Конкурсантам предстоит разработать проекты по благоустройству прибрежных территорий реки Свратка в чешском городе Брно. Задача – создать защищенные от наводнений набережные, которые будут активно использоваться местными жителями в любое время года. Необходимо обеспечить все условия для развития здесь общественно-культурной жизни. В то же время внимание следует уделить сохранению природной среды и дополнительному озеленению территорий.
пресс-релиз:
This competition, taking as its goal the project of making the river Svratka more accessible while increasing the protection of property and lives among the citizens of Brno, is part of the city’s vision for future development. As a result, we expect from the designs a strategic conception of an approach to planning the banks of the Svratka accompanied with a plan of considered ‘acupuncture’ interventions reflecting the changing character of the north and south banks from the east to the west. The design should also not forget the highly diverse social composition of the residents, who will use the embankments for strolling, sports or cultural activities in all possible forms and in all seasons of the year. In other words, the contestants are asked to present, in addition to the plans of the landscaping and flood protection, a program for the use of the land under discussion as a whole and in its parts – a kind of palette of scenarios and possibilities that suggest what could take place in this area.
We expect from the contestants that they will make use, to the greatest possible extent, the potential offered by the immediate area of the river course – the large concentration of office and administrative construction, as well as residential; the close proximity of the rail station and the city centre at the eastern edge of the area, or the network of cycling paths. At the same time, it is necessary that all interventions – whenever possible – be conceived as close to nature. Interventions must also be thoroughly considered, in simplicity as well as complexity. We cannot forget that the channel of the river must, above all else, have sufficient capacity to ensure protection of the surrounding built areas from flooding: the designs should contribute intensified greenery to the embankments and create a ‘habitable natural environment’ that would bring the river-banks to life and add excitement to the dull functionality of a regulated river course. Along the banks of the Svratka, we should find not only flourishing vegetation, but a no less flourishing cultural-social life.
The territory under consideration is spread along the course of the Svratka for a length of roughly 3 km. On the left bank, it starts with the area between the Riviéra swimming baths and the exposition grounds, and on the right bank with the suburb of Kamenná kolonie. The ending point is the area of the rail viaduct between ul. Pražákova and ul. Uhelná. Lying between the street frontages of both river banks is an ‘open public’ space, the use of which is understandably defined by the rules for regulation of the watercourse, zoning-planning limitations and proposed anti-flood barriers, yet at the same time contains a great potential for the city and its residents.
The location addressed in this competition is the only actual contact point between the river and the city. Elsewhere, the Svratka leaves little mark on the built fabric, and is also here the least accessible. In other words, it is an incredibly complex land situation, yet for the contestants it is a major challenge, and for the city of Brno, a unique chance.