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The architectural idea for the reconstruction of Vokiečių street selected as the best in the architecture competition proceeds to the next stage: the Vilnius city municipality has signed a contract with the small association IMM Architects, under which the architects Ignas Račkauskas, Mindaugas Glodenis, Mikas Kauzonas pledged to refine and develop their competitive work Strassen-Platz. until its final implementation. The next stage that the public will see is the submission of project proposals, which is scheduled no earlier than in the fall. Until then, archaeological and other necessary investigations must be carried out.
The international competition jury praised the work of the three co-authors for successfully revealing the multi-faceted history of the place by offering a variety of scenarios for the use of the street space. The solution chosen by the architects to calm traffic in the new Vokiečių st. and improvements were expected in the green area of the project. The Commission described the Strassen-Platz project as a professional, logical and moderately philosophical work, whose authors understand the main criteria of space: history, pedestrians, greenery and the importance of the universality of space.
In the original project, a lot of attention was paid to the perpetuation of the destroyed historical parts of the city, whereby the contours of the historic streets were distinguished by a solid surface, as well as the boundaries of the previous buildings were highlighted and Se they marked the contours of the foundations. To protect the existing historical layers, it is proposed to plant new vegetation only where there are no historical building foundations, in the areas of old courtyards. The authors of the Strassen-Platz project want to give priority to pedestrians on Vokiečių Street. The street was designed with a single overlapping pavement with small height differences between different cycles, cars, and pedestrian flows, so that car drivers feel like they are walking in a pedestrian zone, and not the other way around.
It was proposed to more effectively integrate the existing green areas into the public space and concentrate the new ones in the dense massifs of the old patios. This would help separate movement and car parking from the central pedestrian alley, divide Vokiečių street into a chain of smaller spaces for different activities, and immortalize the neighborhoods’ historic courtyards with decorative greenery. The architects suggested that Vokiečių Street should be as versatile as possible and easily adaptable to different activities.
“The Commission evaluated IMM Architects’ work as the most feasible, without dictating a categorical space improvement program, and this is an advantage,” said the city’s chief architect, Mindaugas Pakalnis. – But after signing the design contract, the author is waiting for careful work, after evaluating the comments made, detailing the solutions presented to the competition and preparing them for discussion with the public, and then preparing a technical project. The municipality is waiting for a project that will create a multifunctional green space on Vokiečių street, attractive for recreation, which will reveal the diverse history of this part of the city ”.
In the near future, the municipality will commission archaeological investigations to supplement the available historical information. After evaluating the archaeological finds, IMM architects will be able to complete project proposals for land management and present them to the public. According to the contract, the task of the architects will include not only the technical design of the work, but also the project management and supervision of the execution of the project during the construction contract. MB “IMM architektai” will use certified specialists or subcontractors for project management, management work, external network design.
When the architects are planning the renovation of Vokiečių Street, the municipality will consult with Vilnius Heat Networks on the reconstruction of the network planned for this year. The state of the thermal route laid on the foundations of the buildings on this street more than 50 years ago is very bad today. The heating pipe repair work unrelated to the Vokiečių street reconstruction project should start and finish before the start of the new heating season, 2021-2022. The renovation of other engineering networks is planned along with the reconstruction of the street.
Already this spring, dendrological research will be carried out on Vokiečių Street, then the state of the trees growing here and the necessary management measures and conservation possibilities for them will be evaluated in detail.
