The feeling of new, light has magical power. Young bright shoots not only cause a warm smile, but also generate the same thirst for life and moving forward. Haven’t you noticed how you become stronger when someone nearby has the strength to grow rapidly? Let’s rejoice together, because in Zhytomyr there is such an engine of change – the Innovation Park «Mesuarer». Last year, they already «swung» Zhytomyr with their «Sound Laboratory», a new idea is on the way. Curators of changes and direct implementers of ideas told us about innovative solutions and restoration of traditions, plans and strategies
On the territory of the Zhytomyr plant «Electric Mesuarer» revitalization has been going on for two years now – to put it simply, restoration. Industrialists, managers, creatives – many talented people combine ideas and dreams in order to create a powerful creative and educational cluster – the Innovative Park «Meter». The first joint steps were the beginning of the implementation of very progressive and promising ideas, and new ones appear in the process. Vita Bazan, the head of the NGO «Creative Mesuarer» told about the victories and plans:
«Innovation Park is a space where people can gather, work on educational and incubation programs for people of all ages, workshops where it will be possible to implement ideas. And I would like it to be not only a gathering place for the local community, but also for people from different cities and countries to come here. Last year we implemented the «Sound Lab», held a sound residence. We considered how to resume the production of electronic musical instruments here, maintaining the traditions of the plant «Electric Meter». It was an idea with meaning: to create an industrial park and fill free factory spaces. I want there to be a community here that will develop both Zhytomyr and Ukraine. The theme of electronic musical instruments worked. We have a collaboration with the Graz University of the Arts (Austria), where the Institute of Electronic and Computer Music and Acoustics operates. Together we have developed a strategy, a large project for the European Commission in order to make here specialized spaces for equipping systems that do not yet exist in Ukraine. This will provide an opportunity for both musicians and teachers who would like to teach electronic computer music in music schools. We are also developing an educational program for teachers, space equipment, work rooms where there is special equipment – this area is actively moving.
Also last year, we implemented the idea of «School of Interaction Design» with Ukrainian urban planners. This year, with the support of the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation, we will again launch «V: uncase» and, as last year, organize a residence for the group. We also plan to launch individual residences, where researchers, musicians, engineers will be able to come to the factory, live here and work in the newly created workshops.
People have a special spirit here – we like to work in a team. There are several revitalization projects in Ukraine: Promprylad in Ivano-Frankivsk, Lem Station in Lviv, and the Mekhanika art factory in Kharkiv, but they all mostly work with squares. Almost no one works with the production or with the existing infrastructure. We are implementing a project that today employs 150 people, and there is such an unusual collaboration, when during the sound residency last year, employees also joined in the implementation of ideas. Here is an important aspect: technology can not be developed without a cultural and educational component. Today, the plant also manufactures equipment systems for schools. In the future, you can make both kindergartens and your school, where to introduce new educational methods. There will be enough resources for various formats, including artistic ones».
«Experimental School of Subject Design» is also one of the tools of the revival. The creators of the new will come together to learn to materialize their ideas. Makers, subject designers, engineers for six weeks will become participants in lectures, workshops and workshops with the best tutors. The school is the first stage on the way to creating «Crafts Production and Industrial Design Laboratories» on the basis of the plant: an educational space and a workshop with shared equipment for craftsmen and designers.
Roman Sakh, curator of the Production Laboratory project, spoke about the focus of the event:
«Subject design in Ukraine is at an embryonic level: there are almost no institutions engaged in education focused on subject design. There are some faculties in universities, but they do not provide very relevant information, so the study is a bit detached from reality. Our task is to combine more practice, more work with hands, physical interaction with your product. We focus on the full cycle: to cover the entire process of creating a product not only from the idea to the implementation of physical materials, but also then to establish a process of communication with the end user. The target audience is people who are engaged in making, inventing, have some craft at a good level and people who have ideas to create new products that will solve practical or aesthetic types of problems. The framework is quite wide, but the biggest focus of the «Experimental School of Subject Design» for us is Zhytomyr, because we are interested in attracting local artists, makers, and artisans. It is important to form a community on the spot. As a value for the target audience, we plan to include people from other cities with more experience in order to exchange and raise the level of the creative process in Zhytomyr. We can offer much more value to the Zhytomyr audience than to people from other cities, which may also have similar productions, factories, programs and spaces. But it is here that we create a certain point that will attract not only the local audience, but also become a point of exchange, a charge of synergy.
The uniqueness of the «Experimental School of Subject Design» is that the program has several disciplines, which in principle are not taught in Ukraine. We will also have a full cycle: from idea, prototype to implementation. The best projects can even be launched in an experimental batch. We want to focus on working with materials – pumping the physical prototype and understanding how this prototype can scale. The main message of the school is the study of production processes in a broad sense: not only to see how machines work, but also how production takes place in a broad framework, combined with the process of idea, sales, market, consumer, feedback, use and the like. Now this is our pilot project, and we will test different areas to further deepen and branch it into more specialized developments with deeper immersion in the program».
According to the team members, Zhytomyr has a huge creative and innovative potential. And the team’s tasks are not only about restoring physical space, but are essentially much deeper and more valuable. Kostiantyn Kuchabsky, designer-architect, spoke about the essence of revitalization and current projects:
«We, the architects, are working on the concept and at the same time on each project, even at the stage of division of roles and tasks. It’s interesting because architecture is very much related to what’s going on. And therefore it is impossible to create separately space and separately any events. We work especially carefully on the filling so that this place, the «Meter», lives. And perhaps the work on architecture here is less than the design processes or the design system as a whole. «Electric mesuarer», its history, traditions – all this inspired us to create an «Experimental School of Subject Design». Last year we worked with the context of the «music factory» and even then we realized that one of the most valuable things that is here is the production that works. That is, the visualization of the processes we are talking about is already working here – from the idea to the implementation, to the production of the series. Therefore, it is obvious that, on the one hand, there should be a study of production, and on the other – there should be the format itself.
We discussed this for a long time with other designers working in the field of production, thinking about what to call it. The question was whether it was really just about subject design. «Experimental school of subject design» will allow you to find out what direction the idea will take later, transforming through the request of those who come to us. Last year, there was a competition for eight to ten people for a sound residence, and out of hundreds of applications, we selected about sixteen. It’s great if there are a lot of applicants for participation in the project «Experimental School of Subject Design» and there will be someone to select from. A special focus is on the people of Zhytomyr, among whom we will choose the best. The expert group will select the portfolio, motivation, as well as guided by the principle of «compatibility» and interdisciplinarity when selecting participants. There will be no 15 carpenters in the school – we just hope that the participants will be able to complement each other and there will be collaborations. We have a lot of work planned in micro-teams that will be mixed. And this is also about teamwork: we are waiting here for people who are open to cooperation, will be able to fantasize and work together. The position of the Electric Meter management is important to us: the process of revitalization may be more complicated, but it must be more humane. This inspires us much more than a typical scenario. The history of the plant is important for our whole team.
There is some sentiment among those who used to work here and who still work. The special uniqueness of the situation is that even today it is a production, but not just a factory – it is a new dimension. We are trying by all means to create a smooth process where people who work in the factory can pass on their experience. And this is also not super easy to do, because you need to build a dialogue between different generations. But there is a desire! As an example, let me cite a story that happened last year during a sound residence. One of the factory workers created a musical installation together with a girl who came up with an instrument – a marimba, such a large xylophone. It was noticeable how interesting it was for the factory worker, because when a person already has a habit of inventing something or solving some engineering problems, do not feed them bread – let them join in, because it is something interesting. And such stories are the basis of invention in a simpler sense. They are more important today than any unrealistic inventions that will change the world. Our «Experimental School of Subject Design» is also about the opportunity to search, invent, try».
From the editorial office We are all aware that change does not happen quickly. But it is the desire for change, the desire to create the world around you and, most importantly, the team of obsessive dreamers who will still work to implement the most ambitious projects that move the world. If you are creative and enterprising, want change and love Zhytomyr, you are exactly on the road with the «Meter» team. Learn more about the concept of the innovation park, which can become one of the most interesting modern attractions in Ukraine, as well as join current initiatives.
To learn more about the conditions of participation in the project «Experimental School of Subject Design» and apply, go to the school website.
Don’t miss your chance, as the application deadline is June 7, 11:59 pm Kyiv time.
