Architecture, Exhibition, Film & Design
Sunny Hill Music Festival
The Sunny Hill Festival is an annual international music festival in Pristina, Kosovo, organised by Kosovar - English singer Dua Lipa and her father Dukagjin Lipa as part of Republika Agency. This project is part of a long-term growth strategy, for which I was specifically commissioned to plan and design the festival’s spaces, identity, and overall development. The strategy includes the design and implementation of temporary pavilions, permanent outdoor furniture, food courts, stages, spaces for social interaction, and an annual open call. Moreover, the project includes the design and implementation of nine pavilions, and my collaboration with the festival is ongoing as we continue to shape and expand this vision together.
Sunny Hill Music Festival and Park as part of Sunny Hill & Dua Lipa Foundation
Long term design strategy, master planning and festival areas with pavilions
Spatial development of the festival, involved planning and shaping its spaces, identity, and long-term growth. The work included designing temporary pavilions, permanent outdoor furniture, food courts, and areas for social interaction. The collaboration is ongoing, with current efforts focusing on further development and the establishment of an annual competition for a temporary pavilion as part of the festival program. The festival park area is a long-term rental property that the festival plans to develop as part of its growth strategy. The vision is to create a park that remains accessible year-round, offering an open and welcoming space for all citizens of Prishtina and Kosovo and visitors.
Pavilions, Installations and public furniture for socializing and resting
As part of Sunny Hill Festival’s long-term vision, nine different pavilions are proposed, each built with reused materials and systems, and designed with sustainability at their core. All pavilions are designed to be be disassembled, but since the site will transform into a public park after the festival, some of the pavilions, installations, and urban furniture will remain throughout the year, creating a space that everyone can enjoy. The design and construction process began with online workshops led by Rron Bexheti in collaboration with the festival organizers, project managers, and creative teams. These workshops focused on long-term strategic planning, citizen involvement, and the representation of architectural qualities in Kosovo at both local and international levels.
Pro Credit Bank Pavilion
Pro Credit Bank Pavilion takes its cues directly from the festival itself, reflecting its theme through materiality, tones, and colours. Its polygonal footprint creates a flexible, open layout that can accommodate a wide range of uses and activities. The six-sided geometry also allows the structure to expand and multiply, adapting to the needs and wishes of the client. Designed as both playful and functional, the pavilion’s tectonic system and vibrant, varied façades are not only visually striking but also interactive and engaging for visitors.
The project is financed by Pro Credit Bank as one of the main strategic supporters of Sunny Hill Festival.
Tulla Kuqe - The Red Brick Pavilion
The Red Brick Pavilion pays tribute to the sentimental, vernacular, and cultural value of red brick within Kosovo’s urban and rural fabric. It seeks to raise awareness of the significance of Kosovo’s vernacular architecture while reimagining its aesthetic by simply reorienting the brick to face its openings. Nearly everyone in Kosovo has either grown up in a “tulla kuqe” house or lived alongside neighbors whose homes were built from the same material. Though often dismissed as an unattractive element or façade, the red brick is deeply embedded in Kosovo’s collective memory and visual identity. This pavilion proposes a new way of seeing the brick and the brick wall transforming a familiar, overlooked material into something with renewed presence and dignity. The brick here symbolizes both the temporal and the permanent, reflecting on the fragility and shifting permanence of our built environment.
The project is financed directly by the Sunny Hill Music Festival - Republika Agency Communications
Short film of the pavilion
A flag for her
A Flag for Her is an installation pavilion created in collaboration with Arta Halimi artist, creative director, and project manager at Sunny Hill Festival. The project takes its name from the festival’s 2024 campaign slogan, “A Flag for Her,” which called for action against gender-based violence and the promotion of gender equality.The pavilion’s circular structure symbolizes how gender based violence remains an ongoing, unspoken issue in Kosovo and the wider region. By placing this theme at the center of the festival, the installation aims to provoke reflection among festival-goers and participants on the realities of a post-war transitional society and its lasting impact on women.
