In today's Sarajevo, there's a general lack of public space where people can connect with nature the same way they used to. People do not use the parks as much anymore, and empty spaces like parking lots and grass fields are just left to decay. Yet, at the same time, young people are craving for new, vivid and enjoyable city life.
In our project, we are trying to create a generous urban space that can offer beautiful moments for people to connect with nature in the busy urban life. We occupy this parking lot that's in between the commercial area and the residential area. And it is right next to the main streets of the city. And we want to create a journey, a transition to offer people a place to rest, play, read, listen, plant and grow. Our project is generally divided into three areas.
1 Wind Walk
The flat parking lot that we occupied is converted into urban streets. With the hanging fabric, the street scenes mimic the old town of Bosnia in its bustling marketing marketplace, but also provides a sense of quietness from this busy commercial life. Here, as you walk, you see the wind, and hear the wind. Wind chimes that hanged on the center tree are telling the beauty of nature through appealing sounds created by the wind.
3 Light Pavillion 2 Garden Walk
Where these two journeys converge/emerge, We created a destination, a resting point, an urban living room where people can gather with their friends and guests and spend some peaceful time together in the middle point of multiple journeys through the city. Here, clean and pristine spaces are covered by waves of water passing through the roofs.
The other journey meanders through the hill, providing a community garden for people living on the hill and for visitors or passerby to walk through the garden. Every season, the hill looks different from the different plants being cultivated by residents nearby, and the colors would ease the tireness of walking up and down this hill everyday. Overtime, insects, bees, birds, and squirls might also proliferate, creating a pleasant journey for plants, animals, and people living in the city to connect with each other.
Wind Walk
On these urban streets surrounding the central tree, we offers place for kids to play, and chess plays for elder people and possibly temporary open galleries and lectures. But we also know that young people in Sarajevo initiate their own ways to use urban space. So our space also welcomes vandalizing. We invite people to graffiti on these fabrics, make this place dirty and messy as time passes.
Light Pavillion
This is also in hopes that we can keep this central living room space a pristine pavilion that will continue to provide a peaceful, curated experience, no matter how it changes, no matter how people change. In here, people can sit, rest, reading or have some tea together and exchange stories under the beautiful shades of water. We also very welcome people to bring their family activities here, to share love and happiness.
Garden Walk
And in our garden space, we also designed a series of double-sided modular walls along the walk. On the side facing the boardwalk, the walls hold seed archives and educational information for visitors to read about these seeds, and even scan the QR code to check some seeds out and take them home. On the side facing the gardens, these walls hold boxes of compost and cabinets of gardening tools. Instead of a library that stores seeds, we're designing a library of live plants. So when people see these plants, they can feel and connect with these plants through looking at them, touching them, and witnessing them change throuughout seasons.. And when they decide to grow their own plant, they can pick up a seed from here. So our seed library grows plants and disseminates seed, hoping that in the end, the city would be full of these plants and full of birds and insects that live with these plants.
