Nº6 VIDAS ESCONDIDAS
Hands-on Famagusta site.

Hands-on Famagusta Iniciative

The Hands-on Famagusta (HoF) project (2014–ongoing) aims to draw the attention of Cypriot civil society by creating awareness about the potentialities of non-divided Famagusta under Federal Cyprus. It uses participatory urban design processes to facilitate dialogue between groups in conflict (Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots). It promotes reconciliation and solidarity processes to go hand-in-hand with urban reconstruction ones. The HoF project has contributed to the construction of a commons facilitating peacebuilding processes, utterly important to the role of civil society in the reconstruction of the urban environment of Federal Cyprus. The HoF project has produced the following tools facilitating the ongoing public debate:

  1. The Hands-on Famagusta trilingual web platform www.handsonfamagusta.org devoted to visualizing a common urban future for a non-divided Famagusta. 
  2. The organization of debate platforms where Cypriots across the divide participated in and discussed specific topics via roundtables, workshops, consultation meetings, and public presentations. 
  3. A mobile physical model of the city stretching from Derynia to Salamina that has been exhibited in public spaces and streets in Famagusta, Nicosia, Limassol, and Venice, Italy. It has assisted Famagustians and all Cypriots to visualize the city as a whole rather than fragmented territories based on ethnic division. 
  4. The publication entitled “Guide to Common Urban Imaginaries in Contested Spaces” edited by Socrates Stratis. 
  5. The report “Famagusta Data: Supplements for the City’s Commons” that includes a detailed updated survey of the physical characteristics of the city of Famagusta and its urban fragments.

The HoF project is the major contributor to the Cypriot Pavilion at the 15th Venice Biennale of Architecture entitled “Contested Fronts: Commoning Practices for Conflict Transformation”, curated by Socrates Stratis, (www.contestedfronts.org )

Hands-on Famagusta, St Peter Church Model and Trilingual Platform Event.
Hands-On-Famagusta Group With Young Volunteers From Both Communities.

The activities of Hands on Famagusta have been made possible with the support of USAID. The creation of the Hands-on Famagusta web platform was supported by UNDP-ACT through Mahallae. All Hands-on Famagusta activities are supported in-kind by the University of Cyprus. Translation into Greek and Turkish is supported by the Renewal program.

Project Leader: Socrates Stratis (Imaginary Famagusta Group, AA&U, LUCY)

Project Team: Emre Akbil, Esra Can Akbil, Chrysanthe Constantinou, Nektarios Christodoulou (up to 2015), Munevver Ozgur Ozersay (Imaginary Famagusta Group)

AA&U (Architecture, Art and Urbanism): Angeliki Koutsodimitropoulou, Thalia Charalambous, Chrysanthe Constantinou

LUCY (Laboratory of Urbanism, University of Cyprus): Nicolas Constantinou, Phivia Papashiandi

Webplatform development by LightBlack, Webplatform Graphic Design by AA&U Webplatform Videos by AA&U, Logo Design by Olof Jondelius and Robin Lee