Architecture students improved the park in Liberec as part of a seminar

photo: Lucie Fürstová

Liberec - Students of architecture at the Technical University of Liberec have revitalized a neglected small park in the center of Liberec during a week-long practical course. It can now be used for children's play, reading books, screening films, or playing guitar. This was reported today by Jiří Žid, a professor at the Faculty of Art and Architecture.

The small park with a commemorative beech tree in the middle is located near the town hall, on Frýdlantská Street, across from the Varšava cinema. The students created an unusual wooden stage there, on which there are loungers overlooking the tree canopy and flower pots. They also placed a community library in the back part of the park. "There are also two unnameable structures in the shape of a spatial triangle in the park, which the children greatly enjoyed," Žid stated. He expects that the furniture created by the students will remain in the park for at least the entire summer season.

The modifications of the neglected park were preceded by about a month of preparation by the first-year students in the studio. They worked there under the guidance of Vladimír Balda and Jiří Žid. "At first, the students created their designs in small groups, which they presented to a professional committee on-site before the workshop began," Žid said. At the beginning of the week-long seminar, the students had to clear the park of trash, including syringes. Together with the public, they also had to agree on what modifications to make in the park. "About 20 people got involved," the educator estimated.

As part of the park's modifications, the rusted fence was also repaired. It is a valuable architectural element, although its outward condition had long reflected otherwise. It was created about 60 years ago in the then-popular artistic style. "The now valuable fence in the Brussels style was repainted to entice people to enter," Žid added. The week-long seminar took place last week and was part of the Czech-German Cultural Spring; the faculty received about 80,000 crowns for creating the furniture.