Revitalization of the Eastern Railway Station in Zagreb
Author: Leila Nanuk
Translation: Andrea Stanić
The project in question offers exhaustive urban analyses of the current state of the area around the Eastern railway station in Zagreb, Croatia, as well as a near-, or far-future, revitalization scenario based upon the development of the area from the beginning of the former century until today. The year set in the far-future is 2XYZ when, in the aftermath of year 20XY when a program similar to what is known to us today as SPACE-X had been implemented, humankind emigrates from the planet it had polluted and made unsuitable for life. Only a few stay to live on Earth in unfavourable conditions. However, it is not long before the other planet is polluted as well. The solution is to resettle on Earth – revitalize the environment and the ecosystem. Former city centres as well as the now developed area of what is presently the Eastern railway station become the focal points of the revitalization. In the year 2XYZ artificial intelligence entities cooperate with humans on this project of global scale. The entire project is presented in the form of comic strip panels in such a way that does not disregard professional parameters and, in fact, makes the project more legible and interesting to people outside of the urban planning profession.
The project is set at the end of the aforementioned ten-year period marked by crisis and foresees a possible strategy of future development, even in the post-apocalyptic Zagreb clearly damaged in the periods of crises. The aim of the conceptual urban design is to propose one of many possible development scenarios for the currently devastated area of the Eastern railway station. Throughout the narrative, the project poses questions about the relationship between humankind and the environment, the long-term economic development and, ultimately, the fate of our cities and planet Earth itself. These and plenty other unanswered questions can be found within the science fiction comic strip below, that by itself invites the reader to rethink their own actions in present times and their far-reaching consequences.
With contibutions from Karmen Miletić and Maja Močibob, and under the mentorship of prof. dr. sc. Ivan Mlinar, the project is a result of the author’s master studies at the School of Architecture in Zagreb.
