In one of my previous stories I was talking about Novi Sad and I mentioned residential neighborhood Liman, located in Novi Sad and built during 60s and 70s in communist style.
This neighborhood has its qualities but it is also very monotonous in both textures and functions so I decided in 2013 to choose this part of Novi Sad to make neighborhood and Danube coast transformation and this project got highest marks by Urban Planning professor, Milica Kostreš.
After finishing all the exams I decided to take this project as my graduation work and improve it because this was the one that I was the most satisfied with. In 2016 I presented my graduation work on Faculty of Technical Sciences and finished my studies with highest mark.
Today I will try translating text from drawings and make short presentation for Steemit about the project. I said short because explanation of the project is about 35-40 pages long in detail and could be exhausting for most of the non-architect readers.
The measures of the transformation
When we look at the map of the area you can see that the space I took to transform has just a few buildings and most of them are not functional so I've decided to keep the ones with good construction and remove the ones with bad construction and looks.
When we look at the surroundings we can see blocks that have freestanding buildings in form without any shape so I tried to do the same in nowadays style in north part of the transformed area in order to fit in the surroundings. I called those blocks "Liman" block type.
We have also transitional blocks that are something between modern and communist block and the one that is nearest the river is the most contemporary one with lots of public spaces.
I used this method of gradient in creating the buildings in order to avoid the effect of shock when you see modern structures in the middle of a grey concrete neighborhood.
More different spaces, more fun in the space
One of the main goals of this project is to bring more people to Liman and show them how the coast of Danube can be transformed in more beautiful and more dynamic space for all the citizens.
This neighborhood don't have many visitors that don't live here because nearly all that is offered are very tall and grey residential spaces. But, if we give different types of buildings to everybody, Liman can become nice place to visit.
The solution for one more problem is given too. Novi Sad and Danube should be one but there are just a few designed spaces along the river in Novi Sad and none of them is urban beach so I tried to create a one in this part of the city.
Micro-spaces, materials and the pedestrian zone
Small spaces are divided with different types of the flooring. White granite pedestrian surfaces in one direction and dark grey granite surfaces in another direction together form the net in which are the buildings and small spaces.
When you walk along the gray granite pedestrian zone you can see where you can turn left or right by seeing white granite. That was one of the methods for easier orientation in space.
Wooden deck is mostly used in coastal area but also as the flooring on squares and around water surfaces.
Water surfaces are very important for making micro-climate in the summer and they are situated in the parts of Liman that are not close to the river.
The area which is closest to Danube has huge ramp that connects main square and the urban beach. This creates strong bond between the coast and water and when passengers are on the ramp they can feel how the urban space and water are not that strongly separated as usual in Novi Sad.
Most of the building are 3 or 4 floors high with few exceptions with 7 or 8. That was the way to make balance between Liman that has very hight buildings and the rest of Novi Sad that is pretty flat.
The whole area is covered with ramps so that everyone can use it. That is very important for city spaces nowadays because every being has the same right on public space.
However, as nearly every large scale project, this one have some shortcomings too but I gave my best to imagine better life for everyone in this city.
I hope you liked it and thank you for reading and all support.
Have a nice day and enjoy you city spaces!