The Department of Architecture and the Department of Arts and Communication are organising an event entitled “The Heritage of Everyday Life: Traditional and Modern Architecture and Furniture Craftsmanship – Risks, Protection and Prospects.”

The event will take place on Wednesday, 21 October 2026, from 18:00 to 20:00, at Frederick University’s Architecture Building in Nicosia (13 Dimitriou Chamatsou Street, Pallouriotissa).

Inspired by the theme of European Heritage Days 2026, “Heritage at Risk: Revive, Resist, Redesign,” the event highlights cultural heritage as a living part of everyday life, collective memory and cultural identity. Through a series of short presentations on traditional and modern architecture and furniture, the event will explore interconnected aspects of the spaces we inhabit and the ways we live. It will highlight their historical and cultural significance, the risks currently threatening their preservation, and the possibilities for their protection, restoration, adaptive reuse and creative continuation.

The event will feature three short presentations, followed by a discussion, which will form a key part of the program.

Open to the general public, the event aims to create an open space for knowledge-sharing and dialogue on cultural heritage as a common good and a collective responsibility of society.

The three presentations

Lessons from the Past and Contemporary Design

Beginning with the question, “Can analysing the technical philosophy of the past provide answers for contemporary design?”, Dr Marios Pelekanos, Associate Professor at Frederick University’s Department of Architecture, will share his thoughts on a possible redesign of intentions, drawing on past successes while adapting them to contemporary realities.

Inhabiting Modernism

Stella Evangelidou, Special Teaching Staff member at the Department of Architecture, will explore modern Cypriot architecture, which evolved alongside the modernization of society and serves as a link between our traditional and contemporary cultural identities. Through a brief historical overview and selected examples, she will highlight its relationship with place, climate and the Mediterranean way of life, as well as the current challenges associated with its preservation, restoration and adaptive reuse.

Furniture as Living Heritage: Tradition, Furniture Craftsmanship and Contemporary Design

Dr Anna-Merry Oikonomou, Assistant Professor at Frederick University’s Department of Arts and Communication, and Konstantinos Oikonomidis, Visiting Professor in the same Department, will discuss furniture as an integral part of cultural heritage and as a means of reflecting the techniques, materials, values and lifestyles of each era. As traditional knowledge and furniture-making techniques face the threat of extinction, they will highlight the importance of preserving and passing on this knowledge, as well as the role of public institutions and collaboration with designers and creators.

An open discussion with the audience will follow the presentations. The event will conclude with a reception.

View the full programme here.

Register here by 16 October 2026.