The program brought together critical perspectives from architecture, political geography, and visual culture to examine fortifications as spaces of both restriction and protection, questioning what it means to inhabit a fortified environment. Speakers reflected on how fortifications have evolved—from exclusive protection for the ruling elite to instruments of broader territorial control—highlighting their role in spatial governance.
As part of the Pavilion’s contribution, Iryna Miroshnykova and Maria Noschenko led an Alternative Tour of Pristina, reinterpreting the city’s landscape and presenting several projects created over the past three years. Together, these works offered a multidimensional exploration of defensive logic embedded in cities and terrains, while also reflecting the curators’ own lived experiences.
On September 18, the Pavilion hosted a public discussion on fortification architecture, bringing together architects and researchers to explore adaptive, sacred, vernacular, and archaic dimensions of defensive structures. Examples included the Church of St. Bernadette in Nevers Banlay and the cellar—a discreet underground element of the Ukrainian homestead. The panel also featured insights from Nol Binakaj and Ilir Dalipi on the local context. The discussion was moderated by Iryna Miroshnykova and Maria Noschenko.
September 15–21, 2025
Kosovo Architecture Festival
Pristina, Kosovo