European Prize for Urban Public Space 2016 Awarded

Special Mention.- Ablain-Saint-Nazaire, Ring of Memory: International Memorial of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette Ablain-Saint-Nazaire (France), 2014 by Philippe Prost.

Since the end of the First World War, France’s biggest burial ground has been on the hill of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, a scene of terrible massacres which now enjoys special natural and heritage protection. In 2014 the “Ring of Memory” was constructed as an international monument commemorating the hundredth anniversary of the outbreak of the war. It consists of an oval-shaped passageway which, along its more than three hundred metres, shows the names of more than half a million soldiers who lost their lives in the Nord-Pas-de- Calais region during the war. Its ring-like structure brings old enemies together in a unitary embrace, in alphabetical order and without distinction of military rank or nationality and, projected over the landscape of Artois, forms a cantilever of more than sixty metres which serves as a reminder of the fragility of peace in Europe. 

Special Mention.- Molenbeek-Saint-Jean Polivalent Halle (Belgium), 2015 by Baukunst. 

In the urban fabric of Brussels, Molenbeek-Saint-Jean has stood out for its particularly dense nature, the fact that it is beset by social conflict and, more recently, stigmatised by terrorist attacks in Paris and Brussels. While it lacked spaces that might have endowed the zone with some identity, between its buildings it is full of interstitial areas which are either closed off or used for sometimes questionable purposes. 

One of these was the garden of a courtyard in a block on rue des Quatre- Vents, a residual space delimited at the rear by a public school, a church and a residential building. In 2015, as a result of a municipal plan for opening up and activating this and other similar wasteland spaces, the garden was equipped with a monumental porch. Its roof now provides shelter for parents and children leaving the school and, after school hours, offers this rather battered neighbourhood a decent and emblematic meeting space to be used for residents’ get-togethers, theatre, film screenings, concerts, workshops and barbecues.

Special Mention.- Kiev -Heavenly Hundred- Garden (Ukraine), 2016 by NGO "Misto-sad"

In February 2014, in the cruellest days of the Revolution of Dignity, some activists took down the fence surrounding an abandoned lot in the old city centre in order to put up barricades and defend themselves from the police. A week later, local residents decided to occupy the land as a meeting place where they could discuss what democratic reforms Ukraine needed. Helped by people who came from all over the world, they cleaned up the site and planted a self-managed garden, which was to become a memorial to the “heavenly hundred” shot down by the police. 

On an adjoining flank wall they painted a portrait of the first person to be killed and planted trees brought from different parts of the country in homage to all the other victims. They also made a communal garden planted with ecological products, and installed a playground and a shed for storing tools and children’s toys. In the last two years some fifty open-air events have been held on the site, including concerts, lectures, exhibitions, educational games, performances and a film festival. Hence, it is by way of creative activities rather than candles and tears that the people have wanted to keep alive the memory of those who were killed when they called for more democracy.

Special Mention.- London Barkingside Town Centre, London (UK), 2015 by DK-CM. 

Barkingside is a suburb in the easternmost outskirts of London, close to the metropolitan Green Belt. In the 1960s, in an attempt to compensate for the deficits brought about by overly rapid urban development, some facilities were installed, including a complex consisting of a public library and a municipal sports centre. Despite this effort and its proximity to a busy main street, the windowless facades of the complex and neglect of the surrounding spaces drained the space of the vitality proper to a highly populated neighbourhood with imminent prospects of further growth. 

Hence, in 2015, the council gave its support to a strategic intervention which joined a loggia to the bare facade of the complex. Its conspicuous but welcoming presence, the greenery of the new Virginia Gardens and renovated shop fronts in the main road have succeeded in giving the Barkingside town centre the civic representativeness it formerly lacked.

The City Of Copenhagen (Denmark) -Special Recognition.- Cykelslangen cycle bridge Copenhagen (Denmark), 2014

The jury members stated that for its enlightened policy-making and seriousness in its present and future vision of the city. Reflecting this enlightenment is the fact that, among the 25 finalist works of the 2016 European Prize for Urban Public Space, several are from Copenhagen and its metropolitan area. All of them show great determination to encourage a comfortable presence of people in their urban surroundings. 

Special Recognition: Cykelslangen cycle bridge Copenhagen (Denmark), 2014

A commitment to the quality of life in urban public space throughout the city is expressed in innovative interventions related with such important issues as mobility or water management. The city has invested in democratic, sustainable mobility with an emphasis on public transport and bicycle traffic rather than cars, while also highlighting proper use and enjoyment of its water resources. With this Special Recognition, the Jury recognises the reconquest of the city as a role model which could be taken up worldwide.