Karlovac | Predgovor naručitelja / Investor’s Foreword
Hodati grad - formula ugodnog življenja
Damir Mandić, dipl. teol.
gradonačelnik Grada Karlovca
Posebno mi je zadovoljstvo da ovih dana svjedočimo kako naš rad i zalaganje na projektu urbane obnove prostora bivše vojarne Luščić pokazuje prve rezultate. Nakon što je Grad Karlovac postao vlasnik dijela bivše vojarne, stekli su se uvjeti da pokrenemo proces planiranja i uređenja tog prostora. Prostorni potencijal ovog zapuštenog i neprimjereno korištenog područja, godinama je čekao da bude prepoznat i iskorišten. Iako sam svjestan da je to dugotrajan proces, urbanistička preobrazba konačno može započeti, s nadom da ćemo dobiti prostor spreman za nova ulaganja i nove projekte koji će koristiti cijelom gradu. Ovaj prostor je budućnost Grada Karlovca, s potencijalom da postane prostor suživota stanovanja, javnih funkcija i naprednih oblika produktivnosti. U ovom slučaju produktivnost su nova znanja, tehnologije, istraživanja i inovacije, koji će oplemeniti život u gradu i uklopiti se u našu viziju grada ugodnog življenja.
Potreba za novim vizijama i činjenica da našu budućnost želimo sukreirati s mladima, potaknula nas je da se priključimo platformi EUROPAN-a. Željeli smo dobiti uvid u promišljanja i ideje mladih arhitekata, pa se Grad svojevoljno uključio u natječajni proces EUROPAN-a 15. Mislim da smo dobili rješenja koja ćemo, iako formalno ne moramo, koristiti za buduće planiranje i uređenje toga prostora. U okviru naših mogućnosti, želimo se uključiti u suvremene trendove koji kvalitetna rješenja za razvoj gradova vide u efikasnoj primjeni suvremenih tehnologija, prometnih i infrastrukturnih rješenja, te uključenosti u procese što većeg broja budućih korisnika.
Natječajem smo dobili viziju razvoja prostora koju treba ugraditi i u prostorne planove. Izazov predstavljanju su uočeni problemi koji bi se mogli pokazati kao ograničenja prilikom provedbe budućeg urbanističkog plana, ali nadamo se da će stečeno iskustvo i prikupljeni natječajni radovi biti od neprocjenjive koristi u iznalaženju zadovoljavajućih rješenja.
Namjera Grada Karlovca jest, da u suradnji s EUROPAN-om i nagrađenim autorskim timom, istraži mogućnosti primjene prvonagrađenog rada, što znači da nas u prvoj fazi čeka pokretanje postupka izrade urbanističkog plana uređenja, koji bi implementirao sve njegove kvalitetne odrednice. Preispitujući temu produktivnoga grada i mogućnost zadržavanja nekih oblika proizvodnje unutar gradskih dijelova, planiranih za mješovitu namjenu, prvonagrađeno rješenje zasnovano je na strateškom projektu Grada Karlovca – istraživanju i korištenju geotermalne energije koje predstavlja novu budućnost i zamašnjak gospodarskog razvoja. U tome prepoznajem povezivanje uloge grada kao servisa građana s onom, ne manje važnom ulogom potpore gospodarstvu. U okviru odabrane vizije propitat ćemo razne mogućnosti, pa tako i ulogu javnog prostora, polazeći od činjenice da razvoj javnog prostora i javnih sadržaja mora biti podržan razumnim ekonomskim konceptom, jer se urbanizam ne može promišljati zanemarujući ekonomsku realnost. Pred nama je zahtjevan zadatak jer urbanističko rješenje samo po sebi neće oživjeti prostor ‒ ono samo daje scenarij za ostvarenje tog cilja u duljem vremenskom razdoblju.
Ovaj međunarodni natječaj dokazao je da imamo mlade arhitekte-urbaniste koji znaju i žele promišljati i planirati grad, a mi koji smo odgovorni za upravljanje gradom i njegovim razvojem želimo ovaj projekt koji se tek počeo razvijati, realizirati u transparentnom ozračju. Budući da najveći izazovi proizlaze iz društveno-ekonomske stvarnosti, koja učestalo prijeti nemogućnošću realizacije rješenja koja nadilaze prosječnost, pobrinut ćemo se da se to u ovom slučaju ne dogodi. Novi centar planiran je i građen u socijalizmu, kad je odnos prema zemljištu i općenito prema društvenom razvoju bio potpuno drukčiji. Naslijedili smo urbanu strukturu i pravce razvoja koji u aktualnom društvenom uređenju više nisu ostvarivi na taj način, pa je logično da je neke, tada zacrtane postavke, potrebno revidirati. To je jedan od naših glavnih izazova u budućnosti. Kroz dostupne mehanizme upravljanja razvojem grada, nastojat ćemo stimulirati njegovu prostornu konsolidaciju, izgradnjom infrastrukture (obilaznice, energetski sektor-toplinarstvo), te ostalih nedovršenih gradskih područja, poput ŠRC-a Korana i bivše vojarne Luščić.
Tema zelenila nezaobilazna je u Karlovcu. Lokacija bivše vojarne Luščić na specifičan način čini svojevrsnu prirodnu oazu najurbanijeg dijela grada. Očuvano zelenilo i obronci Kozjače kao netaknute prirode, koji se spuštaju sve do grada, potencijal su koji želimo još više naglasiti. Želimo zadržati situaciju u kojoj je moguće prohodati grad prateći perivojne poteze, s ciljem da ih integriramo u jedinstvenu zelenu mrežu. Karlovac je grad po mjeri čovjeka, rahle gradnje, prepun praznina i zelenih zona, grad koji je već sada ugodan za život. Čini mi se da su njegovi stanovnici svjesni te kvalitete, u prvom redu prostora, odnosno neizgrađenih, javnih, zelenih površina koje okružuju stambene zgrade. To se ogleda i u ovom natječaju. Time želimo naglasiti važnost zelene infrastrukture, njenog povoljnog utjecaja na ekosustav grada i mogućnost prilagodbe klimatskim promjenama, kao i povoljan utjecaj na ravnotežu života u gradu i sliku grada.
Karlovac je građen i osmišljen po mjeri čovjeka, u zelenim dolinama četiriju rijeka, ispod Staroga grada Dubovca, sa stoljetnim perivojima, promenadama i biciklističkim stazama, u tradiciji kulture, sporta, obrtništva i trgovine. Zahvaljujući takvim parametrima, Karlovac je neminovno europska formula za ugodno življenje i poslovno ulaganje, jedinstven u poslovnim i razvojnim mogućnostima. Svojim položajem na raskrižju najvažnijih hrvatskih i europskih autocesta te blizinom dvjema susjednim državama, Sloveniji i Bosni i Hercegovini, Karlovac ima veliki potencijal. Uz prometna čvorišta na rubu grada smještene su poslovne zone, a gradska jezgra ostala je sačuvana za ulaganja u razvoj široke lepeze turističko-uslužnih, stambenih i sportsko-rekreacijskih mogućnosti.
Na kraju želim reći da ne tražimo isključivo lijepu sliku budućeg izgleda grada, već težimo konceptu koji će omogućiti cjelovit i postupan razvoj, ali tako da omogući prilagodbu i detaljnije sagledavanje rješenja u neposrednoj budućnosti, uz istovremeno zacrtavanje okvira za dulje vremensko razdoblje.
U ovaj urbanističko-arhitektonski natječaj uloženo je puno truda, rada i znanja, te stoga zahvaljujem svim natjecateljima koji su između brojnih europskih lokacija EUROPAN-a 15 pokazali interes i za svoj rad odabrali upravo lokaciju našega Grada Karlovca, kao i svima koji su na bilo koji način sudjelovali u provedbi natječaja.
Walking the City - A Formula for Comfortable Living
Damir Mandić, M. A. in Theology
Mayor of the City of Karlovac
It’s been a great pleasure these days to present the very first results of our work and efforts in restoring the area of Luščić, a former military barracks. Once the City of Karlovac came into possession of a part of the base, the conditions were ripe for starting a process of planning and designing the area. Spatial potential of this derelict and improperly used complex waited for years to be recognized and used properly. Now the urban metamorphosis can finally start to unfold. I know it is a lengthy process, but we hope we’ll end up with a space ready for new investments and new projects that will be beneficial for the entire city. This area represents the future for the city of Karlovac and has every potential to become a space that will house residential areas, public institutions and advanced types of productivity. Productivity here means new knowledge, new technologies, research and innovation. All of these will make the life in the city better and will fit right into our vision for a city of comfortable living.
What made us join the EUROPAN platform was a need for new ideas and the fact that we would like to create our future together with the younger generation. We wanted to see what younger architects had in mind, so the City entered the EUROPAN 15 competition process. Even though we have no formal obligation to do so, I think we got answers we can use for future planning and design. Within our means, we would like to follow contemporary trends offering great answers for urban development, using contemporary technology, traffic and infrastructural ideas, bringing into the process as many future users as possible.
What we got from this competition is a vision of development that now needs to be included in our physical plans. The problems identified here might limit the potential of our future urban plan, but that is a challenge we have to face. Nevertheless, all the experience we got and all the entries will be of great help once we begin to look for appropriate approaches.
The City of Karlovac, together with EUROPAN and the winning team, intends to look for the ways of implementation of the winning entry ideas. This means the next phase calls for an urban plan that would incorporate all of its main ideas. By questioning the productive city theme and the possibility to keep some types of production within the mixed-use parts of the city, the winning entry started from the City of Karlovac’s strategic project – looking into and using geothermal energy. For us this represents a new future and main element of our economic growth. Here I see a connection between the city that serves its residents with the city that fosters economy, which is very important. Within the selected vision we intend to explore all sorts of possibilities, including the role of public space. We believe that development of public spaces and public services needs to be backed up by reasonable economic concept, because town planning cannot be envisioned ignoring the economic reality. Ahead of us lies a challenging task because the urban solutions itself cannot bring spaces to life, but they can give us scenarios to make them happen in the long run.
This international competition proved that the young architects and urban planners are able and willing to think about the city and know how to envision its future. We, the people in charge of the city and its development, we want to make this project happen, become a reality, as transparently as possible. The biggest challenges come from our socio-economic reality, which often stops all but mediocre projects from happening. We certainly do not want this to happen here. The new center was planned and built in socialism, in a time when land and development of society was viewed in a totally different way. So we inherited urban structure and ideas on development that are not quite feasible in our time. Hence, it makes sense to revise some of the directions set back then, and that’s one of our main challenges. In the future, within the mechanisms we work with, we intend to stimulate the city’s spatial consolidation, developing infrastructure (detour roads, energy-heating) as well as all other unfinished city areas such as Korana sports centre and Luščić, our former military barracks area.
Greenery is definitely a topic hard to ignore in Karlovac. The very site of Luščić, former military barracks, in its own special way, represents an untouched oasis within the most urbanized part of the city. The preserved greenery and Kozjača’s untouched natural slopes that come all the way down into the city, are full of potential, and we want to emphasize this even more. We would like to preserve this city of ours in which it is possible to walk from on end to the other by following its green parks alone. However, we would like to integrate these green areas in one complete network. Karlovac is a humane city, sparsely built, dotted all over with empty spaces and green zones. It is already a comfortable place to live in, and it seems the residents themselves are aware of this, with all the unbuilt, public green spaces surrounding their buildings. And that can be seen in this competition as well. We would like to emphasize once more the importance of the green infrastructure, its effect on the city ecosystem, its potential to adapt to the climate change, as well as what is does for the living balance and image of the city itself.
Karlovac is a humane city, founded and built in the green valleys of its four rivers, under the Old Town of Dubovac. With its century-old parks and promenades and bike paths, it also has a great cultural tradition, its own history of sports, crafts and trade. Of course, with all these parameters, Karlovac embodies a European formula for comfortable living and business investment, unique for its economic and developmental possibilities. Located at the crossroads of the most important Croatian and European highways, in the vicinity of Croatia’s neighbors, Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, Karlovac is a city with great potential. Its business zones are located next to traffic hubs just outside the city, so the urban center is left open for investment in a whole array of tourist services, residential and recreational areas.
At the very end I want to say that we did not ask for just a pretty picture of our future. We asked for ideas that would lead us towards complete and gradual development. That way we can adjust and take a more detailed look at the solutions in the near future, keeping in mind the long term goals.
A lot of work, know-how and effort has been put into this competition. I want to thank all the teams who, among all other EUROPAN 15 sites throughout Europe, chose this very site in our City of Karlovac, as well as all the others who took part in organizing this competition.