This was a workshop for the mini-conference organised by EASA Estonia in the runup to organising the EASA 2020 Summer School in Valga. The aim of the workshop was to open up a conversation about what can be understood as “apathy”, its use and meaning for architects and the material form it can take in the city.
Participants were asked to conduct a walk through Valga in a small group, identify one object which represents “apathy” for them, and construct an object biography for this item in the spirit of Arjun Appadurai and Caroline Knowles. These (fictional) stories were then presented as a speech, play, dialogue or visual narrative to the other groups over dinner. In addition to giving meaning to the architects’ exploration of the city, I found the biographies to present a wide array of interpretations of the overall topic. The participants seemed to have a great time too.
