(Re)Charging Podgorica The Rivers and the Circuits

The project rests upon a system thinking for improvement of existing natural, cultural, and physical contexts of Podgorica via challenging impacts of natural calamities, urban degradation, loss of cultural values, and discontinuity of the city center and riverbanks. The idea is to set a conceptual framework of components and relations of a system while endeavoring urban resilience, maintaining the existing natural and urban assets and cultural heritage, and integrating new proposal to Podgorica that is initiated by the confluence (junction of Maroča and Ribnica rivers) and the historical fortress (Podgorica Castle), landform, functions and architectures to be introduced. The conceptual design covers the urban area from the entrance of Podgorica via River Maroča and Zeta Plain by Archaeo-Park to the South, Agro-Industrial District.

The holistic ecological approach of the project inherently requires total protection of natural heritage by means of flora and fauna at the city center and along the Maroča and Ribnica rivers, and landscape restoration if needed. In addition to existing vegetation, a careful and controlled planting design and edible landscape is proposed wherever convenient merely by using native plants of Podgorica, of Maroča in particular, e.g., Moraceae: White mulberry (Morus alba), Blackberry (Morus nigra), Paper mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera), Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis), Bosnian pine (Pinus leucodermis), Funeral cypress (Cupressus sempervirens), Dalmatian powder (Pyrethrum), White oak (Quercus pubescens), Holly oak (Quercus coccifera), Majesty oak (Robur quercus), London plane (Platanus acerifolia), Olive (Olea europaea), Fig (Ficus carica), Pomegranate (Punica granatum), Mullein leaf (Verbascum durmitoreum), Wine cornflower (Centaurea kotschyana), Fennel (Pimpinella serbica)

The main aim of revitalizing the river banks’,riverfront in other words, is to appreciate and to sustain existing natural balance, assets and contextual qualities. The more activated riverfront the better connection to the city is. The natural cycles existing on the A system requires legibility, visuality, organization, coherence, integrity, and interaction between its parts. Therefore, how those parts are united and are formed into a whole is a crucial step of input-process-output (IPO) set. The main parameters of the proposed urban system for Podgorica Center are: the existing and new circuits; available and prospective sources; currents in a way of inserting or subtracting urban functions for design process; activation keys for transforming passive spots into active places; and terminals as ports of the system.

The conceptual design chases visual and symbolic traces of superimposed historical and/or cultural layers of Podgorica in order to propose a new urban grid by means of generating necessary additions and connections, altering misfits and decayed sections, and intervening resilient solutions. Here, taking layer as a “series circuit” (passive elements, i.e., vacant and/or deteriorated urban areas are connected, same amount of new function flows through each space) provides mostly linear

The urban inventory of Podgorica highlights five major groups of utilities: cultural heritage; nature & active vacation; nature parks & picnic spots; lifestyle & entertainment; and transportation.

The derived Catalogue is significant foundation for the defining all related connections, distances, priorities, and densities.

The Constellation displays an abstract pattern of visible and perceived contacts of existing and proposed components. Since this analytical interpretation represents a schema based on the database of Podgorica, “a Catalogue Representation”, it refers to weight and number of relations by means of urban densities and corresponding entities.

Network diagrams are for illustrating green, water arteries, primary indicators of nature and architecture, and pins to be activated.

Active – Passive Elements (Outputs)

‘Passive’, either vacant, deteriorated and/or architecturally registered, naturally qualified but useless spots (closed, semi-closed, open spaces) are transformed into ‘Active’, rehabilitated, revitalized positive urban voids, enclosed volumes and/or refunctioned and restored buildings. By regeneration of essential locations and adjustment of necessary forms and functions availability, liveability, visuality, safety, accessibility, and interactivity are accomplished.

Unobstructed movement of Podgoricans and visitors – walkability and streets for all

Uninterrupted Bicycle Movement as an Alternative Transportation Mode

Continuity of Urban Culture – culture promenade / art bridge

Sustainability of Natural Context – Planting Identity / Green Streets, Rivers and Riverbanks

Culture Tourism as a Method of Preservation – Archaeo-Park, Water Sports, Conferences, Open-air Museum

Daily Activities – Performing

The Scaled Site Plan

The project site lies between the oldest settlement of Podgorica, Doclea, that is proposed as Archaeo-Park on the north, and Agro-Industrial District, Čepurci at the southern end along Maroča river. The scaled site plan displays the complete concept design including ‘proposed greenery’ to supplement existing natural texture, extended Bicycle Loop, River Decks, Car-parking Lots, Watching Tower – ‘City Post’, revitalized Military Barracks – Performing Arts Center, Winehouse, and Artisan Plato, Piazzetta Olea, Graffiti Walls, Dancing & Drama Stage, New Bridge on Maroča – ‘Art Bridge’, modular and functional fifteen different units – ‘flexboxes’, Rehabilitation of Kajak Klub Maroča and its immediate surrounding – new ‘Plaža Galeb’, refunctioning of some ruins as restrooms and WCs along the River, Sports Fields, Playgrounds, and Café and Restaurant.

The proposal dwells upon the idea of continuity of urban culture, spatial organizations, pedestrian circulation, and biking. Connecting the urban textures and existing neighborhoods to the rivers and regeneration of river banks by protecting the existing natural texture are outmost aims of the new circuits that are suggested in the project. Passive areas and architectures that are derelict, deteriorated, and /or vacant are transformed into active, living, performed, and enriched places.

Detailed Site Design I: Performing Arts Center and its Vicinity

The Performing Arts Center is proposed at the location of former Military Barracks together with Nursery Heights (Terrace), Winehouse, Café, Restaurant, Dancing & Drama Stage, Artisan Plato, and Graffiti Walls. Existing buildings are proposed to be restored and protected, remaining walls and platforms are kept at their original places and they are strengthened and renovated. The Main Performance building is preserved as four walls, a concrete slab is put forward, an escalator and a staircase are annexed, and a steel-glass construction is implemented as the roof of Nursery Terrace. The single-story high military building is renovated into a Winehouse with a new roof and sky lighting, connected to the main building by a wooden frame with grapevine that defines an outdoor foyer. A new Café is proposed at the riverfront extended by a recreation deck and a music box is also connected to the main building via wooden frame.

The Artisan Plato, that is held over remaining ground floor within its existing natural condition, is for street arts and completed with Graffiti Walls. Orientation of hard and soft landscapes are highlighted by three olive trees (Olea europea) symbolizing peace and prosperity. This public open space is extended towards the Winehouse and a small plaza, Piazzetta Olea, and with a new playground. The existing concrete groundcover, probably used to be carparking at the South, across the piazzetta, is refunctioned as public dancing & drama stage. A bicycle parking box is suggested for this site.

Detailed Site Design II: The Sports Field and The Art Bridge

The Multi-purpose Sports Area is the major activated site of the Southern Central District of Podgorica, connected to the other side of the city where existing recreational facilities last, by overpassing Maroča, with a new bridge, ‘Art Bridge’. The statement of this new site is to recover passive and even decayed transition zone between Maroča River and the Stara Varos Neighborhood, by enhancing spatial quality, by adding new urban processes and connections, and raising interactivity and liveability. This site breeds a public and shared recreational activity node with its multi-purpose fields, wide sitting steps, restrooms, playground, sightseeing, swings and beach activities, and the New Maroča Square.

The Art Bridge, 132 meters long, rests upon two carrying steel trusses having 6 meters height for each, has buttresses on both sides, hold by reinforced concrete feet stepped on river banks. The floor cover of the bridge is vacuum concrete and 24 compact laminated wooden units which are originated and transfigured from flexboxes, clutch the bridge from outside and are operated from inside. The bridge boxes have three colors, yellow and orange as hues of the sun, blue as the primary reflection of Maroča river, and white – representing all colors of Montenegro urban culture. They serve for city people and visitors in various forms of art and culture activities, i.e., from daily street caricatures to Holiday gift store, from rare books to second hand objects, and from Podgorica souvenirs to temporary photography exhibitions.

The City Post

Proposed watching tower for the city can be acknowledged as vertical declaration of flexboxes by means of certain distances and orientations to historical and natural assets of Podgorica and Maroča River, to newly activated project sites, and standing as a post for the urban circuits. The City Post is 30 meters high and has five modular units in alternatively angled positions with adequate and appropriately scaled openings on them, and two transparent glass boxes with steel spider fittings to reflect surroundings on them or being wide open to surroundings vis-à-vis.