“AA & U” focuses on the constructive entanglements between architecture, urban planning and the visual arts to support the urban commons. It takes part in the design and implementation of support structures for the urban commons as well as of infrastructures for public spaces. 

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AA&U’s activist work involves the creation of safe spaces to practice a future in common by creatively transforming the contestations of divided Cyprus. Practices of critical cartography, advocating alternative modes of urbanity, of creating common spaces for exchange are central to AA&U’s work.

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The founding members of "AA & U" are Socrates Stratis, architect, urbanist, and academic and Maria Loizidou, visual artist, (www.marialoizidou.com ). Socrates addresses architecture as a critical urban practice to keep architecture relevant to the challenges of conflict transformation. Maria gives emphasis on the power of fragility to address social and political concerns in the visual arts. AA&U is a collaborative structure with many collaborators for each project it undertakes.

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AA&U’s work is published in international publications and exhibited in several editions of the Architecture Biennale in Venice. "AA&U" has collaborated with the “Imaginary Famagusta” team as well as with LUCY (Laboratory of Urbanism University of Cyprus) for the “Hands-on Famagusta” project, (www.handsonfamagusta.org ). It has participated in the curatorial project for Cyprus participation at the Venice Biennale of Architecture in 2016, titled “Contested Fronts, commoning practices for conflict transformation.

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AA & U clients are public authorities such as Heraklion, Crete Greece, Athienou, Limassol, Planning Department and Housing in Cyprus, etc.  AA & U has won several prizes in European and Cypriot architectural competitions.

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Support Structures:  The importance of the active agency of space and practice. AA&U's design processes bring forward the political dimension of the urban. The support structure's output can be a critical statement. They don't have the power to considerable change, yet they point towards new alternatives. Through the 'Support Structures', the visual and performative arts are introduced into the 'Urban' and the 'Architecture'.

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Architecture:  AA&U addresses architecture as a dynamic design process of materialisation of spatial, urban and actorial relations. AA&U has been dealing increasingly with the public aspect of architecture and its relationship to the urban commons. Giving new value to the existing both spatially and socially is central to AA&U's projects. 

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Urban:  Introducing larger entities such as networks, natural landscapes or urban formations into the limited project territory. Engaging the actors, both humans and non-humans connected to such larger entities into the project by introducing new relations of physical, temporal and actorial dimensions.