Where everything started? Kaunas has been renovating for quite a while now, preparing to be the cultural capital in 2022 starting with changing the concrete in the city center which was chipped off, outdated and had spacing that stopped anything with wheels, such as skateboards, scooters. A lot of people in Kaunas nowadays use electric scooters so the new concrete made it possible to use them in the city center.
The project to renovate Kaunas Unity Square in 2017 it's a project that started back in 2017 and finished in 2020 spring.The project was designed by Rimantas Giedraitis and 3DELUXE.
The investments for this project came from SBA Urban Inventors who invested 10million euros as a gift for Kaunas and the city of Kaunas provided the garnite concrite that was required for the project.
In a once abandoned area the project provided a lively space for the city. It was completely abandoned and since there were no benches or even decent grounding in the area. This project provided underground parking for the city center and parking spaces for the people who live nearby. The park also provided a fountain and some planned greenery. Since the building besides it was abandoned and now it serves the people with cafes restaurants and offices it's visited a lot more and brings life back to the city. An amfitheater was also built here which provides seating for people and events that may be held there. The renovation for the building decided to keep the original structure just changed the windows and renovated the outside.There were also lights installed that bring life also during the night and fountain shows which serve as an attraction of something to look at.
The square also holds events now such as Kaunas Jazz, theatre awards and national events.
But is everyone happy with the new park and the youth actually using it to their advantage? Unfortunatelly no. Since a lot of young people use skateboards and scooters in the park to do tricks there are some visable spots that are signs of damage done to the new park. This is left for debate rather it's more important to keep the appeal of the park visually or if it's more important for the space to be used publically.
ALIBI. Generally this project serves as an alibi of how a space can serve a community. How it can provide things that are needed such as underground parking and area for people, seating and concrete for the youth to use. Although is this the perfect project? Could there have been something more similar to a skate park build which it's being used as now in the same area. I'd leave that up for debate. Generally it made the space a lot more lively and useful that still serves as a positive alibi.