- Site-specific cases
Large Delta area near the center of Rijeka is designated to become a central public park. However,most of its surface is covered in asphalt and used for parking. As Rijeka became the European Capital of Culture in 2020 we joined one of its programs called the Green Wave to transform one neglected part in the south of the Delta area into a new urban space - to remind the city of its forgotten vision of a big city park. This area is transformed into a publicly accessible park using three main ingredients: play, colourful street-art and nature to make the space more lively and attractive. Through civic engagement and with volunteer help the park was built from the ground up with low input costs. Within the local context where public spaces are not always awarded the attention they need and projects for developing urban spaces are very slow-paced, we find ground-up, pop-up projects to be all the more important to demonstrate the possibilities for transforming and activating the city.
More nature and biodiversity has been brought in by planting of mediterranean, drought-tolerant and resilient plants.
Special value to the park was added by inviting the young local artist, Jadranka Lacković to paint the concrete surface for which she chose playful maritime motives as a large coloring book. She also painted the community bookshelf placed inside the pavilion specifically for the project.
The element of play is introduced through simple wooden elements and playful nets that serve as an attraction of the park.
