ODRA publishes a text by Georgian architect, curator and researcher Nata Tatunashvili on Ezologia, Porous Body of Tbilisi — an exhibition organised by Ubani, a research centre focused on Tbilisi and its urban environment. The exhibition explores the urban fabric of Tbilisi and the question of how its character can be preserved as the city changes. The project runs through October 20, 2026 at the Tbilisi History Museum, Sioni Street 8, Tbilisi, Georgia.
Ubani started from our concern about how quickly Tbilisi is changing. We often lose parts of the city before we have had time to understand and formulate why they matter.
Our work is focused on identifying and making visible the values of the urban environment that are often difficult to define. We understand heritage as a larger system of relationships between buildings, streets, landscape, public and private space, and the everyday practices that together create the character of a city.
Research is the starting point of what we do. We then try to translate this knowledge into maps, exhibitions, publications and public programmes. Before something can be protected, its value first has to be recognised, understood and discussed.
Ezologia, Porous Body of Tbilisi, grew directly from this approach. We started by studying the Tbilisian courtyard, or Ezo, one of the most recognisable elements of the old city. As the research developed, we began to understand Ezo as part of a much larger urban system made up of small parcels, passages, balconies, stairs, trees, intermediate spaces, and subtle transitions between private, shared and public life.
Our work is focused on identifying and making visible the values of the urban environment that are often difficult to define. We understand heritage as a larger system of relationships between buildings, streets, landscape, public and private space, and the everyday practices that together create the character of a city.
Research is the starting point of what we do. We then try to translate this knowledge into maps, exhibitions, publications and public programmes. Before something can be protected, its value first has to be recognised, understood and discussed.
Ezologia, Porous Body of Tbilisi, grew directly from this approach. We started by studying the Tbilisian courtyard, or Ezo, one of the most recognisable elements of the old city. As the research developed, we began to understand Ezo as part of a much larger urban system made up of small parcels, passages, balconies, stairs, trees, intermediate spaces, and subtle transitions between private, shared and public life.
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This fabric is disappearing very quickly. Several small plots can be consolidated, their houses and courtyards demolished, and replaced by one large apartment block. With this process, we lose a whole spatial system: a particular balance between built and unbuilt space, between density and openness, between the individual household and collective life. These spatial relationships are still difficult to recognise through conventional heritage protection, which is mainly organised around individual buildings.
The exhibition became a way to make this subject visible. We approached it from many directions: historical research and archives, fieldwork with students, photography, sociology, GIS mapping, cadastral research, speculative typologies, and studies of greenery and permeability.
For example, when we mapped vegetation, we discovered that courtyard trees, vines, gardens, soil and even potted plants form a distributed ecological network across the city. Much of this greenery is absent from official maps, while in reality it provides shade, absorbs rainwater, supports biodiversity and is largely maintained by residents themselves.
The exhibition became a way to make this subject visible. We approached it from many directions: historical research and archives, fieldwork with students, photography, sociology, GIS mapping, cadastral research, speculative typologies, and studies of greenery and permeability.
For example, when we mapped vegetation, we discovered that courtyard trees, vines, gardens, soil and even potted plants form a distributed ecological network across the city. Much of this greenery is absent from official maps, while in reality it provides shade, absorbs rainwater, supports biodiversity and is largely maintained by residents themselves.
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When we mapped permeability, we saw how urban life in Tbilisi moves beyond the street. It flows through arches and passages and into courtyards. Today cafés, galleries and workshops are moving into these spaces again. This creates a very interesting relationship between public and private life, and gives Tbilisi a quality that many cities elsewhere are now trying to create deliberately through urban design.
And when we compared Mtatsminda today with the 1980 survey, the losses became very clear. Small parcels and interconnected courtyards are being replaced by much larger volumes. A constellation of voids becomes one object with some leftover space around it. This distinction became very important for us. Density itself can be part of the natural development of a city. What matters is how this density is distributed and what it replaces.
And when we compared Mtatsminda today with the 1980 survey, the losses became very clear. Small parcels and interconnected courtyards are being replaced by much larger volumes. A constellation of voids becomes one object with some leftover space around it. This distinction became very important for us. Density itself can be part of the natural development of a city. What matters is how this density is distributed and what it replaces.
With Ezologia, we wanted to understand what exactly makes Tbilisi Tbilisi, and which of these qualities can continue to exist as the city changes.
This is why the exhibition ends with the Ezo Charter, our first attempt to translate the research into a set of principles. Protect porosity. Protect small buildings and intermediate spaces. Keep passages open. Understand trees as infrastructure. Adapt before replacing. And perhaps one of the most important principles is: lack of protection does not mean lack of value.
For Ubani, an exhibition can work as a civic instrument. It gives language and visibility to things that people may already intuitively value, but have not yet clearly defined.
This is why the exhibition ends with the Ezo Charter, our first attempt to translate the research into a set of principles. Protect porosity. Protect small buildings and intermediate spaces. Keep passages open. Understand trees as infrastructure. Adapt before replacing. And perhaps one of the most important principles is: lack of protection does not mean lack of value.
For Ubani, an exhibition can work as a civic instrument. It gives language and visibility to things that people may already intuitively value, but have not yet clearly defined.
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Changes in regulation, preservation policy or development practice need this wider understanding of what is at stake. The first step is to recognise the value, describe it and create a public conversation around it.
Ezologia proposes a way of looking at the old city as a living system of relationships. And from this perspective, preservation becomes a question of what kind of city we want to carry into the future.
Ezologia proposes a way of looking at the old city as a living system of relationships. And from this perspective, preservation becomes a question of what kind of city we want to carry into the future.
Nata Tatunashvili is an architect, curator, and researcher based between Tbilisi and Paris.
She is a founder of NWDS, a multidisciplinary architecture office powered by female minds; Aea: Culture Initiative, a creative laboratory exploring female approach to collective making; and Ubani — Tbilisi Cityscape Research Center, a non-profit showcasing the value of Tbilisi's urban form.
Nata brings 20+ years of architectural practice across cultural, residential, and hospitality projects. She has extensive experience in large-scale architecture, where projects are tied to visionary thinking, creating coherent worlds, and shaping new spatial narratives. She believes that architecture is defined by its ability to create compelling visions of the futures that blur the boundaries between high and popular culture, creative industries, and interdisciplinary collaboration.
Ubani is a Tbilisi cityscape research center.
“Ezologia — Porous Body of Tbilisi” is a public presentation of an ongoing research project developed by a growing group of collaborators that explores the phenomenon of the Tbilisian Courtyard.
Cover image: credits
She is a founder of NWDS, a multidisciplinary architecture office powered by female minds; Aea: Culture Initiative, a creative laboratory exploring female approach to collective making; and Ubani — Tbilisi Cityscape Research Center, a non-profit showcasing the value of Tbilisi's urban form.
Nata brings 20+ years of architectural practice across cultural, residential, and hospitality projects. She has extensive experience in large-scale architecture, where projects are tied to visionary thinking, creating coherent worlds, and shaping new spatial narratives. She believes that architecture is defined by its ability to create compelling visions of the futures that blur the boundaries between high and popular culture, creative industries, and interdisciplinary collaboration.
Ubani is a Tbilisi cityscape research center.
“Ezologia — Porous Body of Tbilisi” is a public presentation of an ongoing research project developed by a growing group of collaborators that explores the phenomenon of the Tbilisian Courtyard.
Cover image: credits
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