Last week, the Transsolar Academy fellows were awarded the overall winners of this year’s International IDeA’s place and displacement competition. The competition called innovative minds to propose spatial and programmatic solutions that provide opportunities for refugees and local communities to strengthen ties while enabling self-agency.
As a solution, the Fellows proposed a POP-UP initiative called BrückenSchlag. The name was derived from the idea of bridging trust between two groups of people. In short, the POP-UP aims to facilitates authentic interactions between refugees and the German communities. The hope is that these interactions foster employment, educational and social-support opportunities which are sustainable and beneficial to the local community.
Apart from winning, the journey in finding the solution had been a very enriching experience for the fellows. This competition proves that there is great potential in being a diverse, multi-cultural team!
Special mention and appreciation goes out to the former Academy Fellows who played important roles in the actualization of the project. Initially, it was Ioannis Karakounos who passed on the competition to Ibrahem Al-Salamh; who has a deeper understanding of a refugee’s reality in Germany. Together, Ibrahem and Gabriela Barbulescu supported the team with their experience in coordination and leadership.
> IDeA Place and displacement 2018
> BrückenSchlag on facebook
'BrückenSchlag' is overall winner of this year’s International IDeA’s place and displacement competition
