Casagrande Laboratory

18/08/2025

Finsk arkitekt återuppbygger Ukraina: ”Vi bygger trots att bomber faller hela tiden”
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…Här satsar man på återuppbyggnad mitt under brinnande krig. Borde man inte vänta på att bombningarna upphör?
Casagrande skrattar lite och konstaterar att bomber exploderar hela tiden.
– Nästa bomb kommer hela tiden. Här väntar man inte på något. Att man i Finland talar om att återuppbyggnadsarbetet börjar först när kriget är slt – det är struntprat. Återuppbyggnaden börjar direkt när ett hus förstörs. Man väntar inte.

Men vad händer om det man just byggt förstörs av bomber nästa dag?
– Då bygger man upp på nytt.
Casagrande säger att han inte har varit med om något särskilt dramatiskt.
– Inget speciellt, men ur vårt perspektiv är varje dag dramatisk. Där är jag ändå bara en av en miljon människor, och bomberna faller hela tiden.
– Återuppbyggnaden är kontinuerlig och ukrainarna uppskattar de som är på plats.

09/08/2025

FINSK ARKITEKT ÅTERUPPBYGGER UKRAINA: : ”Vi bygger trots att bomber faller hela tiden”

I Ukraina väntar man inte på att kriget ska ta slut. Skador repareras och hus byggs upp genast.

Von Kraemer / Svenska Yle :

I Ukraina pågår stora återuppbyggnadsprojekt med hjälp av finländska krafter. Det här sker trots att fullt krig pågår...
– De tog kontakt med mig direkt från Charkiv i östra Ukraina. Universitetet OM Beketovs ( Харківський національний університет міського господарства імені Бекетова ) arkitekturavdelning bad mig föreläsa där, och efter det föreslog de ett långvarigt samarbetsavtal och sedan en professur. ..
– I början gällde det Charkiv men nu har projekten utvidgats till många områden norr om Kiev, till kommunerna Butja och Irpin samt till västra Ukraina, nära den rumänska gränsen. Det har spridits lite överallt nu...
De nya byggnaderna byggs på ett innovativt sätt, säger Marco Casagrande.

– Det är lika innovativt som till exempel då ukrainarna började tillverka drönare. Det här är sådant som sker av nödtvång.

– Man tar material från förstörda byggnader och masugnsslagg och av det gör man återvunnen betong. Sedan använder man världens bästa finländska elementteknik och flyttbara fabriker (Elematic) som producerar de här byggelementen för återuppbyggnad, säger Casagrande...
Marco Casagrande och hans team får finansiering av den finska staten.

– Ja, finska staten finansierar mitt arbete. Också forskning, planering och förberedelser för export av byggprojekt med låga koldioxidutsläpp i Charkivregionen stöds av Finland...
Han säger att det bland annat borde byggas många fler underjordiska skolor i Ukraina, och att det skulle vara en utmärkt exportmöjlighet för Finland.

– Statsminister Petteri Orpo har kommit överens med ukrainska parter om samarbete inom civilskydd. Ukraina har också begärt skolexpertis från Finland.

Ukrainas president Volodymyr Zelenskyj och hans fru Olena Zelenska ( Olena Zelenska Foundation / Фундація Олени Зеленської ) avlade ett officiellt besök i Finland i mars. Olena Zelenska ville ha information om skolmatsmodellen i Finland och det finländska utbildningssystemet i allmänhet. Hon bekantade sig också med olika lösningar i fråga om skyddsrum.

Här satsar man på återuppbyggnad mitt under brinnande krig. Borde man inte vänta på att bombningarna upphör?

– Nästa bomb kommer hela tiden. Här väntar man inte på något. Att man i Finland talar om att återuppbyggnadsarbetet börjar först när kriget är slt – det är struntprat. Återuppbyggnaden börjar direkt när ett hus förstörs. Man väntar inte.

Men vad händer om det man just byggt förstörs av bomber nästa dag?

– Då bygger man upp på nytt.

Casagrande säger att han inte har varit med om något särskilt dramatiskt.

– Inget speciellt, men ur vårt perspektiv är varje dag dramatisk. Där är jag ändå bara en av en miljon människor, och bomberna faller hela tiden.

– Återuppbyggnaden är kontinuerlig och ukrainarna uppskattar de som är på plats.

Full article: https://lnkd.in/dE_Hss2k
hashtag hashtag hashtag hashtag

04/08/2025

DESIGNER OF NEW UKRAINE
Hanna Freyborg / HS – Helsingin Sanomat :..REHABILITATION is needed for the wounded and war invalids, but also for the returnee children from Russian captivity.

There are up to 105 000 disabled orphan children in Ukraine.

” They have possibly never received any empathy, and therefore the buildings must be able radiate empathy.”

Casagrande calls this phenomena Skin-to-Skin Architecture, where the buildings have a skin.

” A successful building is like a warm hug” he says.

Before the war, the orphans were kept out of sight in Ukraine. The war has changed the attitude.

” It is sad that we needed a war to give visibility for the orphans in society,” Casagrande says.

Universal design is also incredibly important regarding the tens of thousands of disabled persons because of the war.

The war can still last a long time, which also must be taken into consideration. To minimize material losses the buildings are design to be mobile so that an apartment building or a factory can be relocated, Casagrande tells.

He wishes Finland to focus especially on the rapid development of the underground schools. Finland has the expertise.

” But the construction must start immediately. The need is excessively big.”

CASAGRANDE got interested in the East European crisis areas during his high school in Karjaa.

In December 1989 he was 18-year-old and working in the local newspaper Etelä-Uusimaa, when the revolution broke out in Romania. He was asked if he would like to report on the situation. The task was to follow if the humanitarian aid convoys reached their destinations in Romania.

Casagrande went to the journey, contrary to his parents wishes. In Romania he witnessed with his own eyes the chaos the country had gone into. The main feeling was not fear though, but curiosity. Senses sharpened up. He felt alive.

YEAR 1993 Casagrande had finished the high school, the compulsory army (Finnish Defence Forces), and begun his architecture studies, when Bosnia started calling. He had a girlfriend in Croatia and Yugoslavia was breaking up in war.

Casagrande volunteered to Bosnian Croat army (HVO Croatian Defence Council) the same year. He returned to Finland only to get back to war.

He wrote a war memoir Mostarin tien liftarit / Hitchhikers on the Mostar Road (WSOY; 1997) with pen name Luca Moconesi. Helsingin Sanomat reported in 2001 that the war crimes described in the book led to two police investigations, which were both cancelled due to no evidence of crime.

Was the controversial book an auto fictive novel?

” Something like that. It was not a documentary, but not everything that I wrote of could be created only by imagination either.”

According to Casagrande writing worked as therapy.

“War is always traumatizing. Soldier is like a high tuned machine, which after the war becomes a moped. Something is not right with a person if the war does not leave a mark.”

Харківський національний університет міського господарства імені Бекетова

01/08/2025

DESIGNER OF NEW UKRAINE
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The distance from the city to the front line is around 40 kilometres. Some of the regional cities and villages are practically on the frontline.

“When a missile hits an apartment building, the site gets cleaned up immediately and everything that can be fixed, will be fixed. The Ukrainians have zero tolerance for war debris on their streets”, Casagrande says.

Casagrande visits Kharkiv every three or four months. He stays a couple of weeks per tour, transportation takes time. Casagrande flies to Warsaw and usually takes a train to Ukraine from there.

In Kharkiv the university has provided him everything needed: local fixers and assistants, accommodation. Depending on the situation he can rely on a safe house in the middle of a forest, a location hidden from the Russians.

“I get all the intelligence and support from the university that I can think of. Nevertheless, I operate in Ukraine independently. Main thing is to keep safe distance regarding the artillery”, Casagrande says.

KHARKIV was before the war one of Ukraine’s most important industrial cities. There is no going back to the Stalinist architecture though, and the Ukrainians do not want that either.

Casagrande’s vision is to develop Kharkiv into ecologically sustainable so called Third Generation City, the very contrast to the Soviet time concrete brutalism.

“As an architect and am Animist, I believe in nature. Architecture is the art of reality, and for me nothing else than nature is real. The ideal is that the city learns to become part of nature.”

Essential part of Casagrande’s work is to redesign vital social infrastructure buildings destroyed in bombings, such as hospitals, underground schools, and rehabilitation centres.

He is using Finnish timber as much as possible and recycling destroyed buildings as much as possible.

.kharkiv

31/07/2025

DESIGNER OF NEW UKRAINE

Architect Marco Casagrande got involved with the crisis areas of East Europe already at high school. Now he operates in a significant role in Ukraine, with focus on the reconstruction of the cities.
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ARCHITECT Marco Casagrande comes to Karjaa train station dressed in black. Walking, since he lives next to the station with his family.

Casagrande, 54, has designed a house to his family, which sits in the pastoral summer landscape as it would have always been part of it. The house is made of wood: birch and pine.

” I would prefer that everything in Finland would be constructed out of wood. This house I drew on snow, literally walking the floorplan on snow. I don’t even know, how many square meters does it have”, Casagrande laughs.

INTERNATIONALLY awarded and respected Casagrande is specialized in sustainable urban design and has now operated a year and a half as Professor of Architecture in a Kharkiv university (O.M. Beketov National University of Urban Economy) in East Ukraine and King Danylo University in West Ukraine.

When the university in Kharkiv first time contacted Casagrande, he was asked to start lecturing remotely on biourbanism online.

“I said it would not work. I needed to be present physically.”

TIME to get straight into business. We must talk about the war in Ukraine, especially about Kharkiv, a city with more than a million inhabitants, a city close to Casagrande’s heart.

“War has given Ukraine a certain gift, it has united the East and West Ukraine together”, Casagrande begins.

That is his only positive comment of the full scale Russin attack.

Before the war the border city Kharkiv was close to Russia also mentally. After the Russian attack the city is severely damaged, but it has also changed, it is now breathing Ukrainian patriotism.

29/07/2025

Hanna Freyborg / HS – Helsingin Sanomat
UUDEN UKRAINAN SUUNNITTELIJA
Arkkitehti Marco Casagranden kiinnostus Itä-Euroopan kriisialueita kohtaan alkoi lukiossa. Nyt hän toimii tärkeässä roolissa Ukrainassa, jossa kaupunkien jälleenrakentaminen on jo käynnissä. .. Kansainvälisesti palkittu ja arvostettu kestävään kaupunkisuunnitteluun erikoistunut Casagrande on toiminut puolentoista vuoden ajan arkkitehtuurin professorina Harkovan yliopistossa Itä-Ukrainassa sekä King Danylo -yliopistossa Länsi-Ukrainassa. .. Kaupungista on etulinjaan noin 40 kilometriä. Osa hallintoalueen kaupungeista ja kylistä on käytännössä kiinni etulinjassa. ”Kun ohjus osuu kerrostaloon, paikka siivotaan ja kaikki, mikä on korjattavissa, korjataan heti. Ukrainalaiset eivät voi sietää sotaromua kaduilla pätkääkään”, Casagrande sanoo. .. Casagranden visiona on kehittää Harkovasta ekologisesti kestävä niin kutsuttu kolmannen sukupolven kaupunki, jonka arkkitehtuuri on vastakohta neuvostoajan betonibrutalismille. .. Olennainen osa Casagranden työtä on pommituksissa tuhoutuneiden yhteiskunnan toiminnan kannalta merkittävien rakennusten, kuten sairaaloiden, maanalaisten koulujen ja kuntoutuskeskusten suunnittelu. Niissäkin käytetään suomalaista puuta niin paljon kuin mahdollista. Lisäksi tuhoutuneista rakennuksista kierrätetään kaikki mahdollinen. .. Kuntoutusta tarvitsevat muun muassa sodassa haavoittuneet ja vammautuneet sekä Venäjälle siepatut ja sieltä palautetut ukrainalaislapset.
Ukrainassa on jopa 105 000 vammaista orpolasta. ”He eivät ehkä koskaan ole kokeneet empatiaa, ja sen vuoksi sitä on oltava rakennuksissa.” Casagrande kutsuu ilmiötä skin-to-skin arkkitehtuuriksi, jossa rakennuksella on eräänlainen iho... Hän toivoisi Suomen osallistuvan erityisesti maanalaisten koulujen rakentamiseen. Siihen olisi osaamista. ”Mutta toimen olisi ryhdyttävä saman tien. Tarve on valtava.”

artikkeli maksumuurin takana: https://www.hs.fi/taide/art-2000011349974.html

15/07/2025

Wellbeing on the other side of stormy seas
Nara Petrovic writes:
Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, hosted a monumental event, which (almost) no one from my circles knew about. On June 20th, Hearth Summit concluded as inconspicuously as it began and the picturesque attendees from all around the world went to their far-away homes.
For me, the highlight of the summit was the story of Finnish architect Marco Casagrande. In 2003, he stood up against the demolition of an informal settlement of 400 households in Taipei called Treasure Hill. The city authorities had already bulldozed many illegally built houses and streets, but Marco joined the effort to stop the destruction. In the settlement, he found exactly the solutions that the authorities were looking for from architects. It would be insane to demolish an already existing urban laboratory of the future! ... Treasure Hill was of course led by an anarchist matriarch, 86-year-old Mrs. Cheng. Marco gradually gained her favors, and thus won the locals to his side as well. Without her support, the locals would never have taken him seriously.
FULL ARTICLE: https://narapetrovic.substack.com/p/wellbeing-on-the-other-side-of-stormy

The Wellbeing Project

15/07/2025

Ljubljano je ošvrknil monumentalen dogodek, za katerega (skoraj) nihče ne ve. 20. junija se je zaključil Hearth Summit, ki ga je obiskala množica pisanih obrazov iz vsega sveta. Presenetilo me je, da nas je bilo med udeleženci iz Slovenije le nekaj. Še bolj me je presenetilo, kako bežno so ga...

30/05/2025

🇺🇦🏗️ Rebuilding Hope in Ukraine!
A huge thank you Turun Sanomat for their insightful reporting!
Article highlights

🌱Innovative Post-War Reconstruction Strategy

Professor at O.M. Beketov National University of Urban Economy in Kharkiv Marco Casagrande is leading a game-changing reconstruction effort in Ukraine, combining Finland's cutting-edge mobile concrete factories with a revolutionary plan to recycle destroyed buildings into new concrete materials, delivering rapid and environmentally sustainable solutions for new homes.

👩‍👧‍👦"Skin-to-Skin Architecture" for Ukraine’s Children
Casagrande’s projects focus on helping Ukrainian children cope with trauma through healing design. This includes building three-story underground schools with places to sleep and strong basic systems like clean water, air conditioning, and internet. These spaces also work as quick-access bomb shelters. The idea of "Skin-to-Skin Architecture" is to create safe, caring spaces that help children feel protected and supported.

💪On-the-Ground Realities
Casagrande personally enters frontline zones in full field gear, gathering first-hand data and unique insights that inform the reconstruction plans. He also highlights the ongoing threats from Shahed drones and glide bombs and shares stories of local resilience, such as grandmothers caring for children so their adult children can serve.



Full translation available in the comments.👇

26/05/2025

Marco Casagrande suunnittelee Ukrainan tulevaa kaupunkiarkkitehtuuria. Tuhoutuneet kerrostalot aiotaan kierrättää uusiobetonin raaka-aineeksi. Harkovan yliopiston professori perehtyy sodan jälkiin kiertämällä maastovarusteissa sodan etulinjassa. 👉 https://www.ts.fi/teemat/6666938?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook =1748148069

11/05/2025

BIOURBAN ACUPUNCTURE KHARKIV
La Biennale di Venezia
Monday, May 12
12 noon - 1:00 pm

Since 2022, Kharkiv, Ukraine has been in a war zone. New knowledge around nature-based socio-biological solutions for regenerative urbanism and urban biological restoration in Kharkiv are being developed through local knowledge, and the interdisciplinary research, innovation, design, and implementation centre, Ruin Academy Kharviv. This discussion will investigate cross-over architectural interventions, urban acupuncture, biourbanism and Constructivist biology.
Speakers: Marco Casagrande (Biourbanist Professor, O.M. Beketov National University of Urban Economy in Kharkiv ); Menno Cramer (Biourbanist, Neuro-Scientist, International Society of Biourbanism Society of Biourbanism)




Ruin Academy 廢墟建築學院
Харківський національний університет міського господарства імені Бекетова
Biourbanism ISB

15/04/2025