding the urban regeneration of Fabric — with a focus on the Piața Traian area — and how residents experience recent transformations.
Past and Present in the Same Photograph. A residency with Oana Stoian
A visual documentation of how the past coexists with the present in Fabric: the old architecture, the shops, the streets and the people who inhabit them.
Large Format. A residency with Vlad Dragne
Photography on sheet film and paper negatives: workshops, staged photographs, environmental portraits and street portraits made in the Fabric district.
Voices of Fabric #3
The neighbourhood newspaper of Casa Jakab Toffler, produced within the Social Fabric #3 programme: anthropological texts, architecture and landscape studies, photography.