An urban landscape is most truthfully defined by how it preserves its history. Old and new buildings shouldn’t collide but coexist, with the emerging character of the city respecting what came before. This harmony is a reflection of human society itself, translated into everything we create and leave behind. It not only reminds us of what once shaped the cities we call home, but also reveals the core of our culture—allowing us to take pride in where we belong, or once belonged. Yet when we see something crumbling and mistreated by the sheer struggle for survival, it wounds that pride. We find it difficult to defend, and we feel helpless, despite our modern construction technologies that remain underused for renovation and preservation.
In the Urban Palimpsest, the façade of a once-spectacular building is being swallowed - not by ivy or moss, but by the relentless spread of urbanity. Stone melts and crumbles into itself, its delicate cornices and entablatures losing the memory of the craftsmanship once present. The frames that keep everything together fracture due to the quiet siege of time, water, and weather, as if torn from some abandoned void. Cables pierce the surface, snaking through cracks and claiming the voids that are formed. Air-conditioning units, crudely attached, despite the elegant visage, while a rainwater pipe rams through the upper stone, a harsh intrusion in the fragile poetry of the façade. These are the marks of a city pressing in, urbanity taking over and sadly representing the way Sofia is mistreating its history without the visible hope of saving a piece of itself.
"The drawing phenomenology method seeks to translate onto paper what is seen, felt, and understood from the existing materiality and spatial experience. In this case, the process begins directly from a photograph, extracting elements and layering them across multiple sheets of PVC and washi paper. Both stippling and linework trace over the aging surfaces, emphasizing the decay and rough edges of the façade. I have cut out and elevated urban elements that were not originally part of the building, bringing the present moment into focus amid the historical structure. Everything else recedes into the linear void, gradually slipping out of focus, allowing the dialogue between past and present to emerge. I see this piece as a commentary on urban neglect, illustrating how something that should be celebrated as a national treasure of architectural and artistic craftsmanship is slowly being overtaken."
The piece is a drawing collage that was made with ink on silk pure white paper (washi) and PVC. The photograph used for the collage was made and printed by the author.
Dimensions: 415 x 290 mm.
Process video:
In the Urban Palimpsest, the façade of a once-spectacular building is being swallowed - not by ivy or moss, but by the relentless spread of urbanity. Stone melts and crumbles into itself, its delicate cornices and entablatures losing the memory of the craftsmanship once present. The frames that keep everything together fracture due to the quiet siege of time, water, and weather, as if torn from some abandoned void. Cables pierce the surface, snaking through cracks and claiming the voids that are formed. Air-conditioning units, crudely attached, despite the elegant visage, while a rainwater pipe rams through the upper stone, a harsh intrusion in the fragile poetry of the façade. These are the marks of a city pressing in, urbanity taking over and sadly representing the way Sofia is mistreating its history without the visible hope of saving a piece of itself.
"The drawing phenomenology method seeks to translate onto paper what is seen, felt, and understood from the existing materiality and spatial experience. In this case, the process begins directly from a photograph, extracting elements and layering them across multiple sheets of PVC and washi paper. Both stippling and linework trace over the aging surfaces, emphasizing the decay and rough edges of the façade. I have cut out and elevated urban elements that were not originally part of the building, bringing the present moment into focus amid the historical structure. Everything else recedes into the linear void, gradually slipping out of focus, allowing the dialogue between past and present to emerge. I see this piece as a commentary on urban neglect, illustrating how something that should be celebrated as a national treasure of architectural and artistic craftsmanship is slowly being overtaken."
The piece is a drawing collage that was made with ink on silk pure white paper (washi) and PVC. The photograph used for the collage was made and printed by the author.
Dimensions: 415 x 290 mm.
Process video:
