PUPA – Public Urbanism Personal Architecture, Model showing future possibilities of the allotment garden communities in Vilnius, 2014.

The project ‘Collective Gardens Revival’ proposes new approach and development strategies for allotment garden communities, so called collective gardens in Vilnius, Lithuania.
Collective gardens were introduced in the Eastern European cities during soviet times as part of the planned economy and modern city planning. In Vilnius, allotments became extremely popular. Here, every second family in the city had an allotment plot. Collective gardens played an essential role in citizen’s life: it was a place for food production, a place to socialize, be closer to nature and spend summer holidays. Moreover, the gardens played a role as a political tool: citizens were kept busy and away from politics in the place where neighbours and colleagues could keep an eye on each other.
Nevertheless, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the role of the collective gardens has significantly changed. During the last twenty-five years new regulations and market economy transformed the gardens from gardening communities into residential neighbourhoods. In Vilnius massive urbanization happened spontaneously, chaotically and unplanned. Collective gardens became neighbourhoods without basic infrastructure, problematic, polluted and unsustainable areas to live. That created planning challenges for the city and for the residents.
The project ‘Collective Gardens Revival’ consist of research and design part. The research part investigates relation between city and the gardens, architectural transformations, technical infrastructure solutions and food growing tradition. The vision for Vilnius proposes different development principles for the urbanized and for the untouched and still natural allotment gardens.
The urban collective gardens could become self-sustaining living neighbourhoods where urban dense environment blends with gardening qualities. On the contrary, green collective gardens could become alternative public parks cherishing gardening culture, amateur farms or simple rural living in the city. All connected by continuous light mobility network they create summer city where citizens spend holidays, move around the city landscapes and enjoy gardening and agriculture traditions.
‘Collective Gardens Revival’ studies the case of Vilnius, however the topic represents development trends and future possibilities of allotment gardens all around the former socialist countries. The case of Vilnius illustrates structure of the soviet city, the lifestyle of its citizen and shows how its mindset has changed during the transformation period. Urbanization process of the collective gardens in Vilnius is somehow unique, but it is relevant to cities like Warsaw, Prague, Budapest, Riga, Moscow, Kiev or many other.
‘Collective Gardens Revival’ was initiated by urbanism office ‘PUPA – Public Urbanism Personal Architecture’ as a response to on-going urbanisation of the gardens and lack of reaction from governmental institutions. The project was contributed by multidisciplinary team of architects, landscape architects, historians and sociologists.