Kārlis Zāle waterfront in Liepāja

Proposal / Competition 2nd place

Waterfronts are the city's most valuable recreational landscape, thus the best opportunity for it to grow and change. Therefore, it is very important for the development and growth of Liepāja to continue the reconstruction and improvement of the Old Port, which was innovatively started at the beginning of this century, by extending the promenade deeper into the city. By continuing to revitalize the waterfront, Liepāja will become the most contemporary port city in Latvia and the Baltics, connecting the valuable heritage with a modern urban environment, strengthening its identity.

One of the cornerstones of Liepāja's identity is Karaosta as a unique heritage of military and fortification buildings, this is also confirmed by the insights expressed at the international scientific conference "Port and fortress city Liepāja - identity and development" dedicated to the 150th anniversary of Riga Technical University and the project "Landscape treasures" created in honor of Latvia's centenary.

Cubes, squares and rectangles are the dominant form in Karaosta's fortification structures. It is intended to be used in the landscape of the Old Port harborside as a spatial network, within the framework of which various functional areas, landscaping elements and cover types are integrated. Such a solution relieves the construction of improvements in stages, reduces its costs and is also easily transformed - as a result of eventual development.

The conceptually unifying material is concrete - in paving stones, large-format slabs and shore reinforcements, continuing the language of fortification structures, refreshed with wrought stone and rusted metal accents, echoing the history of Liepāja. All materials used in the landscaping ensure sustainable functionality and do not require large amounts of maintenance work.