Filed under: Architecture, Art, Cities, Congestion, In- between space, Interventions, Materials, Mobility, Public space, Street art, World | Tags: Bratislava, in-between, interventions, Materials, paint, Street art, transport
When you think of revitalizing space, paint is perhaps the best option. At least it’s one of the cheapest. Here at a bus terminal in Bratislava the urban interventionists of Civic Association and the people of Sadovský Architects have uplifted a bus stop that used to be a very sad place. As long as the government is not doing enough to improve urban conditions, why don’t we do it ourselves? That’s what the initiators thought when they initiated the 1,000 square meters Green Square project.
“People have to wait for their bus connections in a totally unsuitable area, and we consider it a disgrace that the city of Bratislava leaves its citizens and tax-payers to function in such an inadequate environment. The characteristics of this place directly affect the mood and behavior of its users, and several disturbances and conflicts have happened here in the past.”
Although Green Square is an instant “intervention”, the cheapest fix, it is also by its “loudness” both a provocation and a call for a more serious approach to this problematic site. It is not only the cheapest method but also simultaneously the most visible attempt to change the atmosphere under the bridge, and to highlight the dysfunctional environment that everyone accepts out of habit.
The green square project is a cheap fix, but also a wake-up call to the local government. It is surely the best way to provoke civil servants, and to point to the insufficient qualities of a specific urban spot. The operation was performed using standard paint that is used for road surface markings. Road safety glass beads were also applied to the surface to provide reflectivity and to prevent vehicles from slipping.
The second part of the design concept, this time graphic, was created by graphic designer Ondrej Gavalda using adhesive tape that was painted over and then peeled off.
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Beautiful intervention. If I was a citizen of Bratislava I would go and paint the underbelly of the bridge a very loud red.
Comment by The Rock Center February 7, 2012 @ 4:09 pm