A flower market on a giant paddle boat, a floating cycling path along the Vltava River or a special high-heels lane running across the cobbled centre of Prague – these are just a few projects created within the Urban Interventions initiative, which is currently on display in Prague’s Dox gallery. The organizers have asked architects to find ways of livening up what they see as problematic public spaces in the capital.
The Urban Interventions exhibition presents projects that nobody commissioned. They were all initiated by the authors’ need to exploit the potential of places they walk past every day. Members of the Urban Interventions initiative addressed 60 architects, artists and graphic designers but the project was open all those interested in public space. The exhibition’s curator Adam Gebrian says it was entirely up to the authors to choose which places they wanted to transform or liven up.
“I think that’s probably the most interesting thing about the exhibition. They had only 2 months to create the design but of course many of them carried the idea in their head for years. I think it is really interesting to see what kind of topics are addressed here. Eleven projects deal with the river and eleven deal with traffic. I think it is one of the most useful things about the project, that you can actually see without asking what are the biggest problems and most interesting topics for architects.” The extent of the intervention was left to the authors’ consideration but as Adam Gebrian says, the projects were supposed to be realistic. Most of the 80 interventions which are on display at DOX gallery appear to be easily-realizable and relatively low-cost, but there are also more ambitious visions, such as floating parking places on the Vltava River or a grassy bridge across one of Prague’s biggest crossroads. Adam Gebrian again:
“There are three projects that have already been put in practice. This is one of them for example: two young architects decided that they were not going to design anything and they just planted a new tree in the park. I think it is a really significant project, because it says: don’t wait for anything, just do it.” The exhibition Urban Interventions Prague 2010 is on display at the DOX Contemporary Art Centre until the beginning of August.
