Toggle navigation President's Medals. Key Dates. The Prizes. Project Entries. Dissertation Entries. Winning Entries. The Judges Dissertation Judges. Bronze Medal judges. Silver Medal judges. Next Project Following hundreds of years of foreign oppression, most recently by the USSR, Latvia has finally regained its independence. As a response to the repressive political, social and cultural ideals of the Soviet Union, the citizens of Riga have begun to spread from the inner city though use of the motor vehicle, which they behold as a symbol of freedom.
These nodes aim to connect diverse areas of social, political and cultural difference through the appropriate use of public space, integration of a revitalised transport link and development of inner city buildings.
Using a bar of soap as a metaphor — the soap is transient as temporary ownership prevails - each user may appropriate the entity as desired, but once the activity is complete the entity can be used by others in the same or different ways. The factor of time is therefore a crucial one, as with time varies both ownership and activity, whether talking about space or a bar of soap.
The brief for a hybrid building typology offers maximum use of space and encourages temporary ownership by multiple users over time. Within this proposition there are a variety of different spaces created through subtle changes in architectural language. From public through ways to intimate meeting points — materials, volume, columns, overhangs and texture all play a role in determining the occupation of space.
The introduction of a boardwalk for pedestrian movement joins together the currently abandoned and fragmented riverfront of the city. This link is woven together with the fabric of the city via designated development corridors that connect to and revitalize key existing streets and nodal points of activity.
