Eleftheria Square
Architect: Zaha Hadid Architects
Location: Nicosia, Cyprus
Type: Infrastructure, Square
Year: 2021
Photographs: K-Arkatites, Laurian Ghinitoiu
Yesterday saw Nicos Anastasiade, President of the Republic of Cyprus, and Constantinos Yiorkadjis, Mayor of Nicosia, jointly inaugurate Eleftheria Square in Nicosia, Cyprus. EU Commissioner Stella Kyriakides was also present at the event. Zaha Hadid Architects’ (ZHA) design establishes Eleftheria Square as the city’s major gathering space, creating new linkages to unite a divided capital. The old city and modern districts of Nicosia are separated by large Venetian defences, while the city’s ‘Green Line’ splits the capital into two distinct communities.
Eleftheria Square, in the heart of Nicosia, is close to the Venetian Walls and the dry moat that encircles the city. These large defensive walls, built in the Middle Ages and significantly renovated by the Venetians in the 16th century, define the boundaries of the capital’s oldest quarter, separating the historic city from the new neighbourhoods outside the walls.
Eleftheira Square was envisioned by ZHA as the first phase of a much broader urban plan that may serve as a catalyst for the capital’s reunification. The design ensures uninterrupted views of the Venetian Walls, defining these fortifications as an important element of Nicosia’s identity, while also allowing public access to the dry moat, creating an orbital park that wraps around the city.
The moat can become a ‘green belt’ encircling the city by transforming formerly inaccessible sections with new civic plazas, gardens, and palm-lined promenades. ZHA’s design recommends that the moat’s new public spaces be expanded to follow the historic city walls and encircle Nicosia, reuniting the city’s split groups.
Eleftheria Space lifts the moat’s topography to create an upper-level bridge that connects to the surrounding streetscape, forming direct linkages with the city’s urban fabric and defining a new public square in the process.
The moat’s fluid geometries were developed by triangulating the irregular forms of the ancient walls to establish places of ‘intensity’ that define seating, flowerbeds, and water features within the new park, which has been transformed into an urban park.
The granite paving of the moat imparts a timeless firmness, while open seams between the granite slabs offer a passive rainfall drainage system, allowing new trees planted within the moat to automatically balance groundwater levels and avoid erosion of the mediaeval walls’ foundations.
Eleftheira Square, Nicosia’s largest municipal square, was created to accommodate festivals and public events; its upper level bridge and supporting columns are made of concrete, and its sculptural forms provide structural stability in this seismic zone, while the base of each column morphs into seating.
Extensive historical investigations, as well as work to repair and protect the old Venetian Walls, were part of the square’s rehabilitation. Within the square, there are two cafes, as well as a new underground parking lot with an access ramp on Omirou Avenue. The bus terminal in Solomos Square is readily accessible by stairwells and elevators.
Eleftheria Square’s makeover by ZHA combines Nicosia’s rich heritage with an unrelenting optimism for the future. Bridging the Venetian Wall and moat, the square becomes an important gateway to the old city, with underground parking removing cars from the ancient city’s streets to allow for increased pedestrianisation, which improves the urban realm of this historic district while also creating new public gardens and plazas for residents and visitors to enjoy.
Project Details
Project Team
- Architect: Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA)
- Design: Zaha Hadid, Patrik Schumacher, Christos Passas
- ZHA Competition team: Christos Passas (Design Director), Saffet Bekiroglu, Viviana Muscettola, Michele Pasca di Magliano, Daniel Fiser, Ceyhun Baskin, Inanc Eray
- ZHA Schematic Design Team: Stella Nikolakaki (Design Lead), Sevil Yazici (Design Lead), Sylvia Georgiadou, Takang Hsu, Phivos Skroumbelos and Marilena Sophocleus (Landscape), Chrysi Fradellou, Edward Sorgeloose, Vladimir Tschaly
- ZHA Design Development: Dimitris Akritopoulos (Design Lead), Bence Pap (Design Lead), Kwanphil Cho, Reza Esmaeeli, Chrysi Fradellou, Raul Forsoni, Thomas Frings, Jesus Garate, Irene Guerra, George Giokalas, Spyridon Kaprinis, Javier Ernesto Lebie, Carlos Luna, Vincent Nowak, Anna Papachristoforou, Sophia Papageorgiou, Vivian Pashiali, Ivan Ucros Polley, Matthew Richardson, Michail Roidis, Hendrik Rupp, Andri Shalou, Vladimir Tschaly, Leo Alves, Megan Burke (Landscape), Eleni Mente (Landscape), David McDowell (Administration)
- ZHA Project Supervision Team: Electra Mikelides, Dimitris Kolonis, Stella Nikolakaki, Vivian Pashiali, Christos Sazos, Nicos Yiatros, Christina Christodoulidou, Maria-Eleni Bali
Consultants
- On-site Engineers: Eleni Loizou, Remos Achilleos
- Structural Engineers: ASD Hyperstatic Engineering[Limassol]; Andros Achilleos (Principal Engineer), Michalis Allayiotis (Project Engineer)
- MEP Engineers: UNEMEC [Nicosia]; Lakis Pipis (Director in-charge), Andreas Karayiannis and Trevor Colett (Directors), Chris MacFarlane, Kleovoulos Kasoulides, George Lerides, Kypros Tziakouris (Electrical Engineers -supervision stage) Kostas Archeos (Supervising Electrical Engineer) Panayiotis Ktorides (Mech. Engineer)
- Lighting: Kardorff Lichtplanung Ing. [Berlin]; Volker Kardorff (Principal), Stefan Krauel (Project Designer)
- Accessibility Consultants:
- David Bonnett Associates; David Bonnett
- MTCW; Klelia Petridou
- Traffic Consultants: SKM Colin Buchanan; Andreas Markides (CEO), Colin Firth (Director)
- Project Management/Coordination Team: Modinos & Vrahimis Associates; Saverios Vrahimis (Director), Anna Lyssandridou
- Client Project Management Team: Agni Petridou (Project Coordinator), Maria Ioannou, Maria Georgiou, Foivos Tsappas, Georgiana Loizides
- Cost Consultants: MDA Cyprus; Stephanos Andreou (Director In Charge), Niki Stavrou
- Advisors:
- Lekton [Cyprus]; Andy Sphicas, Soula Iacovidou
- The Concrete Center [UK]
- Beton Centrum [NL]
