A 'weave' in Riga's urban space : A tapestry of culture, heritage and community
The project resonates with my interests in crafting urban and architectural experiences in historically rich contexts. I aim to create contemporary interventions that look at local environments in a global context - Global + Local = A Glocal approach to revitalizing and enhancing historic environments and add to their timelessness.
The project_ A weave in Riga’s Urban Space_ responds to the city’s multilayered context by reconnecting fragmented historic districts within the UNESCO protected zone. The city’s identity is shaped by the historic water systems, yet these remain disconnected today - divided by uneven development, infrastructure and a declining local population. The proposal envisions urban space as a tapestry – weaving cultural heritage and community, reinforced by the city’s future vision to build on local skills.
The intervention introduces a new urban grain, stitching together the canal, market district, old warehouses and the riverfront as a unified ‘place’ through public space continuity. Drawing from the city’s lived experience and historic morphology, the spatial logic adopts serial vision and the old town’s system of spatial connectors and collectors, which choreograph movement - as a framework for multi-layered, meaningful and experiential journeys that foster site-specific placemaking.
Responding to Riga’s rich cultural identity and present fragmentation, the proposal challenges conventional regeneration models by prioritising local narratives and social production - skills-based community hubs celebrating local crafts, traditions and storytelling through urban morphology. This revolves around local identity and social exchange as a tool positioning urban heritage as a continuous living system, beyond the lens of preservation.
The intervention belongs spatially and socially to the city - a ‘belonging’ urbanism. The design reframes voids as active public domains rather than residues of built form, transforming the disconnected region into an enclave of renewed life- to enable a walkable, community driven neighbourhood for the people of Riga.
