Christoph Felger from A KIND OF SPACE and Mariia Shyian were invited by the Kharkiv School of Architecture to contribute to the international workshop “Building Back Better II”, held simultaneously in Warsaw and Lviv in January 2025. The workshop brought together students, teachers and invited guests from Ukraine and across Europe to explore ideas for the future reconstruction of Odesa.

Christoph delivered the lecture “On Discovery Rather than Invention”, and both took part in the final review session of the workshop in Warsaw. His lecture reflected on his experience of international architectural practice and on the question of how architects can meaningfully engage with cultures beyond their own. Taking as a starting point a well-known statement by the Australian architect Glenn Murcutt that architects should work only within their own culture, the lecture developed a counterpoint based on projects realised during his time at David Chipperfield Architects. It suggested that through careful observation, respect and close collaboration architects can connect with unfamiliar contexts and contribute to places grounded in local culture. Christoph described this approach as a form of “local globalism” or “global localism”.

The workshop explored proposals for rebuilding Odesa across four scales, from the sea to the city, the district and the home. The results will be presented in an exhibition scheduled to be shown in Kyiv and later at the Venice Architecture Biennale.