AXIS ACTIVA: The Regeneration of Public Space of Novi Grad and Nova Varoš in Podgorica

Podgorica represents one of the formative urban cores of the Balkan Mediterranean belt. In the absence of an urban vision, the city fabric is reduced to atrophied zones without program vision. The Axis Activa project proposes the establishment of a new logic, which enables the public space regeneration as part of the move between the two city churches.

By introducing the generative logic of development, reprogramming and organization of the infrastructural offer centered in the area of the existing Independence Square, the intervention takes on the character of a new urban logic. The zone of intervention covers the zones of the Orthodox temple, mixed-use blocks in Novi Grad, the banks of the Morača River with Njegošev park, the central zone of Mirkova varoš, the bank of Ribnica and the surroundings of the Catholic church. Connecting the mentioned zones into a coherent and programmatically diverse whole would initiate the integral and intelligent development of other city zones that can be recognized as part of the same axis. An equally important role in the activation of the new \"backbone of the city\" is played by the contact points of the intervention zone with administrative intersections, i.e. frequent boulevards, the Morača and Ribnica rivers, which offer the possibility of systematic expansion of the central city coast with accompanying facilities. Valorization of these segments indirectly encourages connection with natural areas and the suburbs of Podgorica.\r\nThe project of the main city square with a public building on the northwestern part of the block is a demonstrative example of the sensitive articulation of contemporary tendencies of society and the programmatic addition of the center, which was determined along the lines of the Beko shopping center and the city Municipality building. The newly proposed building was first created as an extension of the existing buildings of the City hall and National library \"Radosav Ljumović\". With its structure, it represents a kind of vertical superposition of commercial areas through systems of access ramps, gallery exhibition spaces, multifunctional halls and workshops. With its position and logic, it becomes the \"living room of the city\" which becomes the epicenter of social interactions and the creation of a wider city image.