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VERA SERIAKOV (AT)
WÄHRINGER GÜRTEL 7/18
NELA KADIC (AT)
1180 VIENNA, AT
ARCHITECTS-URBANISTS
T. +43 6601493007 VERA@SERIAKOV.COM NELAKADIC@GMAIL.COM
RUNNER-UP - ST PÖLTEN (AT)
The Elastic City TEAM POINT OF VIEW While the Austrian government is struggling with the accommodation of refugees, new strategies clearly have to be found. We – as urbanists – should at least contribute with a proposal dealing with a qualitative way of cooperation with people in need in a dignified way. 75% of Austrian municipalities do not provide shelter for refugees. Still, there seems to be less xenophobia among the local population of the ones hosting refugees. This might be due to the fact that knowing what you are confronted to can help you overcome most fears of contacts and lay the foundation to integrate people with different backgrounds and needs. The city’s adaptability is its intelligence and sensitiveness to react on human and spatial requirements. We have to set a system as a base to achieve those mechanisms. By establishing a framework for a socially sustainable growth we contribute to St Pölten’s capability to answer those future challenges. We believe in a clear yet flexible system allowing more freedom and urban variety. Today’s urban planning strategies need to react on economic and societal challenges and be aware of their responsibility to prevent segregation and poverty. JURY POINT OF VIEW The project of an elastic framework of urban rules creating a socially diverse mix of 60-70% long term inhabitants to 30% short term inhabitants –like asylum seekers and other temporary stay guests– is appreciated as an essential political statement and interesting conceptual approach. The theoretical research, its representation and the positioning of St Pölten in a greater radius in Austria offers a vision of a new dense neighbourhood of the future and raises the question how to create society in adaptable times.