NATASSA DURIDA

I define myself as a cultural engineer: My work consists of inventing methods of gathering communities of creative professionals and activating them towards the revival of abandoned historical monuments of Athens. I studied civil engineering and specialized in the protection of monuments in the architecture of the National Academy of Sciences. During the Robert Bosch Stiftung's StarT fellowship, I formulated the Communitism project, which consisted of a community development methodology that would establish a community-run social and cultural center, in a building that the owners would provide free of charge in order to ensure its maintenance. The project developed into the association entitled “Union of Citizens for the Preservation of the Newest Cultural Heritage with the distinctive title Communitism”, which operated for 6 years the sociocultural center Communitism at Kerameikos 28, in Metaxourgio. Within this environment, I contribute as a member of the Board of Directors of the association, while developing international strategic partnerships and creating educational and artistic funding programs. I have developed a practice of organizing participatory art events, and I provide advisory support to communities across Europe on issues related to my activities. The dynamics of combining untapped cultural heritage and untapped creative individuals is the subject of research through my collaboration with the Newrope headquarters of the ETH Zurich Polytechnic.