Plan Magazine - Architect graduates present designs for city square project

8 September 10

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Architect graduates present designs for city square project
A group of young graduates from the Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen have released a range of designs for the City Square Project

Image: MOSTLY GREEN1

Leading the group is 25-year-old architectural assistant, Graham Edgar. He said: “The proposals for the City Square Project are tremendously exciting with huge potential for Aberdeen City and Shire. My colleagues and I were concerned that the images associated with the project suggest that the design is complete when it is not even at the design stage. There is a need to provide illustrations with any proposal, but these conceptual illustrations from the technical feasibility study don’t do the project justice.

Image: TOWN SQUARE

“We thought that if we put together a range of thought-provoking aerial montages based on ACSEF’s criteria we could help people see the full potential and understand that the current concept is not a final design.
“The design possibilities are endless and this is a fantastic opportunity for Aberdeen to create an iconic civic space and gardens, not a flat concrete square.
“The on-going public consultation exercise is trying to find out if the public supports the vision of a more attractive and accessible, greener, better-connected and safer city. If people demonstrate they want transformational change, then a full design brief would be compiled and the project would go to an international design competition."

Image: 09UNIO

Architectural assistant Elaine Lourdes who led the production of the graphics said:
“Our aim is to get people thinking about what could be so that they support the City Square project and get involved in shaping what is in it. We think it is important that people share their own views on how the design should progress.
“As we have studied amazing examples of urban design from around the world, we want to see something exciting happen in such a strategic city centre location. The proposal has the potential to drastically improve the pedestrian experience of the city and raise the profile of Aberdeen internationally.”
“Our eight designs meet the criteria of a civic space with at least 2.5 acres of gardens, an all-weather concourse underneath street level and a contemporary arts centre. All show walk-on, walk off access from all four sides and sympathetic use of the existing topography with hard and soft landscaping.”
Architectural assistant Linzhi Lau said: “The potential for a stunning contemporary arts centre in the cultural hub of Aberdeen is very encouraging for the city’s art scene. “We don’t want this project to fail because people were unenthused by the conceptual drawings, so we have invested our time in illustrating various provocative ideas that we hope will motivate more people to participate and vote yes so that the project can proceed to the design competition stage.”