Riga - European Capital of Culture 2014 candidate

mobile centre in riga’sneighbourhoodsTaking the concept that ‘the centre iswhere we are’, the project envisagesactivities in the centres of outlying localities,creating spaces that will serveas a platform for positive communication,cultural events and the strengtheningof local identities.The goal of the project is to build localawareness in different neighbourhoods,developing smaller local centres to deepenthe residents’ sense of belonging to theneighbourhood and thereby enhance theirsense of responsibility as citizens of thecity. Reaching this goal also requires a focuson the local architecture and developmentthat fosters a sense of place.This project consists of two parts: theoreticalstudy, and practical implementation– reclamation of existing urban environmentsand the construction of newinstallations, objects and pavilions in thereclaimed space.The project will be based on an analysisof city planning in Riga neighbourhoodsand the prospective development of newcentres. Selecting approximately 3–5 differentRiga neighbourhoods, brief portraitsencapsulating the social, geographical,historical, cultural, architectural and spatialcharacter of the individual neighbourhoodswill attempt to define the identity ofthe urban environments. The studies will investigatea variety of factors like the neighbourhoods’specific architectural histories,notable persons hailing from the area,the people who live in the neighbourhoodnow and those who lived there in the past,and local traditions. Residents will beasked to reveal their perceptions of theneighbourhood and what they most oftenassociate with it, spatially – the buildings,squares or parks that symbolize it – in aneffort to capture the spirit of place.The studies will compile the essential informationon the character and identity ofeach locality, including proposals for therelevant local government bodies and arearesidents’ recommendations to ensure sothat the identity of the locality is respectedand supplemented, rather than sweptaway in the course of development.Based on the results of the studies, concreteplans will be made for selected sites– pavilions will be built, existing spaces (forexample cultural and/or sports centres) willbe adapted for temporary use in the projector transformed, and public space such assquares, parks and promenades will be improvedand utilised as sites for installations.The project aims to promote the city’sdevelopment and new architecture, helpingRiga become more urban by contrastto the suburbanism of the Sovietera. Encouraging development, strongerneighbourhood identities, the transformationof specific localities, and inspiring residentsto positive change requires small,positive impulses. A spatial and institutionalframework for this sort of dialoguemust be created. Spatial intervention withthe necessary stimulus, whether temporarystructures (pavilions, installations) orthe transformation of existing structuresthrough ephemeral installations, will shiftthe local centres of gravity to change theresidents’ habitual daily routine, becomingepicentres of fresh urban scene.Such new and renewed places and spaceswould become new urban centres – gatheringspots and venues for discussion for theneighbourhoods’ residents. The pavilionsand the newly created spaces would firstof all be meeting-places where residentsof the immediate neighbourhood couldcome up with and carry out their own initiatives,such as preparing meals together,playing chess, and exchanging views ininterest groups. Since these spaces wouldalso be venues for urban games, seminarsorganised by NGOs and the City Council,conferences, lectures, dances, contemporarytheatre and films, they can serve asmagnets for mutual understanding and facilitateintercultural integration, welcomingboth Riga residents and visitors.What: Research of Riga’s urbanenvironments and use of the resultingstudy to implement ideas found therein indifferent neighbourhoods.Where: Riga’s neighbourhoods.When: Research conducted and compiled:2010–2012.riga’s key to fellowshipEvery city is surprisingly interesting inthe diversity of its culture. The “MobileCentre” will also travel to Riga’s sistercities in Europe and around theworld. One of the primary symbols ofRiga, used in its seal, is the key to thecity. Riga’s ‘diplomatic relations’ in2014 will also be symbolised by a key“Riga’s Key to Fellowship”.Many Riga residents probably don’t evenknow that Riga has 29 ‘sister cities’ –Aalborg (Denmark), Almaty (Kazakhstan),Amsterdam (The Netherlands), Astana(Kazakhstan), Bordeaux (France), Bremen(Germany), Dallas (USA), Florence (Italy),Calais (France), Cairns (Australia), Kyiv(Ukraine), Kobe (Japan), Moscow (Russia),Minsk (Belarus), Norrköping (Sweden),Beijing (China), Pori (Finland), Rostock(Germany), St. Petersburg (Russia),Santiago (Chile), Stockholm (Sweden),Suzhou (China), Taipei (Taiwan), TallinnProject development: 2013.Project implementation and exhibitions: 2014.Concept authors: Oskars Redbergs, ArtisZvirgzdiņš, Zanda Redberga(The Foundation for InterdisciplinaryCooperation “mT15”, www.mt15.lv), unIlze Martinsone (Latvian Museum ofArchitecture, www.archmuseum.lv).Project development: Architectural anddesign firms.Organisers: Riga City Council, Foundationfor Interdisciplinary Cooperation “mT15”Project implementation: Workshops,construction firms, Latvian Museum ofArchitecturePartners: In the research phase – theFoundation for Interdisciplinary Cooperation“mT15”, students of city planning at Latvianand foreign universities.(Estonia), Tartu (Estonia), Tashkent(Uzbekistan), Tbilisi (Georgia), Warsaw(Poland), and Vilnius (Lithuania).The goal of “Riga’s Key to Fellowship” isto involve representatives from Riga’s ‘sistercities’ in a collective campaign, makingthe invitation a special one. In addition todrawing the attention of Riga’s ‘sister cities’to the events in the Latvian capital, thecampaign would show Riga’s residents thecultural diversity of their ‘sister cities’.All of the ‘sister cities’ will be invited to participatein an artistic project to create a keyto fellowship, simultaneously telling thestory of cooperation between their citiesand Riga. The keys will be exhibited at ajoint exhibition with presentations to showcasethe cultural diversity of each participatingcity.What: Exhibition.Where: City Hall.When: June.Concept author: Mārcis GulbisPartners: Riga City Council, Departmentof Culture, Riga City Council ForeignRelations Department.138 139