Firm： superspace

Type： Cultural › Pavilion Sculpture Government + Health › Community Center Landscape + Planning › Public Park Playground Urban Green Space Masterplan Transport + Infrastructure › Train/Subway Bicycles Bus

STATUS： Concept

SIZE： 500,000 sqft - 1,000,000 sqft

the ring reclaims victory's colossal traffic jam back to its original promises and invigorates social activity

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an urban square doomed to live with vehicle traffic for so long that it has forgotten the meaning of enjoying the companionship of people. a non-place in the middle of the city center acting improperly to fleeting inhabitants, wasting time all alone...

it is time to behave more decent to make friends and spend some time together!

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the victory square, literally the heart of Prague 6, is a lately developed area differentiating from the old city with abruptly emerging wide boulevards flowing to a unique horseshoe shape. a.engels planned it as an urban square which in time became severely inhuman, amplified by heavy traffic turning into a non-permeable urban void, unattractive to be claimed as a vibrant public space. a simple solution is created through transitional and functional integration to uncover the potential of this urban void. as the horseshoe employs necessary daily activities for living, the transition to the circle of the roundabout welcomes social community activities unified around the ring isolated by a thick urban jungle. for an iconic visual impact and to give an impression of walking into a deep forest, intense, tall, local and evergreen trees are planned to be used when densifying the landscape of the horseshoe. the trees also mask the visual and aural effects of the excessive traffic flow and support a comfortable social zone.

as a historically planned urban void victory square is not fully implemented according to the original plan for various reasons. in any case, most of the problems occur due to their inhuman scale. it seems to be defeated by the overwhelming urban traffic. the center of the square is not reachable to people which means half of the area is an anti-space. there are no shortcuts for people. the scale is not human. how do we uncover the potential of this urban void to retrieve to the public realm of the city and as a result improve the quality of city life and make the place more attractive? increasing permeability physically and virtually will make it easier and comfortable to access and attract its users which will make them own and sustain the place.

the cities are not static and so are the societies. streets and squares are the dynamic networks and connecting nodes of a viable city and communities. the streets and squares with inadequate infrastructure and unfunctional use do not help the hasty eyes and make people ignore them, perceiving them as dead, unattractive, uneasy to use non-places, wasted spaces; public realms, and resources.

how do we uncover the potential of this urban void to retrieve the public realm of the city and as a result improve the quality of urban life and convert it to a charming place enduring in memories?

the ring presents more space for pedestrians, optimizes the plot into a massive and united urban jungle by reducing accessibility obstacles, densifies the urban landscape, and slows down the urban traffic with greetings to a.engels!

the form of the ring derives from the transition line of the horseshoe plan to the circle of the roundabout. it is the heart of the district which makes it a place suitable for communal activities from theme markets to art festivals, safe from the surrounding traffic flow visual and aural, creating a place on its own that shape livable communities with unifying flexibility and freedom. the eight paths leading to the circle accommodate various functions of daily life activities, like sitting, walking, running, sunbathing, coffee breaks, playgrounds, basketball, sports, roller skating... etc or just an extraordinary shortcut from work back to home or a place to get lost in space and time.