Design practice White Arkitekter has created a 65 meter-long ‘sofa’ for Forumtorget Square in Uppsala, Sweden. Designed to provide space for rest and social interaction, the linear outdoor seating is the centerpiece of wider improvements to the large square. The project aims to attract more visitors to Forumtorget and its surrounding shopping area by building on the area’s character as a gathering place.
Pavel Hnilicka Architekti is set to design Prague’s Victory Square, having been announced as winners of an international competition. Led by Pavel Hnilička, Eva Macáková, and Josef Filip, the winning scheme seeks to divert all existing traffic away from the square, transforming the space with a striking central monument.
The scheme sees the removal of tram tracks through the square, which will instead be relocated to the west side and Evropská Street. While traffic will be removed from the square, a new traffic plan will, in fact, accommodate more cars than the existing layout, while the center of the existing roundabout will become a “functioning space for universal use.”
International offices HUNI Architectes has received the highest prize in an international competition to design the Da Nang City Center Square in Vietnam. Organized by the Department of Construction, the city launched its competition for the square, with HUNI beating out 15 other designs competing for first place. HUNI has experience in Vietnam-based projects, already having collaborated with OMGEVING & Partners to restore Da Nang’s riverfront.
The design adopts the symbolic shape of a typical local element: the Lotus lake. Featuring distinctive ‘Lotus flower’ and ‘Lotus leaf’ canopies, the square aims to increase bike and pedestrian access, along with decreasing water runoff in Da Nang’s rain-filled location. Using its canopy-like shade structure, the Lotus Square will host a playground, market, and water feature symbolic of its chosen motif.
