Outdoor Stage I.P. Pavlova: transforming biggest road in Prague into a cosmopolitan boulevard
I.P. Pavlova is known as one of the busiest areas in Prague – a metro station, crossroads of a number of key tram routes, and two arteries of the one of central Prague freeway the Magistrála, all make it a loud, dusty and fairly unfriendly location, especially for pedestrians. The Prague-based Centre for Central European Architecture decided to bring this place alive for three weeks, starting this past Saturday, with a multi-genre event called Open Stage I.P. Pavlova.
“Before, the name of what is now I.P. Pavlova square was Náměstí Komenského, or Komenský square. And actually a hundred years ago this was one of the best addresses in Prague, it was one of the most luxurious space of Prague’s Vinohrady quarter. So, it used to be a beautiful spot. Actually, when we started the project, we realized that people don’t really know where I. P. Pavlova is. Everybody thinks it’s the tram stop, which is actually 100 meters away. Actually, even this crossroad used be a nice square before. “
And you’ve been working on trying to change this place for quite a while. Exactly, what do you think should appear here, how should this place change?
“Our main focus is to support the change, or transformation, of the whole magistrála, not only I. P. Pavlova square, into a new Prague boulevard. Because we think that today it is an obstacle. It is a problem for Prague – there is a lot of traffic going through Wenceslas Square and the main station into Holešovice. And we thought, we still believe, that it’s actually not a problem, but can a potential for Prague to create a nice, beautiful boulevard, where you have cars, pedestrians, bicycles, you have trees, shops – everything which belongs on a nice boulevard.”
“We started with a small symbolic happening in 2009. During several minutes we rolled out and rolled up a red carpet on the pedestrian crossing here. The reason was that when you want to cross the street here, you have only five seconds, but cars have 60 seconds. So, we wanted for at least a few minutes to make an equilibrium in the space with this VIP red carpet for the pedestrians.
“And then the project has become more strategic. In 2012, we decided to begin debates and negotiations with local politicians in the Prague districts, specifically in Prague 2, Prague 4 and Prague 7. In the beginning of 2012 to create a kind of initiative of local mayors to support the fast transformation of the Magistrála. Together, we agreed that the transformation should take place through very slight interventions, which are effective and not expensive. So, for example, to build new crossroads, to put trees in places where it is possible, to maybe even implement some new public transport in the future on the Magistrála, and of course put cycling paths there too.
“So, this was a big success, since the Prague districts around the Magistrála now share the same vision of fast change without building any tunnels, without any underground spaces for cars, etc. So, it’s very important to say that today the idea is not to separate the traffic, but to share the road among pedestrians, cars and bycicles.”
“Of course, they would like being able to walk across the magistrála, because it is kind of a shortcut from one part of Prague to the other. Especially for cyclists it will be a great opportunity. And, of course, you need time. With time, when they will start to reduce the traffic a bit, when there will start to be implemented things like cycling paths, new crossroads, I believe that the ground floors of the buildings will change too and will bring new qualities.
“You can see it at our Open Stage event, which is going on right now. Here before, we had not a very important small street, which just served as a parking spot. And nobody could imagine that if you were to change it into some kind of more lively public space with a place to sit, extending the restaurant, etc. that it could bring something of quality. Nobody could imagine this, and we wanted to prove that small changes can have big and rapid impact on a spot.
I also had a chance to speak with one of the program coordinators for the Open Stage event, Michele Porsia. Michele, who has been living in Prague for the past year and a half, helped put together a program of over 40 events for the three-week festival. Open Stage will feature over 100 artists, teachers, thinkers, activists and many others from different countries, although Czechs are in the majority. The event brings the strange strip of concrete, which is normally used as a parking lot and is mostly ignored by pedestrians rushing from busy street crossing to the next, literally to life throughout the day and in the evenings. I asked Michele how difficult it is to deal with the noise from the three large roads surrounding the I. P. Pavlova square.
“Of course, there is a lot of noise, but we reply to this noise with music. But, now, for example, we are having a workshop of creative writing by René Nekuda, who is a teacher at the Literary Academy here in Prague. And in the past days we’ve had sever concerts with a number of artists, and people are really enjoying he place. And I think you can feel that there is a real need to have a space like this in this part of the city.”
And is it easy to get people to come to this place. Usually, I think people just run through this place, because it’s so noisy here. How difficult has it been to drawn an audience?
For more information on the events at the Open Stage go to http://novamagistrala.wordpress.com/
