NOT A BEGINNING NOR AN END

The project inquiries into regeneration of the Zagreb end-of-line stops as an approach for non-centralized city model. Çrnomerec, a strongly post-industrial placement, is taken over as pilot model to explore the ecological recovery of its esplanade, activate its civic character and serve as reference point for Zagreb center-periphery cohesion.

NOT A BEGINNING NOR AN END is a project that arises from a trans-scalar approach, from urban to local strategies. In this sense, the research begins with the study of mobility in the city of Zagreb and determines the decentralising capacity of current public transport hubs conceived as end-of-line tram stops. Within the dozen transportation hubs studied, a protocol of action is defined for each of them, starting with Çrnomerec. The form that the proposal takes could be described as dual: on the one hand, the enhancement and recovery of what already exists -mainly horizontal-, and on the other hand, the design of a new vertical element to reinforce the bimodal image and packed with strongly linked to its context programs. The work on the X plane as the imposed and, in contrast, the imagination of the Y plane as a decentralizing item and monumental display. HORIZONTAL - The conditions imposed by the large current esplanade made it fundamentally non-pedestrian, impermeable, and disconnected from its context, so the purpose was to revert with one radical action that could articulate the whole site. Thanks to perforation of its slab with four different hole diameters, the new plaza restores permeability to the ground, draws new connections with the old clay quarries and Medvednica mountain, and allows planting of vegetation. VERTICAL - Additionally, a completely new solar piece arises and aligns with the tram path, so its geometry can reinforce the bimodal character of the transport hub. Upon arrival by bus, the screen displays its entire front, warning of the arrival in the city. Upon arrival by tram, the tower seems to disappear, revealing the beginning of the Medvednica mountain. Far for being detached, both actuations – horizontal and vertical – remain closely related conceptual and physically due to the structural requirements of the large screen. A total of 67 steel cables sew and articulate both planes creating new topographies and urban furniture when touching the plaza or stabilising the tower from wind and structural torsion.