Slice 252 (Germany)
Slicing Zagreb 2003

1st phase
project presentations
5 July, 6pm
Medjunarodni centar za usluge u kulturi - IKS, B. Magovca bb (Mamutica plateau)
9 July, 7pm
net.culture club [mama], Preradoviceva 18

2nd phase
Pavilion opening (playing aesque / missL / egoboo.bits):
3 October, 8pm
workshop:
4 - 9 October, 11am - 9pm
discussion:
8 October, 8 pm
with: Marko Sancanin, Maroje Mrduljas, Davor Katusic, Zvonimir Pilic, Marko Milas
Pavillion, Trg bana J. Jelacica - northwest

3rd phase
results presentation
19 December, 7pm
Society of architects Zagreb, Trg bana J. Jelacica 1

1st phase - July

/the face of a city is shaped by the people who use it/the make-up is up to you/make a decision/take a slice/

In all times the matters of city planning used to be in the hands of a very small, exclusive group of people. In modern democracies institutions claim to take the position to organise the direction of city growth and city use. They often seem to be influenced by the economic aspects of a city rather than the needs and feelings of their inhabitants. Modern communication systems, especially the Internet, offer the possibility of more direct citizens' influence.

Slicing Zagreb offers web-based urban tools for new developments. Slice252 invites everyone to take a slice of the city and play with it. You choose one out of five areas in Zagreb, each divided into several slices. Take your own slice or improve the results of other users by co-operating with them.

enter e-city: www.slice252.org

2nd phase - October

Slicing Zagreb 2003 is a three-part project (phase one: web site with tools for modeling city zones / phase two: workshop in pavilion on Trg bana Jelačića / phase three: results presentation) in which, along with architects and urbanists, all interested citizens can participate. As a counterweight to the classical urban schemes Slicing Zagreb 2003 with its active city planning puts the architects in the second plan. During remodeling city space the architects, as moderators and helpers, introduce the citizens to the key factors of an e-city: flexibility of the built environment, respecting time as a relevant architectonic element, substituting large zoning with the one that is dependent on short term city needs. Thus the context is created that allows the architects to react quicker to the speeding changes in urban society needs.

Slice 252 invites everybody to take a piece of the city and play with it. In different materials you can build your own city alone or in cooperation, tear down, suggest changes or simply have fun.

3rd phase - December

Slicing Zagreb is a three part project [one: web site with tools for remodelling Zagreb zones | two: public workshop in the pavilion on Trg bana Jelacica | three: results presentation] in which, together with architects and urban planners, all interested citizens are invited to participate. Opposing classical schemes of urban planning, slicing strategy puts architecture directly in touch with the final users of the city at the same time placing the architect into the position of a moderator rather than a designer.

During the October session slice252 held a workshop on Trg bana Jelacica, Zagreb's central square. In a playful situation passer-bys were invited to give proposals or comments on the city's current and future developments. The response to this offer was overwhelming; in less than one week over two hundred entries weer collected in collages, drawings and questionnaires. The need of the public to have a say in the decisions taken on their own city became very obvious.

For the final part of the Urban Festival all workshop results and documentation will be shown in one presentation to stimulate a discussion not only on the results themselves but also on the potential value such participative strategies can have for urban planning process in general.



contact: -
web: www.slice252.org