2013 KAFe, Freedom Impulses: Gate to temporary space, Kaunas

http://www.kafe2013.lt/en/freedom-impulses

Project “Laisvės impulsai” (“Freedom impulses”) is inovative/experimental event that will gather young architects to look at Kaunas main pedestrian street differently. Main goal is to create discussion between public, business, architects, government about new architecture in historical city spaces.Participants will be able to choose one of exsiting Laisves avenue buildings and create their own vision how it might look. Everyone is invited to create without limits, frames or boundaries without thinking how ideas could be implemented.

The project “Laisvės impulsai” (“Freedom impulses”), which will begin on 1 September 2013 in Laisvės avenue in Kaunas is an innovative/experimental event to generate analysis of emergence of new architecture in a historical environment, intellectual engagement, spreading of architectural ideas and critical thoughts across the town, focused on initiation of a lively and open discussions between the urban society, business people, architects, municipality and other concerned public groups on what the contemporary architecture can (or could) be in urban historical spaces – an issue, which is often accompanied by confronting and even controversial moods.

Idea
The essence of the forthcoming project “Laivės impulsai” is to offer the most capable architects of the young generation (up to 40 years old) to submit their visions concerning the most “impaired” locations of Laisvės avenue in Kaunas: its buildings and their façades, planned annexes. Laisvės avenue was chosen for this project because it is the main space of the town, and its newly constructed objects received strong opposition from the public. On the other hand, we can find many abandoned buildings and unmanaged places in this historical street, waiting for their build-up or functions to be eventually solved, therefore such responsible step needs especially serious preparation and careful weighing of all possible alternatives.
Visualisations of architectural ideas will be used to provoke public discussions between citizens and guests of the town on how the old and the new could match in the historical space of the town, which already has an established form, on the meaning of heritage, how new architectural solutions could be born, what is necessary for civic rebirth of the town, its architectural and urban face, as well as the challenge to be an intellectual concern of every resident of the town.
Since these architectural visions are not meant for implementation, no limitations will apply except for one – artistic, i. e. the requirement to offer architecture of the best possible value, encompassing within itself the best view of the contemporary modern architecture on the historical environment.

Here we come with our proposal for KAFe :

Existig -Laisves al 1

Existing Courtyard – Laisves al 1

INDEPENDENCE COURTYARD/GATE TO TEMPORARY SPACES

opening the existing spaces and using vacant lots

Situated in a prominent location on the Independence square building is lack of welcoming feeling, energy and youth. Thus, our goal is not to do a major make up as we do not think that facial appearance could heal it, we are offering an idea of creating a courtyard with serious activities for different age of people. Also we offer a prototype of live/work model housing. Having a working space in your accommodation reduces traveling cost, pollution and necessity for car. Also having a working space and being surrounded by existing business encourages new entrepreneurship to appear. And new entrepreneurship is new business and fresh new ideas for the city. Courtyards and arcades were important places of city life, creating different layers of life and lifestyles. Now they are transformed into the car parking. According to the statistics there are over five hundred cars for thousand people and in ten years period this number just increased while in well developed countries like Stockholm, Copenhagen or Amsterdam the number is decreasing. People tend to use public transport, bicycles or walk. According to Berlin traffic monitoring centre, there is an enormous impact of public transport development and teaching people sustainable living. Few advantages:

– Community feeling ->community activities and

events-> sharing experience and knowledge ->

new ideas -> new business -> improving city life.

Good public transport in a city->better access to

city and its nightlife -> developing city nightlife ->

more business and live city-> people in the street

-> developing safe city

So every action has its consequences. Freedom Avenue has many vacant lots, abandoned corners and courtyards, flats nobody lives in. Every vacant lot is a possibility; it is full of freedom for temporary activities. We promote the idea of ‘liquid ‘ modernity. Life pace is too fast and city must go with it not to be frozen with the poverty of private owners who do not care about their property. Those empty shops could be a place for young entrepreneurs or artists if it could be accessible and have reasonable price. Short leases are a must these times.