Waterfront Concept

There is a quality about water which calls to the most deep-rooted and atavistic part of our nature. In the deep canyons of our cities, water, along with fire, trees and the almost hidden sky above, are the elements that can still tie us to our primitive past. Of all these, water and fire evoke the most direct responses. Fire in the city is dangerous, negative and evil; while water is positive and life giving-the element from which we all came from. The wildness and exuberance of water stirrs us with it’s qualities of nonconformity and vigor.

If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water. Water is an fundamental attraction in all cultures and among all clases of people, from Alaska to Angola or Argentina. It is a favourite location for celebrations and ceremonies, for evening picnics on the beaches of Bahrain, religious rites of the Ganges River in Benares, for dragon boat races in Shanghai, for New Year’s oceanfront offerings for the goddess Eimanja in Brazil or for the anual yachting sessions or boat races off the Adriatic coast of Koper in Slovenia. Whether for ritual or recreational purposes, people seek the water’s edge… so strong is the draw of the water.

The project will concern itself with the area where the city of Koper engages the shoreline-the urban waterfront. The very fabric of the city is inextricably linked to the body of water that contributed to its founding and subsequent development.

It is interesting to consider what is meant by “on” the waterfront. The answer about whether or not a project is on the waterfront is basically psychological-does it “feel” that it relates to the water or is intrinsically part of the city’s waterfront as a whole.

Where a waterfront project succedes, it has a dramatic and visible impact that is capable not only of enriching a city’s economy but of improving its collective self-image…

2009