You can now buy NFTs to support students from Ukraine in Paris

There are several ways you can help the city accommodate 500 Ukrainians arriving for the start of the academic year

Some 500 students, researchers and staff from Ukraine have to be accommodated at Paris’ university campus Cité internationale universitaire at the start of the academic year. However, this endeavour needs a lot of funding, which is not yet available. Luckily, the campus has come up with a creative way to allow anyone to participate and get a unique souvenir in the form of аn NFT.

Symbolic and material support to students from Ukraine in Paris

Cité internationale universitaire becomes home to hundreds of national and international students every academic year. The facility has some 6,800 rooms and 43 houses dedicated to the different communities that study and do research in the French capital.

As the war in Ukraine has forced thousands of students and academic professionals to relocate, around 500 of them have planned to come to the campus for the next academic year. Unfortunately, the sudden unfolding of the events has made it impossible to create a Ukrainian House, hence they need to be accommodated in the already-existing ones. It is there, where they will sleep, get administrative, medical and psychological assistance, study French, get to know the local culture, etc.

To help cover the costs arising from this, while also helping Ukrainians feel at home, the hosts decided to offer them… a virtual Ukrainian house. For this purpose, they invited architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte, whose agency Wilmotte & Associés responded by designing three works: the facade of the house, a bedroom and a collective space with a piano. Alluding to the Ukrainian flag, they contain the key elements to a creative working environment, similar to the existing houses on campus.

Commenting on the matter, Jean-Michel Wilmotte said: “I could only accept this project which seemed obvious to me. The House of Ukraine is a virtual project, highly symbolic, which evokes the drama of a country that I particularly like. I wanted to suggest a place where students could stay, live and work. The House of Ukraine is a positive prospect for the future.”

Now, for anyone who wants to facilitate the successful integration of Ukrainians on the campus at a distance, there are several ways to do this. One can simply make a donation, or participate in an NFT sale and an auction.

In particular, the three works by Wilmotte representing the Virtual House of Ukraine are going on an NFT sale. The purchaser of the NFT called «virtual House of Ukraine» will be invited to a VIP event at the end of June.

On top of this, one can buy 3 paper prints of drawings signed by Jean-Michel Wilmotte and a model designed by the architect during an online auction from 1 to 10 June 2022 organized by Sotheby's France.

All the information about the project, how the funds will be spent and the different ways to help, can be found on the specially created Maisondelukraine website.  Becoming a part of the effort is just a few clicks away.