About the project

In the Georgian language, savele (საველე) denotes a move to the field: sa—toward, vele—field. In our context, it expresses an impulse toward fieldwork, toward taking the study of architecture and cultural landscapes out of the classroom and into the spaces where these landscapes and buildings are themselves made and remade. In the development of a new school of architecture at the Free University of Tbilisi, we have put a variety of fieldwork at the center of our mission. Organized around everyday landscapes and prototypical building types around Georgia, we have piloted a number of field schools bringing together students, researchers, and local experts. One line of this fieldwork has at its center the study of the architecture and lifeways of so-called vernacular buildings and their inhabitants. But as with all fieldwork, it is also, and even primarily, organized around a wider ethic of attention, dialogue, and exchange.

Our work then, is oriented on the one hand toward the study and research of important historical building types, but always within the framework of a lived present. Not the elaboration of fixed, historical typological categories but an immersion in the living and working landscapes of the regions where we are lucky enough to work.

As with all fieldwork, the repeat visits it takes to locate darbazi, as well as the time to conduct the scans themselves, is in some ways the point of the project itself. It includes conversations with local inhabitants that quickly expand beyond the topic of this building type to include patterns of work and life in the present. Time and waiting seem to be where micro-trusts are made and built over return visits, to form something of a friendship with individuals and even places. In that sense, we do not claim or even desire the clarity of ethnographic distance. Nor is this an exercise in pure architectural documentation or conservation. Rather, our orientation remains in the present and toward the time ahead, where ways of knowing and ways of being reconverge in new typologies of living and working.

Team

Darbazi Dialogues is a growing collection of resources and stories–an archive in motion. It is also a growing collection of friendships and collaborations. We would love to hear from viewers and residents about any aspect of the project. And we welcome the opportunity to add sites and darbazi to the collection! Be in touch!

Darbazi Dialogues Team

Ramaz Kiknadze
Tata Koiava
Giorgi Margishvili
Jesse Vogler

In Collaboration with

Klaus Neuburg
Moritz Winkler

Participants Fall 2024

Nini Jabidze
Eka Khomeriki
Giorgi Mikava
Mea Miminoshvili
Lela Tartarashvili
Marika Verulidze
Tako Kobakhidze

A project such as this would be unthinkable without the generosity of innumerable local families, darbazi owners, and regional experts. Our deepest and most sincere gratitude to all! A special thanks to our ongoing hosts:

Jemal Datashvili–Khizabavra Deacon
Giorgi Quqchishvili–Khizabavra History Teacher
Giorgi Maghradze–Akhaltsikhe Municipality
Rezo Andghuladze–Akhaltsikhe Municipality
Mehrab Beridze–Akhaltsikhe University Vice-Rector
Dorus Daneels–Brussels