Illegal construnctions on Kamenné Square have for years resisted the effort of the authorities to have them removed. The reason was for example the unavailability of the owners or their stay outside of Slovakia. Fast food stands and illegal constructions will be moved to the area, that is owned by the investor of the former Hotel Kyjev building. This will enable the capital city to initiate the revitalization of Kamenné Square. The new design will also be complemented by the features from the Vivid Square project, that we are working on. Soon, the Quick Win solutions on the square will be commenced.
Vivid Square project is commenced
Alliance Old Market Hall and SGI Institute (Slovak Governance Institute) have introduced today their joint project Vivid Square, which should be starting point of the SNP and Kamenné Squares revitalization to a functional and accessible urban space.
The project has been built up for more than two years, with the cooperation with the architecture studio 2021 and Laboratory of the Landscape Architecture (LABAK), as well with the participation of the City of Bratislava, capital of Slovakia.
A comprehensive study was completed based also on the reports and ideas from the experts, residents and visitors of the city. Based on the longterm analyses and surveys, it provides solutions on how to create a unified public space through simple changes on SNP and Kamenné Squares.
„The most interesting outcome of the project was, that after the data was collected and consulted with the experts, the most simple solutions proved to be the most effective. For example, just with the relocation of the free parking places from the bottom to the top part of SNP Square, we achieve approximately 30% less cars on the square,“ says Ctibor Košťál from the SGI. Besides hundreds of pages with data and analyses, the project includes several corresponding Quick Wins solutions. These solutions can significantly contribute to the improvement of the conditions on the squares and at the same time they are neither costly nor time-consuming. „Some of the Quick Wins have already been implemented in front of the Old Market Hall, also thanks to the partnership with Volkswagen Slovakia. Last year the trees were trimmed, permanent seating, lighting and cleaning service were provided. We take care also of small adjustments on the square and the result is a functional urban space, where many Bratislava residents and tourists meet and spend time. These simple, but functional changes are exactly what we suggest to implement in the whole space,“ adds Gábor Bindics from the Alliance Old Market Hall.
However, this is not where the project ends. The completed documents and collected information can also be a starting point for the public urban-architecture competition, which should be a legitimate tool to establish a longterm strategy and complex solutions for the future of the squares.
Local Maintenance will take care of the square
In cooperation with the entities operating on the squares as well as with the active residents from this locality, we establish a so called Local Maintenance, whose task is to make the maintenance of the squares more effective, to connect and provide feedback.
Local Maintenance takes care of the street furniture on the squares. It will be one of the coordinators of the cultural programme. Further, it also collects data based on which we can monitor the effectiveness of our implemented solutions. The data can be utilized further once establishing the competition conditions.
Local Maintenance was established by an association of the square stakeholders (Old Market Hall, Flagship restaurant, Slovenská sporiteľňa bank, NOC (National Enlightenment Centre), Bukowski pub, and others). Local Maintenance is in the streets at various time intervals 6 days a week, 8 hours a day.