UNI announces ‘Urban Play’ — Architecture Competition to
Landscape challenge to re-imagine public squares in Glasgow, Scotland — UNI.xyz
PUBLIC SPACE: A MEDIUM TO GENERATE COMMUNITY
People are connected to the city through the meaningful exchanges and opportunities that they offer.
The potential for creating such a dialogue is vested in the public spaces of a city. Public spaces stimulate interaction among people, creating a sense of care and belonging.
Public squares are an important part of the social fabric of any city. They are built to create or preserve collective memory, promoting social cohesion in the community.
A unique relationship between the open area, building framing the space, and the experience of people in the area, exists.
Historically, public squares or plazas acted as civic as well as economic centers of a city.
How can public spaces enhance the urban quality of life of the citizens?
IMPACT OF PUBLIC SPACES ON OUR WELL-BEING
The plaza is generally of a huge scale to emphasize its significance. Its purpose was to create a ground for social interaction and engagement for the public. They act as focal points of a city, providing flexible spaces for various urban activities.
Even though the concept works ideally, in theory, the pattern of use of these public spaces has been observed to be completely different than expected. The squares are overrun by traffic, owing to their location at major crossroads and increase in vehicular movement.
Agoraphobia is a common phenomenon experienced by people in these large squares. The big expanse of concrete space generates a feeling of discomfort, unfamiliarity, and insecurity. People tend to pass through these squares, without having a meaningful engagement or experience.
How can we revive historic public squares?
CAN WE RETHINK PUBLIC SQUARES IN AN ATTEMPT TO MAKE THEM HEALTHY?
Public plazas remain inactive in the absence of events. Reanimating these spaces is essential to foster a sense of community among the inhabitants of the city. Several urban activities that are spread out throughout the city, can be concentrated around a particular square.
Brief: The challenge is to redesign a public square that changes the image of the area.
The public square will be an agglomeration of various public activities like an outdoor sports arena, an open-air theatre, and a playground for children. The existing image of the square must be taken into consideration while designing the new infrastructure.
The design intends to create the ultimate pedestrian destination for the people of the city. It will be accessible to tourists and citizens alike. The public square has the potential to become an urban playground in the heart of the city.
OBJECTIVES
- Concept: Design interventions must be directed to keep the public engaged in leisure, resting, and recreation adding value to the public space.
- Harmony: The design must establish some harmony or connection with the surroundings while having outstanding features.
- Access: The spatial design must be accessible to all types of users and navigation through the layout must be easy.
- Context: The design must respond to the (existing) site conditions. The wider socio-cultural, economic and environmental settings are to be considered in the design approach.
SITE
George Square, Glasgow, Scotland
The history of public places in Europe is rich with many squares and plazas standing as heritage pieces and event settings for past times. But the rules of public space design have evolved over the years and the focus of these spaces has to be shifted from event markers to addressing residents’ needs. The site is located in Glasgow, Scotland. The city has a high density and a huge populace from the surrounding areas to move to the city. Several urban renewal projects are part of the suburban areas in the city and public spaces are attracting more visitors every day. The site is to be a part of George Square.
It is famous for the many historic statues and greenery which is a recent addition. The square is surrounded by cultural landmarks and iconic monuments along with commercial outlets attracting many visitors to the area. The elements are a mix of the old and the new which gives the flexibility to manifest the activities of this typology. Participants have to design the intervention in 1000sqm in any part of the given site.
- Site area = 10,610 sq.m
- Height restriction = 3 metres
- Maximum Builtup Area = 1000 sq.m
- Max FAR: 1
- Setbacks (as per CAD plan)
- Coordinates = Glasgow G2 1DH, United Kingdom
Originally published at https://uni.xyz.
