A Square In Doubt?

Environmental Sustainability

According to Morelli (2011)

Environmental Sustainability can be defined as “as a condition of balance, resilience, and interconnectedness” that enable the provision of human needs without compromising the future regenerating capacity of the ecosystems that those depend on, and at the same time don’t affect the bio-diversity. 2 Morelli (2011) divides the supportive principles of environmental sustainability in 5 categories: - Provision for Societal Needs - Preservation ofBiodiversity - Regenerative Capacity - Reuse and Recycle - Constraints of non-renewable Resources and

Waste Generation

Sustainable Economy

A definition of sustainable economy, given in the website of World Wide Fund For Nature refers to sustainable economy as “one that is resilient and provides a good quality of life for everybody. It stays within the limits of the planet and helps keep global warming threshold.” 8 within the well below 2°C

A Square As A Place OfIntersection

The creation of a square in a city can be an effective way to promote this concerns, the economy sharing between social and the respect to the environment. In Ancient Greece a square or “agora” was a large space located at a central point in the city. It was a congregation space of political discussions and trade, with importance in administration and justice, as well as a religious and spiritual relation centre. to the It was positioned in harmony in existing landscape, planted with trees on the perimeter and provision of fountains. 9 The provided functions were essential in order to sustain the city. This character of the square as an intersection of economy, society and environment in the contemporary era, still remains. A public square is a place where all citizens have equal right for access, political expression, participation, communication and entertainment. The economic activity is, also, present near a gathering space for people. In addition, squares as open spaces with the provided greenery and water features offer to the citizens the experience of nature, sunlight and air, which are, often, absent from the urban landscape but essential, in many ways, for the human nature.

garde.com.cy/ ) Picture 2 (Retrieved from https://avant -

The history of Eleutheria square 10

Eleutheria Square, in its initial form, was built in 1882, during British colonization, to connect the old and the new city, which being developed for the had, first just, started time with governmental buildings and new neighbourhoods. Then, it was just a small wooden bridge, which, later, was improved and widened. For many years, it had been a point of reference and a space where many social, cultural and political events

took place. Eleutheria Square was later in mid

20 th

century given to the circulation of cars. In addition, two other nearby bridges were created to connect old and new city. This led to the blocking of the moat into separate areas, which was not in favour of the pedestrians who used the moat as a walking space.

The contemporary project of the Eleftheria square that started in 2005, was not the first time that Nicosia Municipality made efforts for the regeneration of the square. The first competition was launched in cancelled because 1972, but the project of the events of 1974. was The latest competition was published in 2005, with estimated cost to be €6.492.685. On the 21 st of April 2005, they announced that Zaha Hadid’s Office proposal was chosen among the 46 participants. In Nicosia municipality, there was a strong belief that her emblematic architecture would regenerate the area and become an international tourist attraction. The works began in 2008 with excavations, from the archaeological department, to discover the ruins of the original walls of the city, because these that stand today, were built much later. According to those findings, the drawings should be reworked.

Picture 4 : Retrieved from https://www.zaha - hadid.com/

The construction begun in 2012 and was given to big local construction company for €22.969.825 with an estimation to be completed in two years. Things didn’t go so smoothly, so the Nicosia Municipality and the Construction Company were led to a legal arrangement for ending the contract in 2014. The project was not completed. Then a second construction company was chosen for the completion of the project and the construction began again one year later. Since its initiation the project suffered many increases in the initial budget estimation reaching eventually €36.800.000 in 2017. Today the project is at the final stage, but it is still not clear when it will be completed. This means that up to today the project duration counts, already, 15 years.

According to a poll published in newspaper “I Simerini”, the most Cypriots are disappointed about the overall project situation in Eleutheria Square. Also, most of them believe that there are legal responsibilities management of investigated. 11 this in relation to the project that should be

The Design Principles OfThe Project. 12

The project consists of 3 different areas. The bridge in Eleutheria Square, the landscaping of the moat under the bridge, and an underground parking space under Omirou street. The general goal of the design team was to reestablish some key-qualities, which are essential for a healthy city centre. Those are fluidity and openness, accessibility and interconnectedness and inclusivity and variability.

As we mentioned earlier the area of the moat was obstructed by trees and by car traffic and as a result, the movement of pedestrians is difficult. They solved this problem by making the access points for pedestrians not only physically but also visually accessible and by reconnecting the pieces of the moat in one continuous space under the new floating bridge. The bridge now is accessible only for pedestrians. Also, the project assists the traffic flow by providing an underground car parking in Omirou Street. In this way the necessity of car use in the area is reduced and the traffic jams are avoided.

The design of the Eleutheria Square by Zaha Hadid Architects takes into consideration characteristics, which make the city of Nicosia unique in order to blend the project into the character of the city. They direct attention to the Venetian Wall and its original ruins, which were found after the excavations and they will now be exposed. Also, they consider the issue of the division of the city and they propose that, in the future the moat should be reunited as a ring that goes around the city. The bridge with its supports, which are made out of reinforced concrete, have a sculptural form. They are a family of objects, tripods, bipods and singular supports, which have the flexibility to be placed in chosen positions to create a fluid underground space. This shaded space has an area of 1500 square meters and allows for the functionality of the space in the summer. The water features and the trees serve the same purpose. We should, also, consider that the design team wanted to design a space that will be capable to include as many types of users as possible. For those users there are many different smaller areas, which will offer different activities (sitting areas, projection/outdoor cinema area, area for large public events, commercial areas and café).