BOULOUKI| is an interdisciplinary research collaborative, whose work is focused on the study of traditional building techniques and materials. In Greek Boulouki means “gaggle”, travelling group, a name evoking the tradition of travelling companies of stone masons and craftsmen. Its aim is to trace and document the living carriers of such traditional knowledge; to study and to further disseminate it through workshops and actual building projects which are organized in collaboration with local communities. Based upon these thematic axes, the group’s course of action includes conducting research, organizing workshops, conferences and cultural events; promoting projects in collaboration with local communities and their stakeholders.
So far, Boulouki has mostly worked in Epirus, a mountainous area of Greece, once celebrated for its stone masons, and also a crossroads for various Balkan cultures. Our aim is to develop a ‘hands-on’ approach of cultural heritage, through the processes of making, repairing and building, to contribute to the study of traditional building techniques as an operative field of knowledge, orientated -apart from conservation and documentation- towards contemporary building practices.
Until this day, Boulouki has developed a network of partners from major academic institutions in Greece, such as the National Technical University of Athens, the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, the University of Patras and the University of Ioannina, while renowned professors from various disciplines and practitioners from the fields of restoration and heritage management have given lectures and presented their work in Boulouki’s workshops.