EASA Cyprus is the local branch of the pan-European network for architecture students, creating opportunities for collaborative learning and community engagement in Cyprus. Their upcoming event, SESAM Identity 2.0 (1–10 March 2025), will gather 150 participants in Nicosia—Europe’s last divided capital—to examine how architecture can embody cultural narratives and collective memory. By exploring a city framed by Venetian walls, layered histories, and a striking Buffer Zone, the event tackles questions of identity shaped by division and shared heritage.

To learn more, FastForward spoke with EASA Cyprus member Iakovos Sierifis, who offered a detailed look at how “Identity” became the theme and how Nicosia’s complex past and present inform SESAM Identity 2.0.

The theme “Identity” was inspired by Nicosia’s rich history and unique position as Europe’s last divided capital. Enclosed within its 16th-century Venetian walls, Nicosia’s urban fabric reflects layers of Ottoman, Venetian, British colonial, and modern Cypriot influences. Its Buffer Zone, a striking reminder of the island’s recent history, freezes parts of the city in time while symbolizing shared tensions and collective memories.

EASA Cyprus, the team organizing SESAM Identity 2.0, is part of the larger pan-European EASA (European Architecture Students Assembly) network. The team consists of 14 architecture students and young professionals, predominantly Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot, from various cities across the island. Their own experiences of identity are diverse and interconnected, shaped by their daily lives and divided urban spaces of Nicosia’s city as well as the island of Cyprus as a whole. For EASA Cyprus, this theme resonates personally and collectively, reflecting the complexities of living in and experiencing a divided city. By bringing this topic to the broader EASA network, SESAM Identity 2.0 creates an opportunity of 10 days (between 1st and 10th of March 2025) to explore how architecture embodies cultural narratives, memory, and representation while fostering meaningful dialogue on identity in the heart of Nicosia.

The 12 workshops at SESAM Identity 2.0 offer a diverse exploration of identity, combining construction, art, performance, and research. Several workshops will focus on creating wooden pavilions as meditative and meeting spaces to bring together the island’s different communities, fostering dialogue and reflection. Light installations inspired by natural elements like sun and wind will explore how sensory experiences shape our understanding of space. Textile art installations will reinterpret folklore traditions, including flag symbols and patterns, to reflect on collective identity. Participants will also investigate borders’ impact, the concept of “home” and its role in shaping identity, and reimagine Nicosia through critical mapping workshops. Everyday objects, like the traditional chair, will be transformed to represent modern interpretations of heritage, while urban spaces will be revitalized through creative interventions.

By working across disciplines, the workshops encourage participants to connect Nicosia’s rich cultural history with innovative design and community engagement. Each project reflects a unique lens on identity while fostering collaboration between locals and participants from across Europe. These site-specific explorations promise not only to deepen understanding of Nicosia’s layered context but also to generate meaningful dialogue on identity in the built environment.

SESAM Identity 2.0 creates a platform to connect Nicosia’s local identity with broader European architectural conversations. By hosting workshops in Nicosia’s historical center and focusing on interdisciplinary approaches, the event explores how architecture can engage with local heritage, collective memory, and diverse identities. An important aim of this 10-days architectural event is to bring visibility to different communities and highlight cultural and historical similarities with other European regions, such as the Balkans and Eastern Europe (but not only), which share multiethnic populations and complex histories and thus architectural and cultural elements. It seeks to foster dialogue on public spaces that openly reflect their layered histories rather than “hiding” them, investigating sensitive collective memories with care and creativity.

This process cultivates architects not only as building designers but also as future city-makers with critical thinking, imagination, and a vision of inclusivity. By fostering cross-cultural collaboration among 150 participants, EASA Cyprus encourages innovative approaches to reimagining built environment as inclusive and dynamic spaces. It bridges Nicosia’s unique challenges—such as its division and cultural intersections—with universal themes of representation and identity, creating a dialogue that resonates globally while remaining deeply rooted in the city’s context.

Engagement with the local community is central to SESAM Identity 2.0. We collaborate with universities across Cyprus, particularly architecture departments, to connect with the academic community and local students. Each day, after workshops, we host 2–3 lectures or panel discussions featuring local activists, anthropologists, urban enthusiasts, and historians. These sessions provide participants with multidisciplinary insights, helping them understand Nicosia’s character and explore the theme of identity more holistically.

To deepen this connection, we are organizing an Expo Day on March 9th, where the public can explore the workshop results across the main project areas. This event will highlight installations, performances, and designs, inviting everyone to experience the outputs firsthand. Addresses for these areas will be announced closer to the event on our social media platforms.

By fostering collaboration between local practitioners and the European EASA network, EASA Cyprus wants to bridge Cypriot practitioners and scholars with wider city-making opportunities, both locally and internationally. The cultural outcomes of the workshops will not only enrich Nicosia’s heritage but also contribute to the International Festival of Nicosia by showcasing innovative and community-focused designs. This engagement ensures that both participants and locals’ benefit, creating lasting connections and inspiration through architecture and cultural exchange.

Organizing SESAM Identity 2.0 has been both rewarding and challenging. Coordinating logistics, securing funding (we’re still awaiting confirmation from one source—laughing!), and engaging stakeholders across Europe and Cyprus have required perseverance and teamwork. As students and young professionals, balancing academic and professional commitments alongside event planning has been a constant challenge. Most of us studied abroad and still live outside Cyprus, which made it more difficult to engage deeply with the local community at the beginning. However, bringing innovative ideas and influences from outside the island and blending them with the Cypriot context has been incredibly enriching.

The EASA framework has been essential to our ongoing success. Its decentralized, collaborative model empowers students to take initiative while fostering creativity. Through EASA’s extensive network of architecture students and alumni, we’ve gained invaluable guidance, resources, and connections, allowing us to scale the event while staying true to our ambitions. The support and shared vision of this network have helped us overcome obstacles, navigate challenges, and create an event that reflects both local identity and the broader European architectural discourse. Despite the difficulties, this experience has strengthened our resolve and ability to create meaningful, impactful events for the architectural community.

SESAM Identity 2.0 builds on past SESAM events by emphasizing the intersection of identity, culture, and public space within the unique context of Nicosia. This edition introduces a stronger focus on local engagement, with public involvement and interdisciplinary workshops fostering deeper connections between participants and the community. By anchoring the event in Nicosia’s cultural and historical fabric, SESAM Identity 2.0 promotes site-specific explorations of globally resonant themes.

Our goal is to inspire greater participation from local students, encouraging them to remain active in EASA Cyprus’s initiatives beyond SESAM. We hope to motivate them to engage with the broader EASA network, attending events such as EASA Rhizome in Finland this summer or the upcoming SESAM in Italy, to further expand their horizons and connections.

The legacy of SESAM Identity 2.0 lies in its efforts to bridge local and international perspectives, leaving behind a framework for collaboration, a deeper appreciation of Nicosia’s cultural complexity, and bold, innovative approaches to architectural discourse. This event aspires to shape future EASIANS into architects who embrace inclusivity, experiment with creativity, and remain critically engaged with the challenges of identity and public space in their practice.

What: EASA Cyprus, SESAM Identity 2.0

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About the Event

Who: Iakovos Sierifis (he/they) is a Cypriot architect with diverse academic and professional experience. He holds a Master’s in Architecture from the Université Libre de Bruxelles in Belgium and an Integrated Master’s from the National Technical University of Athens in Greece, with additional studies at ENSA Paris-Val de Seine in Paris as part of the Erasmus Exchange student program. His work focuses on sustainable design, temporary urban interventions, urban commoning practices, and participatory design workshops across Europe. Passionate about fostering inclusivity and sustainability, he integrates creative exploration with practical design to reimagine urban spaces. His enthusiasm about the cultural sector has encouraged him to work at cultural organizations such as CIVA in Brussels. The last year, he works at the Organisation for Positive Urbanism (OPU), specializing in public space activation though behavioural change processes and participatory urban planning. Beyond his work, he is an advocate for connecting young architects through the European Architecture Students Assembly (EASA) Cyprus, helping bridge local and international communities in the field of architecture, with SESAM Identity 2.0 as the upcoming highlight event!

EASA Cyprus Team: Evina Economidou, Asya Doonan, Eleftheria Leonidou, Marina Kokkinou, Goksu Sungurtekin, Iakovos Sierifis, Constantina Myrianthousi, Aristofanis Hadjicharalambous, Christina Christodoulou, Stylianis Chatzipanteli, Semeli Mita, Olga Georgia Papadopoulou, Ioanna Barbouteli, Elena Rousou