An Eventual Show | EUROPAN 13
Zagreb “eventual show” propose itself as synthesis of adaptability, self-organisation and co-operation. Four empty spaces to establish a fruitful substructure for culture, social activities, art and public life in general. Four specific approaches within a common framework to revitalise four different areas of Zagreb, each one with its own surrounding and its particular “way of being”.
A core framework that use both a physical and visual connection between all the parts of each area and also between the areas themselves. An ad-hoc “infrastructure” that is unique and specific for its shape but generic and common for its meaning.
Temporary as strategic way of actively re-thinking the city with a dynamic functional planning that makes each area unique but replicable at the same time.
Temporary can’t necessarily be synonymous of low-quality if designed for and with people.
Temporary in space and time, precise in its organisation and development.
Temporary as convertible functions and spaces but not as ephemeral architectural devices.
“That could be the right bet over the future.”
INTRO
Zagreb “eventual show” propose itself as synthesis of adaptability, self-organisation and co-operation. Four empty spaces to establish a fruitful substructure for culture, social activities, art and public life in general. Four specific approaches within a common framework to revitalise four different areas of Zagreb, each one with its own surrounding and its particular “way of being”.
A core framework that use both a physical and visual connection between all the parts of each area and also between the areas themselves. An ad-hoc “infrastructure” that is unique and specific for its shape but generic and common for its meaning.
Dwellings of micro-architectures organised into functional areas that can change dynamically according to citizens will and this is what can make this “eventual show” possible.
An open-layout, an inline sequence, a pronged settlement and a natural sprawling. Four different areas, with different purposes and relation towards the urban pattern, can give the existing city new inputs for an alternative evolution through a co-operative and common intent.
“The city for all, everyone for the city. And we mean the public space.”
We live an era with a strong lack of resources for the transformation of the city, where, really often, what is public is abandoned and derelict. How to manage those situations?
Probably putting in the “res publica” the same consideration we all have for the private sphere of our life. Trying to build together our time, our activities translating them into shared public space, thinking of its quality, modifying actively the state of a place and organising the social activities in there.
“That could be the right bet over the future.”
FEET AND WHEELS
Four project sites and 14 km of Sava River: just one system.
How to get there and how to cross it?
Nowadays it’s already possible to cross the city by the river and, above all, to connect the four areas, but the question we point out is if those connections are effectively optimised for pedestrian and cyclists.
Feet or wheel, is that possible?
Such a long path, even if interrupted by the four big sites where something will happen, needs to support those who decided to discover the entire new system step by step, foot by foot, ride after ride.
Analysing the transfer times for both pedestrian and cyclists, two different paths has been traced to diversify the different speed of the user and, for that, to provide a suitable and efficient infrastructure. Two sequences of architectural devices spaced out about every 3 km for an higher speed of proceeding and every 500 mt for the slowest one.
Functions like bike renting, bike lab and bike park on the first mentioned path, others like open-air gym, canoe renting and multi-medial info-point on the other one, both filled with relaxing areas and picnic areas, animate the long line that connect the entire system.
Efficiency for green transfer means efficiency for the eco-system.
Helping slowing down our way of moving, better if in the safer way possible, can help us to look better and understand much more about our environment, understanding what to do to improve its quality.
Step by step, foot by foot, ride after ride...
SITE 1 - INSIDE THE OUTSIDE
One huge, continuous and public square fragmented and articulated through a forest of white and slender pillars.
A mix of scaled micro-architectural devices give shape to an embracing and always different public open-space where the citizen can find any kind
of entertainment, a wide range of services and playgrounds. Everything spiced with some quite and relaxing spots placed strategically. That’s because this site is the “vacuum” between the historical center, full of public spaces, and its later expansion. The latter, built after the Second World War and planned as a working-class district, has
a lack of public spaces that, if present, they seem without any relationship between them.
The entire area has been considered as a pure social arena, colourful, enlightened, fully permeable whose parts can change form and size according
to any kind of hosted events. It’s a dynamic and continuous space that can host from the smallest to the biggest event, generating different situations at the same time. The internal subdivision allows the community to set up social events without interferences. From the central theatre to the sports eld, through the market square until the cultural dwelling, the user can freely enjoy every single corner of this new furnished public area. This equipped slab has been designed to work full- time both in winter and summer thanks to the main building that contains all the outdoor activities of the outside.
The inside and the outside are simultaneous.
Everything happens everywhere, it only depends on citizen habits, city necessities (e.g. bringing in existing festival or creating other brand new events) and even of the season.
How?
A huge, light and bright overlay will cover us all...
SITE 2 - EXTENSION PROMENADE
In the second area, because of the extreme compression between the dense city center and the riverbed, a long and slight “promenade” extends the capabilities of the new Pogon building (Zagreb Center for Independent Culture and Youth) straight inside the green site placed next to it.
It presents itself as a fully equipped dock, rm in its basic form, but dynamic during its use.
Similarly to the overlapping roof of the first area, the common framework, in this case, has been converted into a unique ground-matrix. Different size of collateral stages intersect the long device that hold all the activities taking place in there.
Crossing the long darsena it’s possible to find some “social concavities” thought as entertaining arenas that isolate themselves from the continuity of the path.
Expositive areas are mixed up with refreshment and relaxing areas.
The eastern facade of the Pogon building is the formal beginning of a 233 mt sequence of exterior activities that can virally take possession of the riverbed.
A “line” as a regenerative input of the river landscape, as a complementary appendix of the renewed cultural center that can alternate its activities between indoor and outdoor equipped spaces.
As far as you can enjoy...
SITE 3 - MOBILE WORKPOD
Think about a fickle work place where you can compose your own complete workstation and where you can freely arrange your work with big groups of workers, school classes, craftsmen, artists.
Once more the main framework changes itself and becomes even lighter. A rail network distributes
23 personal pod, differently equipped. They can perfectly t every kind of profession/craft, while a few of them are suitable as small but comfortable bedrooms designed to host users for one or two nights. That can also be usdes widely during winter or as implementation for the camping area situated along the verdant edge of the area.
This area has been conceived as the “productive” site of the entire system, that is where professionals, craftsmen, craft schools and near-graduate classes can, feeding their technique culture, learn and practise, assemble, disassemble, build, recycle and, last but not least, maintain, x and increase all the architectural devices of which the other areas may need.
With this particular role, even suggested by the position in the urban pattern, this area can activate a simple process of functional cooperation and interdependence between itself and the other sites.
The main building is the head-station for all the mobile work-pod (1/2 module) where they can be placed when not used. From there they can reach all the xed micro-architecture (1 module) that are equipped with solar and/or photovoltaic panels, tanks for the rain water.
Trying to reach a sort of energy independence, it’s possible to transform a work place into an affordable productive and almost free working space.
Just wait for the next wagon...
SITE 4 - NATURAL SPRAWLING
The furthest area takes by itself a relevant quality that becomes the last transformation of the core framework that get all its parts together.
We’re talking about Nature.
If in the other three areas this element plays just an environmental role, in this last case the wild vegetation will join the anthropic one, re-creating a productive habitat through min-invasive actions.
They consists in transparent greenhouses that, with the main building, are the only closed spaces. Between them just big pools for ground cultivation and hydroponics.
The latter in anticipation of the realisation of a phyto-remediation system.
Included in this green planning, citizens will find collateral services like open air workshop spaces, and shaded picnic areas and a quiet camping area inside the wild vegetation.
Walking through the park some silos for rainwater collection, a set of movable irrigation systems and an inline sequence of light shading organise the wide and renewed site.
From the parking square and through the main building, citizens and tourists will be guided to the fields or directly to the “wilder” area where a network of small footpaths will bring them to the environmental viewing tower.
And that’s the beginning of the story...
Temporary as strategic way of actively re-thinking the city with a dynamic functional planning that makes each area unique but replicable at the same time.
Temporary can’t necessarily be synonymous of low-quality if designed for and with people.
Temporary in space and time, precise in its organisation and development.
Temporary as convertible functions and spaces but not as ephemeral architectural devices.
“Make good architecture means to think and to build spaces for everyday life and this should not be at the discretion only of the permanent projects.“