Karosta (translated as "Military Port") is a city 10 km north of Liepaja in Latvia. It was founded in 1890 by the decree of Emperor Alexander III as a military port, and in Soviet times it remained a military town, a closed territory inaccessible even to the civilian population of Liepaja. After Latvia gained independence in 1990, the Soviet military left the city, and as a result, the population in Karosta decreased from 25,000 to 6,000, and many buildings were abandoned and since then fell into disrepair.
The Latvian authorities are trying to develop tourism in Karosta and its environs and in general to bring the city back to life. To this end, a number of competitions were organized, two of which ended at the end of 2013. In the first competition ("Ghost Town"), participants were asked to develop a project for a multifunctional center that would unite a museum, library, conference center, shopping area and restaurant. The second competition asked to find a solution to the problem of the faceless and dilapidated facades of "brutalist" apartment buildings in Karosta.
We present the projects of the winners of both ideas competitions.
Competition number 1. Ghost town
1st place
Grousset + Hélène Besson + Julien Colom + Guillaume Friolet (France)
The winners of the competition reimagined the designs of Soviet concrete bunkers with their heavy, closed forms, creating a building with unusual lighting design. They effectively used the area of the site, placing there outdoor areas and areas for active recreation. Inside the Center, every visitor can find something to their liking, and the large hall in the middle of the building can serve as a covered city square.
2nd place
Gilles Retsin + Isaie Bloch (UK)
The function of this project contrasts with its form: it is a radical monument symbol, which sends the viewer back to the coastal concrete bunker in Karosta, which includes a canteen, a kindergarten and a workshop. The museum and conference center, set by the terms of the competition, as larger elements of the program, were “evicted” to the adjacent building of the old factory, which is now in need of renovation. The combination of concrete with light gilded elements reminds of the architectural history of Karosta: the materials seem to have been borrowed from Soviet-era residential areas and Orthodox churches of the Russian Empire.
3rd place
Johann Bertelli + Gustavo DeleuNogueira + Julie Deglesne (France)
The Light Core project is a simple and clear architectural volume. The light-flooded space is contrasted with the dark concrete architecture typical of Karosta.
The non-orthogonal location of the building on the site is connected with several factors at once: firstly, its orientation to the cardinal points allows the sun to “visit” the Center throughout the day; secondly, the building is directed strictly to the Naval Cathedral, located to the south of the construction site. Thus, the authors pay tribute to the visual and spiritual dominant of Karosta. You can admire the spectacular view of the cathedral both inside the building and while relaxing on the terraced outdoor areas located nearby.
Competition number 2. Reinventing brutalism
1st place
Ilana Simhon (USA)
The project of the winner of the competition directly answers the question "How can you make dull brutalist houses more alive?" The author proposes to hang balconies on the facade with supports for a vertical garden. The stands are positioned at different angles so that every green space, even on the upper floors, is visible to passers-by on the street. This system of structures gives residents the opportunity to "personalize" their balcony, creating a unique mini-garden there.
2nd place
Joanna Burton (Spain)
In this project, a residential 5-storey building serves as a billboard or screen: an image is projected onto the building and then a monochrome drawing is applied to it. At the same time, the images have a pronounced 3D effect - at a certain angle, the facade pattern is read as a three-dimensional work of art. The beauty of this solution is that at a low cost, you can often change the exposure of "holograms" on the walls of houses.
3rd place
Emily Kutil + Jordan Hicks (USA)
The work in third place teeters on the brink of kitsch. It is based on frames in the form of kokoshniks, creating a collage effect on the facade. These frames can be of various colors, materials and textures: foam, gold leaf, moss, amber, rubber … This is how the project reveals the specifics of local architectural traditions: a combination of local decorative, intricate, somewhat naive elements with elements of brutal, minimalistic, stingy in color and texture …
Competition organizers: Homemade Dessert and Liepaja Municipality.
