Co-haty is a housing project for people who lost their existing apartments during the war in Ukraine. The architects and residents associated in the initiative are creating housing in a grassroots way for those who need it, with concern for the community and city around them.
Since the beginning of Russia's war with Ukraine, some 10 million Ukrainians have been displaced, including 6.5 million inside Ukraine. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM, UN), 2.8 million of them have migrated to the western part of the country. More than 40,000 internally displaced persons have been officially registered in Ivano-Frankivsk, marking an increase of at least 20 percent in the city's population since the beginning of the war, and it is expected that the city's population could eventually rise from 220,000 to 440,000. Such growth creates opportunities for the region's future development, but more importantly, it creates a desperate need for housing now.
community building
CO-HATY is a program that provides long-term housing for people displaced from other parts of the country. The project began with the transformation of an abandoned dormitory in Ivano-Frankivsk, initiated by a group of professors from the National Technical University of Oil and Gas, who were joined by the Metalab Urban Laboratory (Ivano-Frankivsk), Urban Curators (Kyiv) and Krytychne Myslennia (Kharkiv), a group of activists with urban planning and architectural experience. The team worked together with some of the future residents to renovate and arrange the building. In addition to private spaces, the renovated dormitory will include communal functions such as a cafeteria, children's room, workspace, corridors, lobby, laundry room, and storage areas. An important part of this process is the creation of a community.
Before and after
Photo by Co-Haty
HATA - that's hut/home in Ukrainian
COHATY - it's Ukrainian for LOVE
Co-HATY is a communal housing project for people who lost them during the war
The team says this approach of adapting and renovating existing structures bridges the typological gap between inadequate ad hoc emergency shelters and the longer-term development of large housing complexes, which requires more time. CO-HATY is initiating more renovation projects and other housing solutions for the most vulnerable IDPs, including the use of vacant private housing and seasonal cottages, and the construction of prefabricated and modular units. This work is taking place mainly through the involvement of volunteers and external financial support. You can learn about how to support the project on the initiative's website .
Photo: Co-Haty
exhibition
The Co-Haty project has become part of an exhibition prepared by the National Institute of Architecture and Urbanism. Presented in autumn 2021 in Kiev, during the CANactions festival and at the SARP Pavilion in Warsaw, the exhibition was titled "Polyperiphery. Spaces of Negotiation." With Russia's invasion of Ukraine and a complete change in the socio-political context, the curators of the exhibition - Zuzanna Mielczarek and Kacper Kępiński - decided that the structure and content needed to change. "Poliperipheries" presents how Kiev, Warsaw, Brno and Bucharest dealt with housing policy and the creation of public spaces after 1989 (for more information about the exhibition, visit the NIAiU website ).
Polyperiphery - exhibition in Warsaw
photo: Michal Sierakowski / NIAiU
The exhibition is a platform for statements from local experts, activists and residents, and presents data and infographic mockups that tell the story of regulation, change and the constant negotiation of the rules of the "game of the city." For the shows in Bucharest (as part of Romanian Design Week) and Brno (planned for June), the curatorial team has expanded to include Ukrainian architect Petro Vladimirov. In collaboration with him, a section of the exhibition was created devoted to initiatives taken by the local architectural community in the face of war. On display are projects to build shelters, operate schools of architecture or construct new urban policies for rebuilding Ukrainian cities.
Polyperiphery - an exhibition in Bucharest
photo: Kacper Kepinski / NIAiU
