The spatial concept for the Gentler Futures Festival understands space as a temporary assemblage of materials, people, functions and interactions, creating conditions for different activities, installations and encounters to coexist and unfold in parallel. The design strategy grows from identifying and engaging with the existing conditions already present on site: material availability, spatial qualities, embedded knowledge and local practices. Through recognizing these local potentials, the project develops strategies rooted in the site's realities.

The interventions respond to both the built and natural characteristics of the site while supporting the functional needs of the two-day symposium. Installations created by exhibitors become key elements within the festival environment, creating focal points and opportunities for gathering, movement and discovery. Through interventions at different scales, the space helps visitors intuitively navigate and engage with both the environment and one another.

Materials are approached as active participants within the process, carrying their own identities and future potential. Connections between elements are designed to be thoughtful and reversible, considering not only how things come together but also how they continue beyond the event itself.

studio R9 is a Budapest-based collaborative practice & shared space. It focuses on material-based architectural and spatial design through experimentation and prototyping, investigating how decisions around resources and fabrication can shape construction methods, spatial strategies, and collaborative processes.