The multi-level Eleftheria Square designed and completed by Zaha Hadid Architects is the city’s primary gathering space, a public park that runs alongside the historic Venetian Walls and the dry moat that encircles Nicosia, Cyprus.

The walls were constructed in the Middle Ages and extensively rebuilt by the Venetians in the 16th century, these substantial defensive walls define the boundary of the oldest part of the capital, dividing the ancient city from the new districts outside the walls.
Located near the centre of Nicosia, Zaha Hadid Architects' (ZHA) design of Eleftheria Square creates new connections intended to unite this divided city, previously inaccessible and now a new area with a series of tree-lined promenades, paved plazas, green spaces and water elements.

ZHA envisioned Eleftheira Square as the initial phase of a much larger urban plan that could be a catalyst for the reunification of the capital.

Transformed into an urban park, the moat’s fluid geometries have been created through the process of triangulating the irregular forms of the ancient fortifications to establish points of ‘intensity’ that define seating, flowerbeds or water features within the new park.

Eleftheira Square has been designed to host festivals and public events.
 

Project description by Zaha Hadid Architects

Establishing Eleftheria Square as the city’s primary gathering space, Zaha Hadid Architects’ (ZHA) design creates new connections intended to unite a divided capital. Nicosia’s massive Venetian fortifications separate the old city from its modern districts, while the city’s ‘Green Line’ divides the capital into two disparate communities.

Located near the centre of Nicosia, Eleftheria Square is adjacent to the Venetian Walls and the dry moat that encircles the city. Constructed in the Middle Ages and extensively rebuilt by the Venetians in the 16th century, these substantial defensive walls define the boundary of the oldest part of the capital, dividing the ancient city from the new districts outside the walls.

ZHA envisioned Eleftheira Square as the initial phase of a much larger urban plan that could be a catalyst for the reunification of the capital. The design ensures unobstructed views of the Venetian Walls, establishing these fortifications as an integral part of Nicosia’s identity, while also opening the dry moat for public use to create an orbital park that surrounds the city.

Transforming previously inaccessible areas of the moat with new civic plazas, gardens and palm-lined promenades, the moat can become a ‘green belt’ around the city. ZHA’s design proposes these new public spaces within the moat are extended to follow the ancient city walls and encircle Nicosia, reconnecting communities of this divided capital.

The Eleftheria Square design elevates the topography of the moat to create an upper level bridge that meets the surrounding streetscape, establishing direct connections with the city’s urban fabric and defining a new public square in the heart of the capital.

Transformed into an urban park, the moat’s fluid geometries have been created through the process of triangulating the irregular forms of the ancient fortifications to establish points of ‘intensity’ that define seating, flowerbeds or water features within the new park.

The moat’s granite paving conveys a timeless solidity, while open joints between the granite slabs create a passive rainwater drainage system that allows the new trees planted within the moat to naturally balance groundwater levels and reduce erosion of the medieval walls’ foundations.

As the largest civic plaza in Nicosia, Eleftheira Square has been designed to host festivals and public events; its upper level bridge and supporting columns are crafted in concrete, their sculptural forms ensure structural integrity in this seismic region and the base of each column morphs into seating.

The renovation of the square involved extensive archaeological excavations together with works to repair and protect the historic Venetian Walls. The redevelopment also includes two cafes within the square and the new underground parking lot with access ramp on Omirou Avenue. Stairs and elevators directly connect with the bus terminal in Solomos Square.

ZHA’s transformation of Eleftheria Square weaves together Nicosia’s rich history with an unwavering optimism for the future. Bridging the Venetian Wall and moat, the square becomes an important gateway to the old city, its underground parking removing cars from the ancient city’s streets to enable further pedestrianisation that enhances the urban realm of this historic district while also creating new public gardens and plazas to be enjoyed by residents and visitors to the city.

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Architects
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Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA). Design.- Zaha Hadid, Patrik Schumacher, Christos Passas.
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ZHA teams
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ZHA competition team.- Christos Passas, Saffet Bekiroglu, Viviana Muscettola, Michele Pasca di Magliano, Daniel Fiser, Ceyhun Baskin, Inanc Eray.
ZHA schematic design team.- Stella Nikolakaki, Sevil Yazici, Sylvia Georgiadou, Takang Hsu, Phivos Skroumbelos, Marilena Sophocleus, Chrysi Fradellou, Edward Sorgeloose, Vladimir Tschaly.
ZHA design development.- Dimitris Akritopoulos, Bence Pap, Kwanphil Cho, Reza Esmaeeli, Chrysi Fradellou, Raul Forsoni, Thomas Frings, Jesus Garate, Irene Guerra, George Giokalas, Spyridon Kaprinis, Javier Ernesto Lebie, Carlos Luna, Vincent Nowak, Anna Papachristoforou, Sophia Papageorgiou, Vivian Pashiali, Ivan Ucros Polley, Matthew Richardson, Michail Roidis, Hendrik Rupp, Andri Shalou, Vladimir Tschaly, Leo Alves, Megan Burke, Eleni Mente, David McDowell.
ZHA project supervision team.- Electra Mikelides, Dimitris Kolonis, Stella Nikolakaki, Vivian Pashiali, Christos Sazos, Nicos Yiatros, Christina Christodoulidou, Maria-Eleni Bali.
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Collaborators
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On-site engineers.- Eleni Loizou, Remos Achilleos.
Structural engineers.- ASD Hyperstatic Engineering.
MEP engineers.- UNEMEC.
Lighting.- Kardorff Lichtplanung.
Accessibility consultants.- David Bonnett Associates.
Traffic consultants.- SKM Colin Buchanan.
Project management/coordination team.- Modinos & Vrahimis Associates.
Cost consultants.- MDA Cyprus.
Advisors.- Lekton, The Concrete Center, Beton Centrum.
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Client
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Client project management team.- Agni Petridou, Maria Ioannou, Maria Georgiou, Foivos Tsappas, Georgiana Loizides.
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Dates
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Competition.- 2005.
Construction.- 2015.
Inaugurated.- December 13th, 2021.
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Location
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Eleftheria Square, Nicosia, Cyprus.
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Photography
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Zaha Hadid, (Bagdad, 31 October 1950 – Miami, 31 March 2016) founder of Zaha Hadid Architects, was awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize (considered to be the Nobel Prize of architecture) in 2004 and is internationally known for both her theoretical and academic work.

Each of her dynamic and innovative projects builds on over thirty years of revolutionary exploration and research in the interrelated fields of urbanism, architecture and design. Hadid’s interest lies in the rigorous interface between architecture, landscape and geology as her practice integrates natural topography and human-made systems, leading to experimentation with cutting-edge technologies. Such a process often results in unexpected and dynamic architectural forms.

Education: Hadid studied architecture at the Architectural Association from 1972 and was awarded the Diploma Prize in 1977.

Teaching: She became a partner of the Office for Metropolitan Architecture, taught at the AA with OMA collaborators Rem Koolhaas and Elia Zenghelis, and later led her own studio at the AA until 1987. Since then she has held the Kenzo Tange Chair at the Graduate School of Design, Harvard University; the Sullivan Chair at the University of Illinois, School of Architecture, Chicago; guest professorships at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste in Hamburg; the Knolton School of Architecture, Ohio and the Masters Studio at Columbia University, New York. In addition, she was made Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Fellow of the American Institute of Architecture and Commander of the British Empire, 2002. She is currently Professor at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna, Austria and was the Eero Saarinen Visiting Professor of Architectural Design at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut.

Awards: Zaha Hadid’s work of the past 30 years was the subject of critically-acclaimed retrospective exhibitions at New York’s Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in 2006, London’s Design Museum in 2007 and the Palazzo della Ragione, Padua, Italy in 2009. Her recently completed projects include the MAXXI Museum in Rome; which won the Stirling award in 2010. Hadid’s outstanding contribution to the architectural profession continues to be acknowledged by the most world’s most respected institutions. She received the prestigious ‘Praemium Imperiale’ from the Japan Art Association in 2009, and in 2010, the Stirling Prize – one of architecture’s highest accolades – from the Royal Institute of British Architects. Other recent awards include UNESCO naming Hadid as an ‘Artist for Peace’ at a ceremony in their Paris headquarters last year. Also in 2010, the Republic of France named Hadid as ‘Commandeur de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres’ in recognition of her services to architecture, and TIME magazine included her in their 2010 list of the ‘100 Most Influential People in the World’. This year’s ‘Time 100’ is divided into four categories: Leaders, Thinkers, Artists and Heroes – with Hadid ranking top of the Thinkers category.

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Published on: December 23, 2021
Cite: "Zaha Hadid Architects creates Eleftheria square, a park with a soul of union" METALOCUS. Accessed
<https://www.metalocus.es/en/news/zaha-hadid-architects-creates-eleftheria-square-a-park-a-soul-union> ISSN 1139-6415
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