First residency of 'Critical Mass' new season - Colectivo Warehouse at the summer camp 'Petrogradets'

Series of artistic residencies in the framework of the fourth season of ‘Critical Mass’ have started! In August, the first resident, Portuguese architect Ricardo Morais (Colectivo Warehouse) arrived to St Petersburg. He spent several days in the sports and recreational summer camp "Petrogradets" in the village of Gromovo located close to the city, and took an active part in the camp’s life. During his residency, Ricardo closely studied the daily routine and the activities in the camp and communicated with the kids and the counselors in order to explore the potential of the camp territory so that later add to it some examples of contemporary design. Colectivo Warehouse develops participative architecture in cultural and social projects. They believe that participative design and construction lead to results with greater impact in the emerging urban landscape. Their projects are also supported by mediation processes stimulating participation, inclusion and ownership. Colectivo Warehouse create a variety of objects - from street furniture to large-scale projects at the municipal level - taking into account the specificity of places and their communities. 

During his research Ricardo analyzed all the pluses and minuses of the camp space. For example, there is no place for spending time outdoors if it rains (quite a typical case for St Petersburg climate!) Also, the camp club, which hosts major entertainment events, is too small and stuffy . Ricardo also managed to find archival photographs of the camp from the Soviet past and compare two different eras of the camp’s life. Upon his return to Lisbon Ricardo will share the results of this research with members of Colectivo Warehouse and they will develop several ideas for creating a new space for the camp, which will simultaneously perform the functions of a stage, creative workshop, meeting place and a venue for a wide range of activities in any weather. The following summer, all participants of Colectivo Warehouse will arrive at "Petrogradets" to implement the selected project in the camp together with the children who will participate in the construction process.