VARES Delivers a Report
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VARES is an interdisciplinary architecture residency in Valga, a small town in southern Estonia, exploring alternative ways of practising architecture beyond the logic of the market. It is at once a shared household in Valga, accommodating a community centre, a workshop, a summer cottage, and a salvaged materials yard; an architectural practice; a community with a pan-European reach; and, to some, probably a slightly dodgy lifestyle.
Drawing on the everyday life of VARES, this presentation offers an unofficial report on the small details, mundane tasks, unexpected mishaps and everyday humour that make up the work. Through these seemingly minor things, it opens up broader questions about what it means to work in the expanded field of architecture and to create an alternative to market-driven architectural practice when that alternative itself has to be sustained through projects, funding applications and large amounts of unpaid or hard-to-account-for labour.
Mari Möldre is an architect based in Estonia. Her practice takes various forms, from exhibitions and the design and construction of small-scale structures to looking after old buildings. She is one of the founders and curators of VARES, an architecture residency based in Valga, Estonia.
Mari Möldre’s lecture is part of the accompanying programme to the exhibition by the Estonian architecture studio LLRRLLRR. Both explore ways of practising architecture beyond conventional commercial commissions, working with existing buildings, reusing materials, responding to local conditions and engaging in hands-on experimentation.
