URBANISM
Music of the street, urban study of Cejl, Czech republic
Today´s Cejl is a quarter of decaying buildings, filthy bars and barred pawn shops, home of conspicuous romany community tied up with gambling and drugs. It is sometimes exaggeratedly referred to a ghetto.. The Bronx of Brno, the second biggest city in the Czech republic.
Originally a suburb of Brno, then in the era of industrial revolution textile and leather industry centre. Historical multi-storey houses from the 19th century were settled mostly by working class. Building of a former penitentiary, in the focus of our proposal, served in the protectorate period as a regional court of prisons and the transfer station to concentration camps. After the onset of communism many political prisoners were imprisoned and executed in this house. Building opposite to penitentiary served as a city market and a cinema.
In this globalizing world we tried to think about the future of the inhabitants and apply the specific role to connect different groups of people in our concept. Our proposal has three main goals. Firstly, to integrate the problematic community into the city environment, accent the musicality and playful nature of gipsy population and highlight the talented individuals. We want to create several spots across the street with playful elements that enable cooperation and therefore have the ability of linking people together. These elements are located on the light on the pavement, referring to a nickname of the street, “The Line” (Čára), and also coming out of the Mahen´s theatre, the first electrically lit theater in Europe.
Secondly, to point out the unique atmosphere of this place. Some of the ideas are to restore and revive the former city market as one big flea and farmer’s market, to create a jam coffee with a great view of the city centre or to indicate components in the furniture referring to the turbulent history of this quarter. And finally, to use the city greenery to revive the street which is inhospitable during the summer and depressing during the winter. We propose an extense green tram line, green raised bus stops for higher safety and convenience, and a system of vertical walls for microclimate improvement.
