Ina Valkanova


Last Name

Valkanova

First Name

Ina

ORCID

0000-0001-5335-2657

Organisational unit

Filters

2019 - 201912020 - 202410
Reset filters

Search Results

Publications 1 - 10 of 11
  • Pedagogical reflections on approaching urban transformations in design studios. The Studio Europe initiative in Switzerland, Italy and Bulgaria
    Item type: Journal Article
    Castigliano, Marica; De Blust, Seppe; Valkanova, Ina (2022)
    Urbanistica Informazioni
    In academic environments, the activation of new forms of knowledge contributes to providing and deepening new perspectives on core concepts of urban and architectural disciplines such as sustainability and transdisciplinary dialogue. Moreover, with the extreme digitalization accelerated by the recent pandemic, the ground for sharing methodologies, expertise, and reflections has expanded to broader networks overcoming the departmental dimension and reaching international networks. These circumstances encouraged the teaching teams of four schools of architecture to co-define and share mirroring experiences carried out in different cultural contexts during the spring semester of 2022. Studio Europe is a collaboration between design studios of ETHZ, UNINA, POLIMI and UACEG, and it activated inclusive processes of learning and sharing practices by facilitating conversations and moments of encounter. By reflecting on this initiative, the paper contributes to the discussion on pedagogical frameworks and their role in affecting the studio culture and actual urban transformations.
  • Who builds the steel cities? On the relationship between finance law and industrial zones in CEE
    Item type: Book Chapter
    Valkanova, Ina (2020)
    Steel Cities – The Architecture of Logistics in Central and Eastern Europe
  • Reader Studio Plovdiv – Smooth Operators
    Item type: Educational Material
    Ehrl, Ellena; Persyn, Freek; Valkanova, Ina; et al. (2022)
  • Transformational Encounters in the Trakia Economic Zone
    Item type: Journal Article
    Valkanova, Ina (2022)
    Dimensions. Journal of Architectural Knowledge ~ Species of Thesesand Other Pieces
    The paper summarizes the results and ambitions of series of collective workshops with actors groups of Trakia Economic Zone (TEZ) in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. As part of an action research Ph.D. project, the paper explores the possibilities for the transformation of TEZ from an extractive operation into space with local value. Starting from the ideological position that change is always possible, the research test possibilities to counteract the dominant global narrative of contemporary production from a local perspective. The paper demonstrates how space can be used both as a tool to understand the relationship between social and economic formations of TEZ and a way to transform them.
  • Manufacturing the Zone - understanding and engaging with capital-led development
    Item type: Other Conference Item
    Valkanova, Ina (2021)
    RC21 Conference: Book of Abstracts
  • A Lively Wasteland - Contemporary Industrial Landscape in Transition
    Item type: Other Conference Item
    Valkanova, Ina (2023)
    International Congress Uncertain Landscapes. Book of Abstracts
    The paper presents the results of a three-year research investigation into the contemporary industrial landscape. The research examines the case of the Trakia Economic Zone (TEZ) in Plovdiv, which represents the most significant investment project in Bulgaria and is home to numerous global manufacturing companies. While much of the discussion surrounding modern industrial spaces primarily focuses on the relationship between humans and machines, this paper delves into the often-overlooked development of the landscape. First, the paper analyzes the zone through a multi-species perspective. This approach aims to shift the discourse away from human-centered practices and instead explores the relationships between anthropogenic landscapes, extractive practices, and their impact on the ecology of industrial parks. The paper provides descriptions of various species that can be found in the zone and examines their interactions with the spatial production of the area. It explores how different species inhabit the site and how industrial production affects the local ecology, and vice versa. Furthermore, the paper challenges the conventional notion of industrial parks as mono-functional environments. It focuses on the perceptions of various human actors within the zone and the routines of non-humans. This section highlights the need for planning regulations to expand their scope and rethink urban strategies. The paper portrays the landscape of the zone through a Lefebvrian lens as innocent, free from cultural memory, visual stereotypes, and cultivated appearances. This section demonstrates how such a condition can be a productive way to introduce new, thoughtful landscape concepts that emphasize maintenance, care, and collective responsibility.
  • Tensions of Infrastructure Space
    Item type: Conference Paper
    Valkanova, Ina (2021)
    Proceedings of Relating Systems Thinking and Design (RSD10) 2021 Symposium
    This short paper presents the work-in-progress of research aimed at a meaningful transformation of a large-scale infrastructure space in Bulgaria. As part of an action research doctoral project, the paper explores the possibilities for the transformation of Trakia economic zone TEZ from an extractive operation into a space with local value. Starting from the ideological position that change is always possible, the research test how we can counteract the dominant global narrative of contemporary production from a local perspective. The paper describes the historical development of the industrial zone, highlights how the complex-mix of actors design use and transform the spatial reality of TEZ, and presents three tensions that occur in the actual reality of TEZ. Those tensions are not isolated processes but are instead part of an ecosystem of ambitions, perceptions, and activities. Therefore, we need to employ a systemic understanding of tensions to produce long-lasting change. The presented questions in the paper seek to raise a debate about the nature of tensions, their conceptual frameworks, and possible action strategies for activating tensions thoughtfully. Keywords: capital-led development, infrastructure space, soft-system methodology, transformation, action research
  • Ein verstecktes Juwel in Bulgarien. Plovdiv, Europas zweite Kulturhauptstadt 2019
    Item type: Other Journal Item
    Valkanova, Ina (2019)
    Bauwelt
  • Engaging with Contradictions - New Possibilities for Planning Large-Scale Infrastructure Projects
    Item type: Other Conference Item
    Valkanova, Ina (2020)
    This paper dissects one of the most explosive tension fields of the post-industrial society, the increasingly complex relationship between production and place by looking at the development of a special economic zone in the periphery of the city of Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The research focuses on contradictory processes, their spatial effects and the possibilities for transformative change by examining a typical capital-led development - a special economic zone. Special economic zones are service landscapes, mainly driven by capital accumulation processes, designed to provide cities with products. The study looks into the way this particular economic zone in Plovdiv developed from one cherry processing factory into the biggest investment project of the country hosting numerous global manufacturing companies and maps the resulting socio-urban transformations in the region. The research highlights four contradictions that arise when these developments are framed as non-city and reduced to a mono-functional infrastructure space, while their social, environmental and urban impact on their region are neglected. By actively engaging with the contradictions and the various stakeholder shaping them, the research aims to reveal latent forces and tensions of the relation between global production and local space, to expose hidden narratives and to re-construct a different meaning of a capital-led infrastructure development. Through revealing and interacting with contradictions, the research aims to identify the opportunities those conflicts present, and methods to imagine these spaces as a product of common understanding and transform them from an extractive economy to an economy that creates local value.
  • To open up a box and find a whole new world
    Item type: Doctoral Thesis
    Valkanova, Ina (2024)
    This study explores the spatial dynamics of global manufacturing and the increasingly intricate relationship between production and place. It centers on the Trakia Economic Zone (TEZ) in southern Bulgaria, with a specific focus on the Kuklen Industrial Park. By examining this location, the study investigates how the flow of capital, labor, knowledge, and power transforms a place, and how local conditions, in turn, shape these global flows in unique ways. TEZ serves as a prime example of global production spaces, characterized by diverse spatial forms that both arise from and sustain the global division of labor. Situated on the outskirts of cities, these zones are often enclosed by physical barriers and subject to restricted access. This thesis conceptualizes TEZ as a “black box”—a “secret, hidden, unknown” entity, shrouded by the complexities of corporate ownership, confidentiality, and privacy within the world of networked manufacturing. The dissertation seeks to access and open this “black box,” grounding the abstract concept of global production networks in real, tangible stories and places. To achieve this, the study adopts an engaged action research approach, providing access to global automotive factories and revealing their fluid, interconnected, yet deeply tangible realities. The action research project worked closely with public and corporate actors within TEZ, fostering coalitions, designing interventions, and analyzing the resulting power dynamics, challenges, and opportunities for transformation. This process not only facilitated the collection of diverse data, but allowed me to engage in reshaping global production spaces through the very act of change. The findings from this action research are organized into three empirical chapters—focusing on materiality, people, and land—each examined through the lens of Henri Lefebvre’s “spatial triad,” which encompasses perceived, conceived, and lived space. These chapters reveal how TEZ’s design is deeply embedded in capitalist ventures and Taylorist management principles, structured by rigid organizational frameworks. However, the lived experience of the zone deviates significantly from this structured ideal, instead often characterized by spontaneity, disorder, and unexpected outcomes. By shedding light on the otherwise obscured world of automative manufacturing, this dissertation demonstrates that the “black boxes” of global production are not impenetrable. They can be accessed, explored, and ultimately transformed. Building on this insight, the research discusses the potential for an ethical and critical practice to emerge in networked infrastructure spaces and explores what such practices might entail.
Publications 1 - 10 of 11