Sibiu Agora

Sibiu and most other large cities in Romania have seen last year a resurrection of public dissent against Government rulings. As a result of these manifestations of disapproval, the people of SIbiu have revived some very healthy habits in their community: public debate, voluntary involvement in the city’s decisions and a new type of urban space: a contemporary agora. A competition was organized to see what this agora would look and act like.

For the agora to function, all that was needed was a demarcation of limits and a landmark stating the purpose and attracting new participants to the discussions.

If the limits should be very porous and most of the time invisible, we turned elements of the cobblestone pavement into light emitting resin that delimit a certain space. The only way to activate these limits (the agora), is for two people to crank a vertical weight and pulley mechanism that produces the electric energy necessary to power the light sources. Thus, it takes at least two people to start and carry out a civic debate. The vertical mechanism is housed inside a mysterious mirrored box and it can be present in many parts of the city so as many people can get together and take part in the large discussion regarding their community.

Details

Client: Municipality of Sibiu

Year, location: 2018, Sibiu, Ro

Type, program: International urban design competition

Size: M / 200 sqm

Team: Wolfhouse Productions + arh. Iris Popescu + arh. Nicolae Lupu