CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati to investigate the fabric of Kosovo’s capital and its communities

In line with this, a Jury chaired by the Mayor of Prishtina Sphend Ahmeti and Hedwig Fijen, director of Manifesta have selected the Turin based architectural office CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati in collaboration with MIT’s Senseable City Lab to conduct the urban vision of the City of Prishtina for the next edition of Manifesta. The urban vision functions as both a pre-biennial research and a long-term plan to identify possible strategies, sites, communities and key topics for the city.

Far from rendering cities obsolete, the Covid-19 pandemic has unlocked an ever-broader potential for renaissance – what the economist Joseph Schumpeter famously called “creative destruction” on an urban scale. The crisis left governments with little choice but to adopt a fast-paced, trial-and-error approach. The extraordinary innovations in pedestrianisation, public space, affordable housing, and dynamic zoning that have emerged highlight the power of positive feedback loops with citizens. We are at the beginning of a new age of participatory urban innovation – which is at the core of what we are set to explore in Pristina with Manifesta 14.
Carlo Ratti, director of the MIT Senseable City Lab in Boston and founder of design and innovation firm CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati

The urban vision informs how Manifesta 14 will take shape within the local context, but most importantly it is commissioned to develop how the city of Prishtina could be transformed by reclaiming public space for its citizens.