Short Overview
My project sets out to look at how one small group of Šnipiškės residents can retaliate to the destruction of their home. Then in turn begin to develop various infrastructures that spread out into the wider Šnipiškės community and beyond.
The first intervention within the project involves the newly formed group of residents constructing a new home for themselves. This involves the creation and formalisation of a Adhoc/Material Infrastructure within the area. The group would reach out to the community to identify reclaimed materials that residents have and that they would be willing to add to a network that the could access if they require materials. This also in turn feeds into the repair infrastructure, this infrastructure could be seen to already exist within the area, by the changes that can be seen to have been carried out on people’s properties.
Through the construction of the house the group develop small portable workshops, these can be moved throughout the area depending on where they are needed on a day to day basis. This in turn would help to spread and build awareness for the new infrastructures that are being developed in the area. These being the ones mentioned above as well as a skills/knowledge infrastructure that would allow people to share and learn skills that already exist within the local and wider community, or that can be brought easily to the area.
Current Investigations
The outreach workshops as an object have been developed. However, to make them more realistic each trailer ideally would have a set of standard equipment within them. This needs to be developed so that scenarios for the use of the trailers can be further developed. This would allow further uses to be highlighted. The uses of these other than just as a workshop include community centre? Repair café? Community skills classes? Outreach into the wider city.
As the scenario goes on the group would look to establish a more permanent workshop space, which could allow them to carry out more ambitious projects. This would also allow them to offer more formalised apprenticeships to people looking to gain new skills. My original thought was that this one workshop would be allowed to grow and develop into a place where other people could come and share skills, however it will more likely develop into a series of smaller interventions that are developed to accommodate more specialised skill workshops. This would also allow the skills infrastructure to be incorporated more within the area.
One of these smaller interventions, or set of interventions that I am currently looking would allow for people in the area to learn and share languages. This is also aimed at allowing more interaction between the Lithuanian and Russian speaking residents within Šnipiškės. Currently the way I am looking to do this is using a small neighbourhood newspaper project. This could be issued in multiple languages, mainly being Lithuanian, Russian and English.
Gaps and Challenges
Scenario gaps: One thing that need to be done is the creation/development of smaller scenarios to highlight the various uses for the outreach workshops.
Programme: Development of in depth programmes for the individual interventions over the area. E.g. the main workshop, smaller skills workshop interventions.
Interventions: Some of the smaller interventions such as the ones attached to the material network need to be developed more.
Infrastructures and Autonomy: These ideas need to be shown more clearly within the project. This needs to be down more with the idea of autonomy.
Infrastructures of Autonomy 