American Councils for International Education and FLEX Alumni are traditionally organizing their meeting at the Open-air Museum “Old Village,” Sirogojno. In 2016, our organization EAT has joined them for the two-part workshop “Creating a New Relaxation Area & Meeting Point through Participatory Design.” The first part of the workshop was held in Belgrade where FLEX Alumni suggested interesting and creative ideas and agreed on a future project. The workshop continued in Sirogojno where the initial ideas came to life.

After the design process, FLEX Alumni worked on the production of four types of relaxation areas. The idea was to create four “sitting structures” designed for groups, couples, individuals and for the enhancement of dialogs, and to place them in such an order to create a Museum’s logo – a traditional rural house. The main idea was to strengthen by the exhibition of photographs taken from the air and the eco-sculpture designed by Sinisa Noveski.

The project site was the meadow behind the Museum’s apartments that overlooks the forest and surrounding Zlatibor’s villages.

The primary goal was to bring the ideas of environmental design, eco-art, and sustainability in contemporary living closer to the participants. We used only local natural materials (wood, branches, gravel, etc.), pointing out the necessity of recycling in each design and production phase.