Initiation of the international workshop 'Liberec a city with a vision'

On Sunday, October 9, 2011, an intensive week-long international workshop focused on the strategy for the further development of the city began at the Faculty of Art and Architecture in Liberec, under the leadership of Ivana Bendová from the Shanghai office of Archis and Professor of Urbanism Jiří Klokočka from the Belgian Sint-Lucas School of Architecture, assisted by Professor Jiří Suchomel from the host school. Fourteen Belgian and six Czech students are building on broader analyses that were processed at the school in the 'Atelier Liberec' under the leadership of Zdena Zedníčková and Jiří Janďourek during the previous semester.

This time, attention is closely focused on four pressing topics. The first place is the main train station with the barrier of the railway body, which separates approximately one-third of the city from the historic center. The second topic is the role of the water element in the city. In this task, in addition to incorporating the concept of flood protection measures into the adjustments around the river, students will address the overall revitalization of the area around the Nisa, both in terms of urban and functional structure, as well as the question of returning the river to the city. The third topic is the historically valuable surroundings of Papírové náměstí, which has retained its original character due to the decline of intensive activities in the recent past. The task is to restore a quality public space with an awareness of the historical context of the sparsely populated Lucembruská street. The last topic is the unidentified void of the Rochlice housing estate in the south of Liberec, where the design will primarily focus on improving the existing public space.
The most unimpressive experience of the first day, when an expedition to Ještěd took place, was the perfect timing of views of the city and surroundings in an otherwise uniform gray blanket of clouds shortly after reaching the summit of the hill. The second day followed with familiarization with the city and a conceptual excursion into the history of Liberec and the specifics of its “heterogeneous” structure. After absorbing the issues, the five-member mixed teams could finally begin the actual design on Tuesday.
The results of this international workshop will become part of the final document "Vision Liberec," where they will be used as concrete examples of how to proceed with implementing the structural plan of the city.