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Central City Square of Rahovec
Central City Square of Rahovec
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Other Projects by NODE Studio
Central City Square of Rahovec
Firm
STATUS
Concept
SIZE
25,000 sqft - 100,000 sqft
BUDGET
$5M - 10M
Small but Ancient City of Rahovec
Rahovec is a town that stands out within Kosovo, especially with its agricultural activities, more specifically with its viniculture. It has charecteristics that can be considered ancient for its close geography; In the political phase, it has hosted turbulent events. In the light of all these factual developments, the imaginations regarding the current memory for the “townsman” regarding the urban life and past are also strong in today’s conditions. For such a city, the change of established habits and orientations is formed by the transformation of the tendencies that exist in the memory and which have formed a reflex in the eyes of the city user. To be more precise, the idea of strategically creating a new habitat in which the designer actors or groups experience their feelings in the first place is in danger of being unrequited from the very first stage.
In this context, it is of great importance to read the habits of urban users that are part of daily life. For example, more specialized analyzes such as preferred transportation diversity, circulation density between urban focal points, accessibility to other macro-scale settlements, socialization activities will also help to create the correct synthesis of the context.
Access to the city is mainly provided by the bus terminal located in the southwest; As a result of the observations, it is easily noticed that after entering the city, users can access the old city center on foot within the route that includes the design area. The interest in sustainable vehicles such as bicycles and so on is relatively high by the citizens however there is an absence of appropriate norms and standards; this was an important analysis component for the decisions.
The subject of the competition is not used as a qualified gathering area, although it almost coincides with the center of gravity of the city and meets the same attitude in all aspects regarding the existing built environments density. Indoor Sports Hall, Bar and Hotel buildings are in a position that can only be used by regular clients as they are not inviting and not perceived easily from the outside due to their thresholds. Although they are located close to each other, a direct relationship and interaction cannot be established between them due to the Football Field. However, the structural components of the Hotel and Bar structures, which do not look very attractive, but rather form a base for the life they host, require an absolute intervention. Similarly, the sculpture and the recreation around it is detached from the old city center due to the football field; it cannot maintain interest except for special days due to regulations that do not allow effective public use such as parking lots.
Developing a Transportation Strategy with a Pedestrian Focus
Developing a pedestrian-focused strategy to increase the use intensity of the design area, which supports sustainable and public participation, has been the first and collective criterion for planning. In this context, the void that emerged with the cancellation of the football field and all other components has evolved into a “Square” in the light of the usage habits that existed from ancient times to the present. Instead
of the usual hard surface elements, the ground plane grass was left to leave the ergonomic conditions of use to nature and to change the square in a cycle that does not end with seasonal changes. This intervention also contains a reference to the usage habits that existed in the recent past.
The waterway, which is established along a valley, flows from the city center to the perimeter, and offers a definable reference for user movements. The fact that the water element is an invaluable blessing for a geography that already exhibits continental climate characteristics provides a strong argument for the unearthing of this element. For this reason, the waterway that exists throughout the design area, which is needed to maintain the physical use of the square during the possible flood, was opened; has become a part of recreation.
The southeastern-northwest oriented vehicle road, which caused a disconnection between the monument and the green cluster in its vicinity and the Square, has been pedestrianized. Thus, not only the void created by the cancellation of the Football Field, but a macro habitat that includes all other benchmark elements into the design was created. All open parking areas have been canceled; with the first intervention that comes to mind in the conventional usage proposal, each one has been gathered under the square. The road between Hotel Park Plaza and Bar was also canceled, preventing the hotel’s isolated stance.
Principle Design Decisions
Indoor Sports Hall: It is the prevailing opinion that the existing building should be preserved as it is, since it is the only building that was built in the recent past and provides the opportunity to use it for its primary function for the city and its immediate surroundings.
Designed with the focus of function as much as possible, the structure is supported by massive surfaces in the setup required by the user ergonomics regarding the activity in the interior, and enriched with transparent surfaces in places to provide natural lighting. It has been criticized that for a building that has such an introverted attitude, it cannot display the feature of a showcase although it is located next to the Square. Considering the position of the city related to the viticulture, the idea of reflecting such a geographical feature in the City Square instead of perceiving it in the rural landscape was dominant. In this context, a “Vertical Vineyard” has been designed in which terraces that will form observation points with the characteristic of “City Balcony” with light structural elements can be positioned along the long face of the Indoor Sports Hall facing the Square. The “Vertical Vineyard” created on the existing waterway aims to keep the user in constant contact with the water element.
Hotel Park Plaza: An intervention focused on renovation was preferred along the front line, where the gross architectural features of the building are seen rather than the front side where the accommodation units are located. Accordingly, to make the orthogonal attitude read before the building more dominant, the concave geometry on the front
facade was flattened in a clear and sharp form and reconstructed with wooden material.
The cafeteria, which is located on the short side and is scattered, has been reconstructed with a closed volume to bear the same characteristic with the building; It has been made an integral part of the building. The front approach facade of the building is supported by a vehicle transportation pocket to ensure the vehicle approach following the standards and not to harm the already existing traffic density.
Market Area and Bar Areas: The existing Bar facility, which offers an important interface for socializing, cannot capture a perimeter where it can interact with the rest of the city, except for its inward facing open space and semi-open space usage options. However, it does not have the potential to meet the possible demand and service for the potential heavy user mass to be hosted by the “Square”. Therefore, the existing Bar structure should be canceled and reconstructed; In the meantime, it is one of the first solution suggestions that come to mind to increase the user capacity and to include optional food and beverage units instead of a single business model.
The market area (and stalls), which open one day of the week and meet the food supply needs of the city users, is a feature that creates chaos in its surroundings. For this reason, designing a systematic bench pattern and gaining the ability to enable multi-purpose use constitutes the dominant trend in today’s sustainable building technologies.
In this context, organizing both the market area and the bar facilities based on the area where the market stalls are established was a decision; so a new structure has been designed as a base for different usage alternatives (Workshop, Festival, Exhibition, etc.). The structure was constructed with light structural elements, strengthening the sense of portable perception; it displays an accessible stance at any time with its permeable wall features.
Constructed with the modular axis system of the structure, the carrier system creates applicable solutions for flexible space solutions.
Monument and Ceremony Area: The current Monument and its environmental components, which are an important figurative structure for the city’s history due to the sequence of events that still preserve their freshness in the city’s memory and to give readable clues in terms of political stance, have been preserved. Figurative sculpture continues to maintain the same emphasis on the formal organization where the pedestal can be adapted more easily to the fluid “Square” setup by stylizing it with a more modern touch. In short, the relationship between shape and ground is preserved before the Monument.
The “Square” and the Units on its Side: As mentioned before, the Football Field and its tribunes also refer to the space organization that is analogically interwined. The idea of creating a plane that will host the spontaneous actions of the users throughtout the day, instead of a field that does not provide a use other than sports, refers to the unmissable and only monitored field component with irony. A plane where each individual, who constitutes the urban user mass, plays his / her own life by establishing a game example, and this unprepared activity can interact with others, also winking at the phenomenon of participation and collective socialization.
Positioning the “Square” obviously does not mean that the features of a real “Square” can only be defined by determining the application coordinates of the space. For a “Square” perception that can be described, it is expected that all the perimeter of the square will contribute to the socio-cultural and socioeconomic richness by feeding. In this context, in the continuation of the existing commercial unit lineup along the main street, sales units were set up on the short side of the “Square” and signs were made regarding the urban activity segregation. A similar attitude has been applied to the vicinity of the Market.
The existence of many sub-components in the design requires a common grammar to refer to each other; which gives clue that they are part of the same structure in perception and prevents unconscious eclecticism, makes it easier to define the transitions between the buildins. The organizational rule and pattern sequence to be constructed on the creation of the city’s alphabet rather than grammar may also lead to a possible fractal development.
In this context, the facade of the Indoor Sports Hall and the modular structural structure built on the market are interconnected with an endless cycle and guide to the possible growth trajectories of the city. This structure, which can be built with very simple principles, also emphasizes the “Square”. Like “Stem Cell”, this component, which is adaptable for all possible surface area, also creates an imaginable frame for Rahovec.
Rahovec is a town that stands out within Kosovo, especially with its agricultural activities, more specifically with its viniculture. It has charecteristics that can be considered ancient for its close geography; In the political phase, it has hosted turbulent events. In the light of all these factual developments, the imaginations regarding the current memory for the “townsman” regarding the urban life and past are also strong in today’s conditions. For such a city, the change of established habits and orientations is formed by the transformation of the tendencies that exist in the memory and which have formed a reflex in the eyes of the city user. To be more precise, the idea of strategically creating a new habitat in which the designer actors or groups experience their feelings in the first place is in danger of being unrequited from the very first stage.
In this context, it is of great importance to read the habits of urban users that are part of daily life. For example, more specialized analyzes such as preferred transportation diversity, circulation density between urban focal points, accessibility to other macro-scale settlements, socialization activities will also help to create the correct synthesis of the context.
Access to the city is mainly provided by the bus terminal located in the southwest; As a result of the observations, it is easily noticed that after entering the city, users can access the old city center on foot within the route that includes the design area. The interest in sustainable vehicles such as bicycles and so on is relatively high by the citizens however there is an absence of appropriate norms and standards; this was an important analysis component for the decisions.
The subject of the competition is not used as a qualified gathering area, although it almost coincides with the center of gravity of the city and meets the same attitude in all aspects regarding the existing built environments density. Indoor Sports Hall, Bar and Hotel buildings are in a position that can only be used by regular clients as they are not inviting and not perceived easily from the outside due to their thresholds. Although they are located close to each other, a direct relationship and interaction cannot be established between them due to the Football Field. However, the structural components of the Hotel and Bar structures, which do not look very attractive, but rather form a base for the life they host, require an absolute intervention. Similarly, the sculpture and the recreation around it is detached from the old city center due to the football field; it cannot maintain interest except for special days due to regulations that do not allow effective public use such as parking lots.
Developing a Transportation Strategy with a Pedestrian Focus
Developing a pedestrian-focused strategy to increase the use intensity of the design area, which supports sustainable and public participation, has been the first and collective criterion for planning. In this context, the void that emerged with the cancellation of the football field and all other components has evolved into a “Square” in the light of the usage habits that existed from ancient times to the present. Instead
of the usual hard surface elements, the ground plane grass was left to leave the ergonomic conditions of use to nature and to change the square in a cycle that does not end with seasonal changes. This intervention also contains a reference to the usage habits that existed in the recent past.
The waterway, which is established along a valley, flows from the city center to the perimeter, and offers a definable reference for user movements. The fact that the water element is an invaluable blessing for a geography that already exhibits continental climate characteristics provides a strong argument for the unearthing of this element. For this reason, the waterway that exists throughout the design area, which is needed to maintain the physical use of the square during the possible flood, was opened; has become a part of recreation.
The southeastern-northwest oriented vehicle road, which caused a disconnection between the monument and the green cluster in its vicinity and the Square, has been pedestrianized. Thus, not only the void created by the cancellation of the Football Field, but a macro habitat that includes all other benchmark elements into the design was created. All open parking areas have been canceled; with the first intervention that comes to mind in the conventional usage proposal, each one has been gathered under the square. The road between Hotel Park Plaza and Bar was also canceled, preventing the hotel’s isolated stance.
Principle Design Decisions
Indoor Sports Hall: It is the prevailing opinion that the existing building should be preserved as it is, since it is the only building that was built in the recent past and provides the opportunity to use it for its primary function for the city and its immediate surroundings.
Designed with the focus of function as much as possible, the structure is supported by massive surfaces in the setup required by the user ergonomics regarding the activity in the interior, and enriched with transparent surfaces in places to provide natural lighting. It has been criticized that for a building that has such an introverted attitude, it cannot display the feature of a showcase although it is located next to the Square. Considering the position of the city related to the viticulture, the idea of reflecting such a geographical feature in the City Square instead of perceiving it in the rural landscape was dominant. In this context, a “Vertical Vineyard” has been designed in which terraces that will form observation points with the characteristic of “City Balcony” with light structural elements can be positioned along the long face of the Indoor Sports Hall facing the Square. The “Vertical Vineyard” created on the existing waterway aims to keep the user in constant contact with the water element.
Hotel Park Plaza: An intervention focused on renovation was preferred along the front line, where the gross architectural features of the building are seen rather than the front side where the accommodation units are located. Accordingly, to make the orthogonal attitude read before the building more dominant, the concave geometry on the front
facade was flattened in a clear and sharp form and reconstructed with wooden material.
The cafeteria, which is located on the short side and is scattered, has been reconstructed with a closed volume to bear the same characteristic with the building; It has been made an integral part of the building. The front approach facade of the building is supported by a vehicle transportation pocket to ensure the vehicle approach following the standards and not to harm the already existing traffic density.
Market Area and Bar Areas: The existing Bar facility, which offers an important interface for socializing, cannot capture a perimeter where it can interact with the rest of the city, except for its inward facing open space and semi-open space usage options. However, it does not have the potential to meet the possible demand and service for the potential heavy user mass to be hosted by the “Square”. Therefore, the existing Bar structure should be canceled and reconstructed; In the meantime, it is one of the first solution suggestions that come to mind to increase the user capacity and to include optional food and beverage units instead of a single business model.
The market area (and stalls), which open one day of the week and meet the food supply needs of the city users, is a feature that creates chaos in its surroundings. For this reason, designing a systematic bench pattern and gaining the ability to enable multi-purpose use constitutes the dominant trend in today’s sustainable building technologies.
In this context, organizing both the market area and the bar facilities based on the area where the market stalls are established was a decision; so a new structure has been designed as a base for different usage alternatives (Workshop, Festival, Exhibition, etc.). The structure was constructed with light structural elements, strengthening the sense of portable perception; it displays an accessible stance at any time with its permeable wall features.
Constructed with the modular axis system of the structure, the carrier system creates applicable solutions for flexible space solutions.
Monument and Ceremony Area: The current Monument and its environmental components, which are an important figurative structure for the city’s history due to the sequence of events that still preserve their freshness in the city’s memory and to give readable clues in terms of political stance, have been preserved. Figurative sculpture continues to maintain the same emphasis on the formal organization where the pedestal can be adapted more easily to the fluid “Square” setup by stylizing it with a more modern touch. In short, the relationship between shape and ground is preserved before the Monument.
The “Square” and the Units on its Side: As mentioned before, the Football Field and its tribunes also refer to the space organization that is analogically interwined. The idea of creating a plane that will host the spontaneous actions of the users throughtout the day, instead of a field that does not provide a use other than sports, refers to the unmissable and only monitored field component with irony. A plane where each individual, who constitutes the urban user mass, plays his / her own life by establishing a game example, and this unprepared activity can interact with others, also winking at the phenomenon of participation and collective socialization.
Positioning the “Square” obviously does not mean that the features of a real “Square” can only be defined by determining the application coordinates of the space. For a “Square” perception that can be described, it is expected that all the perimeter of the square will contribute to the socio-cultural and socioeconomic richness by feeding. In this context, in the continuation of the existing commercial unit lineup along the main street, sales units were set up on the short side of the “Square” and signs were made regarding the urban activity segregation. A similar attitude has been applied to the vicinity of the Market.
The existence of many sub-components in the design requires a common grammar to refer to each other; which gives clue that they are part of the same structure in perception and prevents unconscious eclecticism, makes it easier to define the transitions between the buildins. The organizational rule and pattern sequence to be constructed on the creation of the city’s alphabet rather than grammar may also lead to a possible fractal development.
In this context, the facade of the Indoor Sports Hall and the modular structural structure built on the market are interconnected with an endless cycle and guide to the possible growth trajectories of the city. This structure, which can be built with very simple principles, also emphasizes the “Square”. Like “Stem Cell”, this component, which is adaptable for all possible surface area, also creates an imaginable frame for Rahovec.
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