‘Váh’lk along the shore,
Danube Transnational Program, Komárno (Slovaquie)
Urban Design, ERASMUS, Bratislava, Slovaquie, sep 2017 / Dec 2017
Project with Federica Petti, escola architectura de Roma
Walking along the banks of the river, in an area full of nature, the first impression we had is about the view that we have walking along all the area we have chosen. We found 3 different sequences of points of view; the first part, the one that arrives from the road that passes through the port, after crossing the first bridge, we have classified it as closed area, because the view of the river is hosted by the vegetation present on the river bank; in the second part, after passing the railway bridge, the view opens completely on the river, due to the lack of vegetation, and there is a whole view of the surrounding environment (open area); a little further on, in the third part, the view closes again due to the presence of trees (closed area).
One of the Komarno’s fortresses, the one that is part of our area, looks like a big structure with green roofs and abeautiful view.
Our impression, however, was of complete abandonment; it is difficult to get there, there is just a small path, without directions and semi-abandoned. It seemed very strange because inside the fortress there is a museum, a wine bar and an open-air stage; it also hosts a music festival, but everything is little appreciated.
During the walk along the shore, we noticed some very interesting structures.
Therefore, we want to leave them as they are, rather try to valorize them.
We want to enhance the path passing over the dike creating stairs to go down or slides where children can play, we will try to make the walk along the river more enjoyable. Very beautiful are also the white concrete blocks forming an alignment in the landscape and also the concrete door overlooking the river.
Considering the state of abandonment of the fortress, our project is to make it a place of leisure and meeting for people. Based on the activities that already exist in the fortress, like the wine bar and the stage for events, we want to make these activities stronger by creating terraces and stairs where the people can use outdoor tables and chairs to spend theirs free time. Also, using the topography of the land we want to create green spaces where lie down on the lawn and enjoy the day. Our whole project is also aimed at the use by disabled people, creating ramps to access each terrace.
Structural passages to observe nature and to walk near the small river, for the protection of biodiversity and for pedagogical advice to explain the different types of plants and their usefulness.
We create this sinuous path along the stream for have different approach of water; the people can sit on the stairs in front of the small river, play with the water or cross the stream on the rocks.
This path could be also a place with pedagogic boards about flora and fauna, to learn about the surrounding environment.
The water from this stream also reaches the social gardens to help people cultivate the different types of plants that are inside.
It is possible to reach the promenade and the fortress by car, for this reason we have created a parking near the residential area in the north of our area where the people can leave the car and enjoy the walk in the nature.
We used the advantage of topography of the ground to create games with natural materials such as wood, making the games build up to local artisans.
We also thought about the maintenance of the area; It is very simple because we have tried not to invade the landscape with large structures, but only to increase tourism with small structures with natural materials, simple to manage.
These social gardens, in association with schools or community or private associations, can produce small markets (sale of vegetables) for beneficial events or simply to help the community to have organic food for personal use.