Foreword

Liepaja is a city of the in-between. It is bound by both old and new world tradition, Baltic sea and continent, Eastern and Western European economics, politics, and history. Amidst these conditions, the city has experienced the rise and fall of kingdoms, empires, republics, and unions. Now a decade and a half into what is oft referred the urban century, as characterized by expounding growth of global epicenters and overnight megalopolises, the Triple Bridge Waterfront Competition provokes a prescient question: what is an appropriate model of development for all those other cities, comparably static, of regional importance, shaped and pedigreed by centuries of history and culture?

The Triple Bridge Waterfront competition suggests that sustainable growth and development in cities both old and new, is predicated on the vitality of public space. In the case of the Triple Bridge Waterfront, such a public space requires consideration of various demands, as outlined in a comprehensive brief. Successful entries to the competition were refined, yet nimble to accommodate a vast site flanked by historic buildings and exposure to a canal. In addition, the brief calls for inclusion of four distinct program including a restaurant/cafe, nightclub/bar, exhibition space/conference hall, and an unprescribed tourist attraction. Responses to the brief varied, from the formal iconoclastic, to the austere and reserved, the gestural to the nondescript, biotic to synthetic, and materialistic to the ephemeral.

Selected entries were distinct in that the architecture proposed serves a larger agenda resonant with the fundamental challenge of the brief. These submission each conjure an imaginative, yet tangible future of urban culture fostered by creative strategies of public space making. The proposals were considered and distinguished by several characteristics. These included articulation of a singular strategy, an ability to unify a diverse program and expansive site, the potential for phased development over time, an autonomous yet contingent relation to the historic and contemporary fabric of Liepaja, accommodation for the public demands of the flanking canal and streetscape, and ability to attract locals, visitors, and tourists. Winning entries realized each of these criteria through discrete alternatives to the structure and form of traditional public space.

Competition results in media publications


COMPETITION ORGANISERS
Triple Bridge 
Waterfront

1st Prize Winner

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Triple Bridge Waterfront

Authors Sun Yu, Xue Zhao, , ,
Country China

2nd Prize Winner

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Triple Bridge Waterfront

Authors Ka Leung Yuen, Sze Kwan Wan, , ,
Country United States

3rd Prize Winner

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Triple Bridge Waterfront

Authors Pablo Rodríguez Parada, , , ,
Country Germany

Honorable Mentions

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Project name

Triple Bridge Waterfront

Authors Ericka Song, , , ,
Country Canada
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Triple Bridge Waterfront

Authors Sherif Sugiyama, , Wilson Kessel, ,
Country United States
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Triple Bridge Waterfront

Authors Kohki Hiranuma, , , ,
Country Japan
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Triple Bridge Waterfront

Authors Iryna Volynets, Mary Protsyk, , ,
Country Ukraine
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Triple Bridge Waterfront

Authors James Ferello, Connor Brindza, , ,
Country United States
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Triple Bridge Waterfront

Authors Jeffrey A. Pinheiro, Derek Zero, , ,
Country United States