Urban ShutkaResearch paperHistory of Architecture in Contemporary AgeProfessor Garlos Gabriel Garcia Vasquezstudent Sara SimoskaMaster of Science in Architecture: Sustainable Architecture of Multi-Scale ProjectUniversity Politecnico di Milano - Sede di PiacenzaUniversity Politecnico di Milano - Sede di PiacenzaJanuary, 2015

photography ©Fabrice Dimier

INTRODUCTION

LOCATION AND HISTORY

CURRENT SITUATION

Normative Frame about the living and housing conditions

Quality of Shutka

STREET LIFE

MUSIC&DANCE/HOLIDAYSMUSIC&DANCE/HOLIDAYS

WEDDINGS/REPRESANTATION&GLORY

WORK

THE SHUTKA SHOPPING STREET “EUROPE”

RELIGION/SPORT&RECREATION

Direct contact and human scaleNomadic ArchitectureWho designs for who?Who designs for who?

RESIDENTIAL STREET AMBIENT

SUSTAINABILITY

CONCLUSION

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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CONTENT

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INTRODUCTION

AbstractShutka is one of the most colorful and joyful neighborhoods, it is a mix of dif-Shutka is one of the most colorful and joyful neighborhoods, it is a mix of dif-ferences and it is unique piece of land where the laws could not be easily im-plemented and the habits are traditionally connected to the culture. Many people say that Shutka is a slam, which it is in some point, but also it is not in many others. No one can remain indifferent when visiting Shutka. This research wants to see Shutka Urban. To find the rules and characters of one neighborhood that is really hard to deal with. Through different topics Shutka is analyzed so there are some logics about usage of a space. The neighborhood is seen as a unity of more houses and as a house of one com-munity. This research does not give personal opinion in a way of taste, but wants to document the real situations and wants to point out the possible points for urban interventions that will improve the living of people.

Objectives of the research are:Objectives of the research are:- Definition of urban elements in Shutka- Understanding the connection between the culture and urban elementsMethodologyThrough the site visiting, reading other researches, reports and surveys Through the site visiting, reading other researches, reports and surveys about Shutka and Roma life, it can be noticed that one urban element is given priority. This research wants to point out that everything about Shutka and Roma is connected to the street. This is why all the activities and differ-ent characteristics of the Roma life are seen through this urban element. It should be always respected that street is important part of a culture and way of living of Roma. There should never exist attempts to change the contact be-tween the private life and street life. The condition of most of the streets is awful, without electricity and asphalted pavement. No one is taking care of the hygiene. But still this does not distract people from having their everyday activities on the street. Through seeing the street ambient we can go deeper in analyzing the houses and understanding the private life of one family and the relation with the life of the neighborhood. More chapters are divided under the main subtopic Street life, the chapters are: music&dance, wed-dings, representation&glory, work, Shutka shopping street “Europe”, Reli-gion, Sport&recreation, Residential Street ambient and Sustainability. All these are words that are describing the Roma culture. So, by taking one urban element, in this case the street we can understand entire neighbor-hood and community. This shows the importance of the urban element and proves that if it is changed it will directly affect the specific culture. We should not change people by changing architecture, but instead, architec-ture should change to people's needs.

photography Jere Leskinen

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LOCATION AND HISTORY

Shuto Orizari (familiar Shutka) is one of the biggest neighborhoods in the world Shuto Orizari (familiar Shutka) is one of the biggest neighborhoods in the world where Roma people make majority. Official languages are Romani and the nation-al language Macedonian. Shutka is located in the north periphery of Skopje, the capital of Macedonia. It is populated by 30.000 people. The most important street in Shutka is Shuto Orizari which connects the neighborhood with the city center, and through it to the city of Skopje. The biggest migration of Roma in Macedonia was during the Ottoman Empire (end of XIV to beginning of XX century).

After the end of the Second World War in Macedonia, which was now part of the After the end of the Second World War in Macedonia, which was now part of the new Yugoslavia, Roma started developing permanent residences, mostly on theoutskirts of larger cities. During this period in the industrialization process, there was demand for a workforce that gave opportunity for employment of Roma. Shuto Orizari (Shutka) was founded in 1963 after the devastating earthquake in Skopje. It was meant to be a temporary settlement for the victims.During the evacuation, Skopje was rebuilt and the victims moved to other new During the evacuation, Skopje was rebuilt and the victims moved to other new build permanent neighborhoods. Somewhere in-between these times Roma set-tled Shutka and from temporary made it their shelter until today. During 1960s USA donated some metal houses to serve as temporary houses for the victims of the earthquake. These houses can still be found in Shutka, people are still living there. From 2009 there are some measures taken by the Governement of the Re-public of Macedonia to enlarge inclusion of Romani in the education process. It is the first country in the region with a minister of Romani ethnicity and also a lot of Romani in high government positions. Several Non Governmental Organiza-tions work about the education and civil rights of Roma people. Still there is a lot to be done in many aspects of Roma people living in Shutka.

Schematic map of Skopje, Macedonia

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CURRENT SITUATION

The current situation in Shutka is showing really low standard of living. The current situation in Shutka is showing really low standard of living. There is 70 percent of unemployment. Roma people are world known for living a nomad life and moving from one place to another which is the reason they have temporary homes. The Roma in the Republic of Macedonia do not lead a nomad life, meaning that they have been living on locations they have populated for a long time. But still the living conditions have not been im-proved. Most of the houses are built by the families illegally and with unsafe constructions.constructions.

The results of the survey made by Ministry of Labor and Social Policyin Macedonia in 2004 “Strategy for Roma in the Republic of Macedonia” are:More than half of the families live with another family in a community, this means 2 to 5 square meters of space for one member of the family. Over half of the interviewed did not have conditions to maintain personal hygiene (bathing); Around 60% use water in their homes, whereas the other 40% have pumps in their yards or public places; around 15% use improvised toi-lettes, while around 1.5% of the families do not have water at all. The gener-al conclusion is that the conditions they live in are very bad, frequently under the level of the proclaimed standards for adequate housing and are being constantly perpetuated. These often are populated settlements with unclear ownership outside the urban planning, do not have the basic infra-structure and the services of the state system are difficult to access. Accord-ing to some assessments, about 70% of the Roma do not have ownership documents for the place they live in.

photography Jere Leskinen

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Metal house donated by USA in 1960s for the victims of the earthquake in Skopje

Toilet in the yard of a house

photography Sara Simoska

photography Sara Simoska

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Normative Frame about the living and housing conditions*

There are a lot of international documents that state that immedi-There are a lot of international documents that state that immedi-ate activities should be taken for improving the conditions of all indi-viduals not able to have their right for adequate housing, including the Roma. One of them is International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The Republic of Macedonia has signed this document and by this action takes the duty to recognize the right for adequate living standard for everybody. In the General Commentary No. 4 of this Convention, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of the United Nations defines the term 'adequate housing' as 'legal certainty of housing'. The Council of Europe, in the document recommends: "The signatory states of this Convention recognize the right of every person to adequate living standard for him and his family, including adequate food, clothing and housing, and continuous improvement of the living standards. The signatory states shall undertake adequate steps to secure the The signatory states shall undertake adequate steps to secure the exercise of this right, acknowledging the essential importance of the international cooperation based on free expression of the will."Housing is expressed in different forms, including accommodation with rent, public and private, community housing, rental, mastery, urgent housing, informal settlements, including takeover of territo-ry.

The European Union in Article 31 of the Revised European Collec-tive Agreement additionally obligates the states to provide effective exercise of the right to housing through: 1. promotion of accessibility of housing with adequate standard; 2. Prevention and reduction of vagrancy with a tendency to fully eliminate it; 3. to accord the price of housing with the possibilities of those who do not have adequate economic conditions for it.By all means the provisions of these international legal instruments By all means the provisions of these international legal instruments determine the normative frame for the provision and protection of the right to housing in the Republic of Macedonia, even more so having in mind that Macedonia constitutionally defines itself as a social state that takes care of its citizens without favoring specific category of population.

*Information taken from the document “Strategy for Roma in the Republic of Macedonia” made by Ministry of Labor and Social Policy

photography Jere Leskinen

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Quality of Shutka

What is quality of Shutka? It is a difficult question to be answered. We cannot What is quality of Shutka? It is a difficult question to be answered. We cannot assume poor houses as a quality since we know that the conditions are under ranged and we cannot even call house cardboard shelters, some of them are closer to tent than to house. But if the cardboards tent-houses are not quality, than if the big rich and representative houses existing on the big street of Shutka are representing quality? It is obvious that few people living in rich houses are having all the conditions they need. If we conclude that today some of the Roma got rich and so did their houses, then we should leave Shutka alone and let time got rich and so did their houses, then we should leave Shutka alone and let time do it's job, and just wait for the result. In other words, give time to other Roma to become rich. On the other side if we take the steel houses that were a donation from USA around 1963 and should have served as temporary shelters and are still used, than we can conclude that for some people things don’t change for half century. In all the complex reality and without forgetting people’s stories, tradi-tion and culture, it is really difficult to make one general conclusion or to give one possible solution of the question about quality of Shutka. The diversity of families possible solution of the question about quality of Shutka. The diversity of families and houses and all of them functioning as one neighborhood is a provocative issue. Since Shutka is seen as one big entity it is really important to find the qual-ity of life in the neighborhood and in-between relations of houses and families. What is the quality of the neighborhood that unites it and makes it unique, com-plex and different than any other in the city of Skopje? One possible way of re-searching would be by looking through the plans, and finding logics about urban planning, formation of different typologies of streets and open spaces. This re-search paper excludes this type of researching. Shutka has orthogonal grid which was probably made when the institutions were making the earthquake victims temporary shelters around 1963. Roma settled this location little later. It has nothing to do with their personal needs. The urban plan showed up that it is work-ing because not a lot has changed since then. Since most of the houses are one storey high, the streets are having the similar dimensions. There are some new buildings, like mosque and high school, but generally the neighborhood is func-tioning the same. The main approach of this research is site visiting. This research instrument should not be excluded from any other research if possible, but is really necessary for understanding Shutka’s complexity. During a visit of a neighborhood or a city, one should not necessarily enter a home of local people in order to get the impres-sion of the general life quality. The personal feeling of the ambient of a street or a square is really important. During my visit of Shutka for the purpose of this research, it was winter, so most of the streets were icy, and most of the people were inside the houses. But some of the locals that I met on the street and some movies, photography made by free-lancers helped me complete the representation of my impression of Shutka. In all the materials I tried to find one element that unites the diversity, and it is strong and stable so the neighborhood could count on it. This element should be one that if changed would provoke change of the entire neighborhood and community. The improvement of this element is the finest rebirth of the neighborhood from The improvement of this element is the finest rebirth of the neighborhood from the inside. That kind of element is for sure connected with every day activities of people, but not separated from the occasional activities too. It is like water.

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A neighborhood needs water, and in this case entire Shutka is really not supplied with clean water. It brings also water to homes and brings fresh ideas and new life. Through parallel site visit and learning for Roma culture, one thing is present everywhere. The street is one of the most vital elements in Shutka. Really important thought provoking points are given in the following part. I see the street as a quality in Shutka.

STREET LIFESTREET LIFEThe street as a public placeAll the activities in the life of Roma are strongly connected to the All the activities in the life of Roma are strongly connected to the street. The street is a really important urban element for the life of one Roma neighborhood. This urban element should be deeply ana-lyzed and understood in order to be treated and improved. There is no space between the house and the street. Street is the place where cars can drive, but plenty of other activities are going on at the same time. During the warm period kids are playing football on the street. The biggest shopping street is taking place on the most the street. The biggest shopping street is taking place on the most important street in Shutka. One of the really interesting events is the Roma wedding. People dress well, with colorful clothes and dance on the street. The streets in Shutka are linear public spaces where a lot of different activities take place during different time of the day and of the year. The houses in Shutka usually don’t have yards, because of the big families the house occupies all inner yard. The street takes the function of the yard of the house. People go out The street takes the function of the yard of the house. People go out and repair their chimneys during the winter or old people put some sofa on the street and sit for all day during the summer. The con-tact between the street and the house is visually extremely strong. While walking in the summer on Shutka’s residential streets a person can see inside the house, because all the houses are one floor high and the windows are widely open. The sound of the soap opera on the television is loud so it could be listened from the street. opera on the television is loud so it could be listened from the street. Even though the street for Shutka is really important, still it seems like no one understands its importance and leaves it in disastrous conditions. The street without proper pavement and electricity is not part of adequate living in one neighborhood. Living on the street is a quality from which we all can learn because contemporary people are so busy with their work and they never spend some time with the neighbor around the place they live. Small children are with the neighbor around the place they live. Small children are having many technologies to be busy with and they also rarely go on the streets to play with other children. Roma don’t have this luxury and this makes them not to forget the surrounding and the place they live. The following part focuses on the importance of the street as an urban element for Roma, explained through different aspects. It should be taken in consideration and even reinforce all the actions in possible future interventions for improvement of the neighbor-hood.

photography Jere Leskinen

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MUSIC & DANCE

Roma are really famous for their talent for singing and dancing. This is why they are invited to play music, sing and dance to all the weddings in all the country by Macedonian people and other nationalities. The most visible talent for dancing, singing and playing music could be seen during Roma holidays and weddings.

Holidays

During the holidays there is a tradition that every family should clean their During the holidays there is a tradition that every family should clean their house. Also they could paint the house and the fences. For the most important Roma holiday “Gjurgjovden” lambs are killed and are sold on the streets. The same meat is cooked on a barbecue facing the street. Loudspeakers or sound sys-tems are set in the forecourt so the streets are filled with music and everybody feels happy. This holiday is celebrated for 4 days and everybody dance on the street.

“You feel less hungry when you dance” – Esma Redzepova, Roma famous singer.“You feel less hungry when you dance” – Esma Redzepova, Roma famous singer.

Barbecue on the street Selling lambs for the holiday Gjurgjovden

“Pralipe” folklore association Scene from a music video from Shutka Roma Rap

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WEDDINGS

Roma wedding is one of the most colorful and joyful experience that a Roma wedding is one of the most colorful and joyful experience that a person could have in Shutka. It is an event full of costumes, choreography, music and food. All the women dress well, with highly decorated costumes. The best musicians are playing Roma music. All the neighborhood gathers and everybody dance on the street. After this they go at a restaurant or at home to eat. Only rich Roma in Shutka can afford this kind of weddings. But all the neighborhood is invited to share the nice moment with the family.

REPRESENTATION & GLORY

The richest people in Shutka live on the main street Shuto Orizari. On the The richest people in Shutka live on the main street Shuto Orizari. On the same street there is the famous Shutka market “Europe”, high school and the mosque. This is the most representative part of the neighborhood and the houses are huge and luxurious. The use of strong colors in the façades is obvious. Most common color is golden, and usage of golden colored de-tails. The street has asphalted pavement and some tree can be found. Roma people proudly take photos in front of the big houses. There is also one small public fountain which points out the importance of the street. The munici-public fountain which points out the importance of the street. The munici-pality takes more care for this street, so during the Christmas holidays it was the only street with New Years decorations. There is some maintenance of the street, collecting garbage and replacing old benches with new ones. This is the only place which most of the people visiting Shutka would visit.

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Big house on the main street in Shutka, street Shuto Orizari. Decoration with golden color on the facade.

The most representative place for taking photos in Shutka, in front of a big house and the public fountain

photography Sara Simoska

photography Sara Simoska photography Sara Simoska

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photography Paul Jeffrey

WORK

One estimate shows that around 20 per cent of Roma have regular One estimate shows that around 20 per cent of Roma have regular employment, while the rest are unemployed and are involved in un-regulated trade. The most common work for all the Roma in Skopje is collecting the garbage and bringing it to the factories for recy-cling. They work with horses and trailers and some of them collect cardboards, other collect plastic cans, iron etc. and after bring them to the specific recycling factory.

By this work they are helping the recycling process of the garbage and earn 1 to 3 Euros per day. This recycling profession is directly connected with the streets in the city of Skopje. It is a work that con-nects Roma with all the city and different neighborhoods. It is really common scene in the city of Skopje to see a horse and a trail and people taking out garbage from the garbage can. There are attempts by the city of Skopje for introducing garbage cans for selected gar-bage disposal where the garbage is divided by different material. Really often these garbage cans were broken by Roma during the night. This way they take all the plastic cans from one can and bring it to the factory. This is one of the reasons why the recycling system could not be implemented in Skopje. Other professions: Cooking in restaurants, Tarrot telling, cleaning houses, selling second hand,…Some other well known job is Selling second hand. Roma people, usually male, move around the neighborhoods of Skopje and say out loud “I buy old things”. Then they buy for really cheap money or take for free some old freezes or ovens and after that they sell them in the factory for recycling or repair it and resell it.

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Extra tables with clothes are added

People walking on the streets and dolls with clothes taking the pedestrian walk

Usual shops facing the street

THE SHUTKA SHOPPING STREET “EUROPE”

It is the most famous street in the neighborhood where people from all the coun-It is the most famous street in the neighborhood where people from all the coun-try come to buy cheaper clothes and shoes. The products are mainly coming from Turkey. All the products are exhibited directly on the street. All the process of sell-ing and buying is going on the street. The shopping street is consisted of one semi covered market which is found on the one part of the street and shops on the other side of the street in the ground floor of the houses.

The market is more closed towards the street, even though there are plenty en-trances from it. The most significant for the shopping street are the shops on the street. The buyers usually should not necessarily enter the shop. Really often sell-ers offer discounts on the products, so it is expected from the buyer to ask for a sale. Then interesting negotiation begins. Shopping days are Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. This linear public space attracts people from all Shutka to work on it. Most often people work as sellers, but there are people who work as car keepers. Those are people that earn little money, while people are shopping car keepers. Those are people that earn little money, while people are shopping and their cars are supposed to be protected from thieves. Shutka shopping street is the biggest economic point for the neighborhood. In possible future urban inter-ventions, the shopping street should remain, be improved and reinforced. This could become really important shopping street for the city and for the neighbor-hood if it is rationally improved.

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SPORT&RECREATION

Roma people love to play sports, but unfortunately there are not sport halls in Roma people love to play sports, but unfortunately there are not sport halls in the neighborhood. There is an open playground where people can play football, but it is not satisfying the needs of people for doing sports. The needs for sport is satisfied on the streets of Shutka, so in the sunny days, there are plenty of people playing on the streets. Shutka has its own football team called FC Palermo Shutka. When this team is playing matches, all Shutka is going to watch and to cheer for the team. Other recreational activities that Roma people do is fishing on the river Vardar in Skopje and riding the horses Roma people do is fishing on the river Vardar in Skopje and riding the horses on the graveyards really close to Shutka. Horses are the most important animals for Roma life. The sport activities are important for healthy community. The playgrounds are in bad conditions with improvised goals. They should be renovated and improved. The pavement of the sport playgrounds as the streets is not good, so people that play sport can get injured really easily. Some green areas should be planned for the neighborhood so people could have more recreational activities. neighborhood so people could have more recreational activities.

All the religions are present in Shutka. They all live together. Most of the All the religions are present in Shutka. They all live together. Most of the people in Shutka are Muslims. There are two mosques in the neighborhood. The biggest one is Amdi Pasha Mosque. It is located on the main street Shuto Orizari, the same as the market, rich houses, high school and where the bus line passes. Really often there are some smaller places for praying, like home of some people. In the movie “Book of records” by the director Aleksandar Manich, which is a documentary for Shutka people say that they believe that the best cure for devil is clean Shutka people say that they believe that the best cure for devil is clean water. If people don’t clean themselves and don’t clean their houses, the devil will be all around them. Although this believing exists, still there is no access to clear water in all the houses and in the entire neighborhood.

RELIGION

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Direct contact and human scaleThe connection between the house and the street is direct and this is one really The connection between the house and the street is direct and this is one really important thing for street atmosphere. Most of the houses don’t have yards, so the entrance of the house is on the street itself. This direct contact between house and street, between inside and outside and between home and neighbor-hood is one of the reasons why the street of Shutka is specific. Other important aspect is that most of the houses are one floor high. This is second important aspect that gives more importance to the street. When a house is one storey high, all the rooms are on the first floor that means all the rooms are in connec-high, all the rooms are on the first floor that means all the rooms are in connec-tion with the street. Contrary if the house has more floors than some rooms are more private and not directly connected with the street. Moving in Shutka streets is like moving in a corridor of a residential building. The difference is that except the doors of houses you see windows and you can see directly inside. This makes the street interfere more with the house. Shutka’s street could not be compared with any other city street; it is more connected to the life of the families. life of the families.

Nomadic ArchitectureBernard Rudofsky in the book Architecture without Architects speaks about tents and pavilions made by people in the mountains of Western Asia. He ex-plains that even those shelters were meant to be temporary still they are care-fully done and have some inner logic. They are considered architecture. Shutka tents-houses made by cardboards are really closer to the word “pavilion”. Maybe this is the perfect word to describe the place for living in Shutka in a poor family. Why? Because it is one room space, made by whatever material, the sleeping is on the ground or on mattresses found in garbage. It is not a house, because it does not have all the services to be house, it is not a tent, be-cause it is not a portable shelter. It is pavilion, which makes it a shelter made of whatever materials and serves for live of one family.

Who designs for who?It is really easy to find all the bad conditions in Shutka, simple as that is to say how kitsch are the new houses build by rich Roma. More deep understanding would be what is good or what could be improved. Do we know if Roma are happy in the certain situation? Do we know what would make them happy? John F.C. Turner in the book Housing by people points out that we should first ask ourselves how we house, how we learn and how we keep healthy. Than we can find an answer about who decides and who does what for whom. If we ask ourselves who designs for Shutka and who should design? Than probably we ourselves who designs for Shutka and who should design? Than probably we will say Roma themselves for now. In the future, maybe there will be some new urban plans and improvements of the neighborhood, but any single interven-tion should be made together with and for Roma without forgetting the culture and traditions.

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photography Sara Simoska

RESIDENTIAL STREET AMBIENT

The next street parallel to the shopping street is calm and quiet. All the The next street parallel to the shopping street is calm and quiet. All the houses are usually one storey high, probably because of the construction and materials possibilities. There is not big diversity between one and anoth-er house. All the yard of the houses is facing the street with fences made of different materials. On the photo on the right there is a house painted violet towards one street, and not finished towards other. Probably one facade has more priority because the entrance of the house is there. Building a house in Shutka is a generation process. One grandfather has started during his in Shutka is a generation process. One grandfather has started during his young ages and then his sons continue.

Maybe one day that house will become colored and with stronger construc-tion materials, but still one storey high. More people would feel scary to go around these kinds of streets, because the ambient looks not safe for most of the people. Probably automobiles don’t pass by often here, garages could not be found as part of the poor Roma houses. There is no light on the streets, so during the night is really unpleasant. There are some houses that seem like they belong to some middle class Roma. This should be a class be-tween really poor people and rich people, one with houses with improvised materials and structures and other with reach and huge houses with golden decorations. The middle Roma class looks like they seek towards reach houses, so there can be find some lion sculpture decorative elements on the entrance fence. This elements are probably showing some richness and glory. In these streets the differences between the family’s income is obvi-ous. Even though the difference is small and it is in some details, it is obvi-ous. Probably in the past, all the houses were in the same condition, but the time changed the conditions and it impacted the way of living.

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photography Sara Simoska

photography Sara Simoska

photography Sara Simoska

Some old and poor houses became poorer, some of them are renovated and are in renovation all the time, but some are finished, built and colored. The last are maybe not as rich as the richest, but still some normal condi-tions could be seen from the outside view. As the houses are built in generation, that is how Shutka is built also. It is a neighborhood in transition. Because of the temporary materials and the short period of lasting, they are materials and the short period of lasting, they are changed with other temporary materials and so on. But still it has past half a century of Shutka existing, and still it doesn’t look permanent neighborhood for the old set-tlers.

One of many streets where poor and middle Roma class lives

Emphasized entrance of a middle class Roma house with golden colored gypsum sculpture lions standing on black and white striped columns. The fence is made by iron.

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photography Jere Leskinen

SUSTAINABILITY

Roma have sustainable background to all the activities connected to their Roma have sustainable background to all the activities connected to their way of living. As mentioned before, working as city recycling force is one of the strongest sustainable actions. It is not only about the collection of the garbage, but also the transport vehicle people use. They ride horses or ride bicycles. With all the work they do not pollute, and even more take care about the garbage of the city. The final image of all this is that first, the work as a garbage recycler is not safe hygienically for people because they do not use any protection like gloves and masks. Second prove of sustainable way use any protection like gloves and masks. Second prove of sustainable way of living is the house. The houses of poorer Roma are made by the materials found on the street. There could be seen different kind of materials. Some of them are constructional like bricks, but really often there are some metal ele-ments that were probably automobiles doors.

The winter could be really cold in this kind of improvised houses. The rain could mean destruction of the entire house. The hygiene is on a really low level because of not existing water connection in the house and the toilets being usually stationed in the yard, shared with more families. The “sustain-able” houses are just a starting idea, but in the end we have unsafe construc-tion that does not satisfy the lower standards for living of one family. This is why these actions could be taken as initial sustainable actions and become a starting point of an idea where architect and/or urban planner should think of. The usage of old vehicle materials for door is perfect, but because of lack of knowledge and technique is not good implemented. Creativity is growing up when the resources are limited. Different interest-ing examples could be seen in Roma houses made by some plastic packages materials and used for flower pots, tables, dishes holders, sound system made by cart boxes, small table made by beer casks… Roma could hold workshops all around the world about waste design and low cost design. So many ideas could be found, if looked deeper in the houses.

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Improvised house made by cart boards, wood boards, plastic bags and carpet

Metal fence

photography Jere Leskinen

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The strategy of the country includes the following activities:- legalization of illegal Roma buildings where it is feasible and possible, with the aim of having as final result their modern urbanization- resolution of the issue of ownership of the houses and the land the houses are build on(legalization) and find constructive and lasting solutions in this - connections to the water supply and sewerage networks, as well as their - connections to the water supply and sewerage networks, as well as their inclusion in the legal collection system;- asphalt streets;- regular garbage collection;- housing to be adequate to the cultural norms and needs;- to enable access to certain services and infrastructure'The municipality should hire educated urban planners and architects to prepare master plan for documenting the actual situation and then pro-pose master plans for the future urban development. Representatives of the Roma community should be trained to manage and maintain new im-plemented systems. Having in mind the big efforts necessary in the urban planning area, it is evident that the Republic of Macedonia does not have the financial and economic power to realize the stated priorities on its own.Outside financial help for the problem should be implemented.

From historically point of view Shutka was meant to be a temporary settle-From historically point of view Shutka was meant to be a temporary settle-ment for victims of an earthquake in Skopje in 1963. Shutka was temporary from its beginning as a neighborhood and it still seems like this. On the other side Roma are known that they live life in moving from one place to an-other. So they usually built temporary shelters. Shutka is neighborhood where Roma make majority and is place where Roma culture and habits could be seen. Trough the site visit it could be assumed Roma affection to-wards the neighborhood and entire city. Roma culture is inseparable con-nected to the street. Most of the activities in the everyday life of Roma are going on the street. Street is a public space with many activities. Shutka streets are rich with different situations. This is the most important charac-teristic of one Roma community. Unfortunately the conditions of the streets are not good. There are different streets, but most of them are not connected with water and electricity and are not asphalted. There are no trees or green areas. This means that houses on the street are also not connected to these services, or some of them have some private improvised and not safe connec-tions. The possible future interventions in Shutka should mean improving the street conditions and houses conditions. It should be concluded that pres-ent street social characteristic should be kept. Improvements of the street could mean connection with water and electricity. The pavement should be made with asphalt or other material. Trees and green areas should be plant-ed. Really important characteristic is the sustainable way of living and recy-cling old materials for making homes. These activities should be implement-ed in the future better design and improvement of the houses. All the new in-terventions in Shutka should be made by do it your self actions.

CONCLUSION

photography Jere Leskinen

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With help of professionals and some low investments Roma could make the houses with better materials and better techniques. Some public spaces could be created that answer to the Roma culture needs for public space.Sport playgrounds should be renovated. Green areas like parks and some small urban agricultural fields should be planed. Trees should be planted that will make shadows on the streets and will give more pleasant ambient on Shutka’s streets. Places for seating should be put in front of the houses towards the street so people can use them while their street activities.street activities.People should be included in the process of improving the neighborhood. Shutka has its own qualities, but all of them are strictly connected with the culture of people. Shutka remains inspiration for a lot of photographers, movie makers and bloggers. But all this actions are just documenting the way people live there. It is important but not sufficient until some bigger actions are taken for improving the neighborhood and by that improve the life of people.

Marija Mijakovska, “One shopping day in the municipality of Shutka” Voices (newspaper). 2010

Ministry of Labor and Social Policy Republic of Macedonia, Strategy for Roma in the Republic of Macedonia, December, 2004

Perra Pario Daniele. Low Cost Design. Milano: SilvanaEditoriale, 2010

Rocca Alessandro. Architettura Low Cost / Low tech. Vicenza: Sassi Rocca Alessandro. Architettura Low Cost / Low tech. Vicenza: Sassi Editore Srl, 2010

Rudofsky Bernard. Architecture without architects. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1964

Shutka Book of Records, Dir. Aleksandar Manic, Cabiria Films, Alek-sandar Manic, Czech Television, 2005

TRBOJEVIKI Svetlana and BOGOEVSKA Natasha. Migration, Social Exclusion and Identity issues of Macedonian Roma.

Turner F.C. John Housing by People: Towards Autonomy in Building Environments, Ideas in profress. London: Marion Boyars ,1976http://shutkareporter.kwikk.info/?p=18 Shutka reporter, 2007

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Urban ShutkaSara Simoska