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Architects: Onlyonly Studio
- Area: 50 m²
- Year: 2021
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Photographs:Reinis Hofmanis
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Manufacturers: BEGROUP, Pata Timber, RIGA WOOD BALTIC, Renner Coatings
Text description provided by the architects. Cloud of blue Mist is a public object located in the Baltic state - of Latvia, on the southern outskirts of the capital city Riga. Where two vast and dense neighborhoods Imanta and Zolitude filled with multi-household buildings. Two neighborhoods together are home to more than 60 thousand people. Historically these two city areas have been split and separated by railway paths, and biologically rich meadows with high-growing trees.
In the heart of the meadow, which is the center point of two neighborhoods, the cobalt blue wavy sculpture is flying over the grass like a layer of mist. In close, it is a monolith wavy and round surface, 8 meters in diameter, that functions both visually and functionally to produce space with no set limits or preconditions of its use. It engages people of all ages to explore their imagination and discover various ways of play and recreation.
This public space object was created within the Latvian Contemporary Art center project “Together”. The challenge of the project was to develop degraded areas of city outskirts, with solutions that promote togetherness and increase overall wellbeing in neighborhood communities. Challenges we faced in the research and design phase: How to connect two neighborhoods?; How to make an attractive object that serves as a starting point for further development of an area?; How to increase attention on the valuable but degraded area and increase the potential of local tourism?
Historical research, on-sight investigations, and most of all conversations with the neighborhood association “Riga Annenhof” and residents enabled us to create a solution - bold, attractive and artistic public sculpture. With its expressive wavy cobalt blue wooden surface, it has increased attention to the area within social media and enriched the meadow with various public events - concerts, gatherings, public discussions, history tours, and celebrations. But most of all it has united communities from two neighborhoods.
After construction ended, we regularly observed how people interacted with the object and its overall impact on neighborhoods. It was surprising that it invited such a variety of people from all groups of age, and created a multi-purpose place - kids loved to play catch on it, groups did yoga classes on it, in winter children used it to ride a sled, and in summer locals used it for sunbathing. It created a place for gathering, meeting, and playing. Rose safety of the area, and now the object is official local tourism point.
