Art Contest Asked People To Create Designs For Buildings That Were Destroyed By War In Ukraine, And Here Are The 30 Best Entries

Here's how the site describes the project. It's a call to arms, but rather than using your arms for harm, this time, they're asking to use them for creation. "This is an open call to the architects, artists and designers of the world. Help us reimagine the future of Ukraine after the war is over."

The PR team of ReCreate:UA has kindly explained how the whole idea started and how it evolved: "The initial idea was to make a few concepts by ourselves. To cheer people up with the visuals of the rebuilt Ukrainian cities, but then we thought "We are creatives with fantastic networking all around the world, why won’t we make an international contest that will unite people, dreams of the future and ideas? Isn’t it our job and mission? So it started."

The aggressive and unprovoked attack by the Russians in Ukraine has decimated entire living areas and districts with artillery fire, and even though the number isn't quite certain, there have been over 5,000 reported destroyed buildings. 50 of these buildings are considered of historical significance, and it's a great shame they had to go this way.

And here's how it goes so far and what's ahead of them: "we received hundreds of submissions and counting. There were works from all over the world. This would be our next step – to choose and finalize the best works and then implement them. On May 6 we have the deadline. But if we feel as it happened three weeks before that there are strong artists who need more time we shall extend again. The effect of art therapy is very strong. Our goal is to fill the informational field with positive, not to report the end of the contest."

They're going to determine it in a simple contest format, as judged by the chosen expert jury, "which will comprise of professional creators, architects, authorities and volunteers."

But despite all of these setbacks, the Ukrainian spirits are strong, and even this project is a testament to that. Despite the fact that every day, Ukraine is getting more and more destroyed, people are already making plans and bolstering hopes for rebuilding their country, and maybe turning it into a better place.

"You can’t imagine the effect of literally EVERY submitted work. Tears and goosebumps every time you open another mail. We received hundreds of submissions and counting. Yes, there were works from all over the world: United Kingdom, Netherlands, Bulgaria, Germany, Portugal, and, obviously, Ukraine."

The images speak volumes, but the context behind some of these submissions is moving in itself. The most memorable submission that moved the organizers was when "one of the contestants heard stories from Mariupol and it impacted him so hard, that he found time to come up with the concept of Mariupol Maternity Hospital renovation. Despite the fact that he volunteers non-stop and helps people escape from the cities on the East of Ukraine."

"The project is a birthchild of Ukrainian Institute for The Future and the ADC*UA. There is a group of creative directors, designers and architects that initiated the project. The results are not final yet, but we're really happy to receive so many inspiring examples of Ukraine's renovation! The best result for us would be seeing all those projects come to life in the new, peaceful Ukraine, after the war is over."

The organizers were astounded by the volume and diversity of entries and people's imagination. "There are beautiful concepts that authors put into words. The ideas you cannot fully comprehend through the image. Like Anton Tonchev, who suggested to rebuild Kharkiv Regional State Administration but keep the memory of the shellings by using phosphorescent materials in the renovated building. Those materials are meant to absorb day light in day and show the "scars" of the building once in year at night, when all the lights of city go off. This concept brings up the important topic: we need to not only think of Ukraine's tomorrow, we need to remember the horrible historical moments we, as a nation, went through to get to the victory."