Reconstruction of Sofia Square

We proposed the project with the awareness that it is a central, meaningfully significant space in Prague 12. There is a high turnover of people here, Post Office, Billa, OC Modřany, OP Sofie. The investor's brief was for a gathering area, an open space where markets, demonstrations, concerts, or public skating could take place. The scope of our project also extends to the lower part, where there are plans for two pavilions, greenery with pathways, a kind of relaxation zone adjacent to this open space (realization is currently being prepared). The original square was incredibly tangled with public infrastructure completely haphazardly, which fundamentally influenced the placement of structures that penetrated the ground. Our response to the brief is therefore a place where one can rest, stop, talk to someone, sit down, or simply look around, which has indeed been the main significance of public spaces since ancient times. Nowadays, we are still rushing somewhere, the goal – to arrange, buy, check off, and quickly move on. As if movement meant success and the principle of the world. Places where one can sit and experience more things than constant traveling are increasingly rare. The so-called "slow" public space also belongs to every age – teenagers, children, seniors – sit on benches, are together, form communities. We cleared the area of large concrete pools, where there was greenery, but it was low, without volume and mass, taking up space, providing no coolness or shade. We are planting a few new trees (the main load of greenery is planned for down below), preserving the old ones (thankfully, they survived), and around the trunks, we are installing circular benches. We also believe in the energy of words – there are giant inscriptions on the area. The slander on the wall radiates something silly, while the phrase "Pavla loves Pavla" contains humor, perhaps even love, and so we had words that evoke good aspects of life arranged into the pavement (there was a lot of discussion and doubt about this with the city representatives), with addendums poured into the steps. The new Sofia is primarily supposed to offer space + a few entertaining elements – an inexplicable and impractical joy. There were leftover tiles, and so we hastily devised an element where today people sit, children jump, and play hide and seek while the youth gathers there. In a few places, we poured concrete where locals could imprint their foot, hand, or their dog's paw. It has happened, and we hope that after 40 years, the same people will take their grandchildren here and say – this is my footprint, I belong here, you see? In the lower part of the square stood a rusted steel structure where the Modřanský Tarzan race (rope climbing) was held once a year. We painted it, strengthened it, inserted a staircase, and turned it into a viewpoint (the view is nice all the way to the Zbraslav Celtic Mountain, the race has been revived, so hopefully its long-standing record will soon be broken), and adorned it with a flag in the colors of Prague 12. The railing and stairs were illegally occupied by skateboarders, and children ride bikes and scooters in the area. There is a water feature in the lower part where children jump through in the summer, and in winter it will serve as an artificial skating area. After the realization, we visited the place repeatedly, and the most beautiful sight is seeing it full of people who are doing exactly those normal things we so intellectually write about above. While thinking about the project, I was often struck by the principle known to the Indians or Aborigines, and we increasingly ignore it – namely, the principle of identity or personal relationship to a place.