Information


The GAUDI programme is supported by the Culture 2000 programme of the European Union.

What is GAUDI?

Overview - What is GAUDI?

A: Research, memory and project

A1: Identify and interpret innovative housing in Europe
A2: Merge and develop archival collections on architecture and urban development
A3: Workshops for young professionals
A4: Database on public spaces

B: Education and dissemination to the general public

B1: Citizen participation in urban development projects
B2: Club of Leaders committed to Architecture
B3: European Festival for Architecture

C: Strengthen the network of European institutions

C1: Create and develop a joint web site
C2: Coordination of the agreement

Agreement for a Co-operation Programme

Contemporary architecture and heritage are inseparable in the cities of Europe today. Europeans live in an environment shaped by the architecture of past centuries, which is also the theatre of contemporary construction. Knowledge of the potential and the trends in contemporary architecture as well as awareness of the breadth and variety of built heritage constitute one of the conditions upon which decisions are made pertaining to territory, space and landscape.

In order to play a role in decision-making in the field of urban housing programmes, public buildings and neighbourhood organisation, citizens must be able to express their expectations. They need access to policies and projects which make use of codes which are often obscure and which require previous knowledge and experience. The handling of these issues cannot only be entrusted to professional and academic circles. It demands a new intensity of programmes, which reach beyond national borders in order that the procedures of urban planning and construction operations do not remain inaccessible to their future users and that the most innovative experiences be shared.

The proposed agreement seeks to promote the co-operation of a number of European institutions in the following areas : public awareness raising, memory, history and contemporary architectural creation. It is built around a series of medium term projects involving various partners, such as the network of European centres of architecture. The projects furthermore are designed for a diversified audience and they extend beyond isolated actions undertaken by participants and provide a new intensity to relations between participants.

Participants

Participating institutions are located in a number of large European cities and all work in the field of architectural culture: museums of architecture, centres of information for architecture and urbanism, institutions of higher learning, research centres and professional organisations. They have quality infrastructure, sound experience, substantial networks in each country and the determination to commit themselves to a project initiated jointly in July 2000.

Modes of operation

The actions proposed extend the present activity of participants and cover three different fields :

A : Research, memory and project
B : Education and dissemination to the general public
C : Strengthen the network of European institutions

Within these fields, the agreement will facilitate research and the common creation of tools already sketched out in the course of meetings and symposia attended by partners and the leading European experts. At the same time, before reaching the end of the project, output will be disseminated to the various target audiences : professionals, policy-makers and citizens making use of a broad spectrum of communication and awareness-building media, including a role for entertaining approaches.

Expected results

The GAUDI acronym is evocative of an architect familiar to the general public in Europe and whose work is both innovative and popular. The name GAUDI is clearly recognisable and it brings together the objectives shared by a network based on collective habits and working methods with the purpose of disseminating architectural and urban planning culture which respects diversity. Significant progress in the development of a common European approach to architecture and its incorporation into the environment is the expected result. The agreement has been designed to be a lasting one and thus will extend well beyond the three years of the programme presented within the context of Culture 2000.

Co-ordination

The general co-ordination of the agreement is provided by Paris-based IFA/Cité de l’architecture et du patrimoine in conjunction with co-organisers and partners. Each action in the programme is led by an authorised institution as well as a steering committee comprising the most actively involved committee participants. The institutions from central and eastern Europe and EU accession countries will be associated during project implementation on the basis of privileged contacts already established with different partners.