LOCATION
Trencin, Slovakia
DATE
2013
SIZE
22 ha
TYPE
Masterplan - Open Competition
STATUS
Open Competition 1st Prize - 2014
CLIENT
City of Trencin, Slovak Chamber of Architects
PROJECT TEAM
Martin Arfalk, Patrick Verhoeven, Nicholas Bigelow, Danny Bridson, Andrei Deacu, Carlos Dias, Maria Gregorio, Chuhan Zhang
COLLABORATORS
Hosper Sweden
Tracing Trenčín
Reconnecting a city to its riverfront
Over the last 80 years the historic city of Trenčín has slowly turned its back to its central waterway - the River Váh. Tracing Trenčín is a vision to reconnect the the city to its riverfront while outlining a development strategy that sensitively blends the old and new urban structures.
The Trenčín’s levees form a vital protective barrier from the wide and flowing River. The engineered river banks provide security, but little else to the inhabitants. Tracing Trenčín transforms the uninviting levee edges to a soft, pliable and programmed river landscape, twisting the hard shoreline to open up new opportunities on both sides of the protective levee walls. The new river landscape embraces the natural flows of the river, carving out a resilient public space network that can flood, drain and remain usable.
The connecting landscape reaches out on both sides of the river, inviting the city to grow to meet the river edge. The sensitive urban structure binds historic city to transformed riverfront - to the benefit of both.
Now
The River Váh is engineered and controlled
River seeks city
Revitalizing the natural character of the River Vah
City meets river
The river connects to the city
Two riversides
Two sides with distinct identities
Two riversides, one city
The two riverfronts are connected by a new pedestrian and bike bridge
City meets River
The river connects to the city
River seeks City
Revitalizing the natural character of the River Vah
The Levee Landscape
View towards the historic city centre from the transformed Levee edge
