Future architects from the Czech Republic and Belgium are addressing neglected areas in Liberec

Liberec - Architecture students from the Czech Republic and Belgium are seeking ways to improve some neglected places in the hundred-thousand-strong city of Liberec. A group of six architecture students from Liberec, along with 14 colleagues from the Belgian Sint Lucas School of Architecture, are working as part of a workshop at the Faculty of Architecture of the Technical University of Liberec (TUL) on solutions for four selected locations - the train station, the Nisa River, Papírové náměstí, and the Rochlice housing estate. They will present their designs to the city in November. This was reported today by Radek Suchánek, head of the TUL architecture department.
    The workshop is another activity of the Vision of Liberec project, which is supported by the city. It follows on from broader analyses undertaken by Liberec architecture students in the first half of this year. During that time, a number of new and original ideas emerged in the projects - for example, a cable car from the center to the Broumovská housing estate, as well as ideas that have been recurring with iron regularity, such as a tunnel under the train station that has been considered since the 1930s. “The Vision of Liberec project began this February, and we will submit the results to the city council in November,” noted Suchánek. The students' designs are intended to serve as inspiration for the city in the future.
    While in the first part of the project students were developing structural plans for the city's development for the next 30 to 50 years, at the workshop the architecture students are tackling the specific appearance of particular places. They have divided into four teams, each working on one theme. While some are addressing the train station, others are trying to integrate flood protection measures as effectively as possible into the surrounding area of the Nisa River in the city, so that it contributes to the overall revitalization of the so-called lower center. The third group is brainstorming ideas for the neglected Papírové náměstí, which today mainly houses bars and restaurants. According to the students, it could be transformed into an artistic quarter with apartments and studios. A significant challenge for the students is the "humanization" of the largest housing estate, Rochlice, where more than 10,000 people live.