Improvement of Trg zmage in Luthrov drevored in Murska Sobota

Murska Sobota is a flat city that has grown more or less freely over the last hundred years. Growth did not follow a predetermined geometry, but rather the individual urban districts were based on key infrastructure axes, i.e. the railway, the Danube relief canal and a relatively poorly articulated system of main entrance roads. The hierarchy of the urban network is also influenced by the location of the main motorway connection. As a result, the city has a very fragile hierarchical structure, with individual streets not significantly different from each other in terms of content, importance and traffic flows.

However, in the city centre itself, there are some strong geometric axes that bring order and organisation to the built fabric. One of the most important is the axis connecting the Lutheran Church and Soboš Castle via the castle avenue. The conversion of the dead-end parking street next to the Municipality building into a public space for pedestrians and cyclists has given the aforementioned axis a strong formal and contextual charge. The paving is done with light grey shotcrete, with gravel aggregate from the River Mura mixed in. The unified gesture extends in geometry and material across Slovenska Street, which thus loses its dominance and power to cut the Lutheran Church off from its new vestibule.

The renovation of Victory Square and the Monument to the Russian Liberators is also an important part of the redevelopment. The park was designed by architect Feri Novak, with a central ellipse surrounding the monument. The park paths were originally made of sand, but were later asphalted and geometrically partially reshaped. Several flowering shrubs and park flowers have been planted around the monument. The redesign has first and foremost ensured that the precise geometry of the ellipse and the radially attached entry routes are brought to life. The central area around the monument is stripped of colour and form, divided into two discreet islands of evergreen shrubs and a grey porous concrete pavement next to the monument itself. This is one of the first applications of porous concrete as a final pavement in Slovenia. The appearance is similar to sand paving, but the drainage of the paved surface is also very efficient.

The redevelopment of Luther’s Alley and the renovation of Victory Square were the first steps in the systemic renewal of Murska Sobota’s public urban spaces. The layout follows the winning design of the competition, but the basic principle of the renovation is to give priority to pedestrians and cyclists in public spaces over the otherwise very dominant individual motor traffic in Sobotka. And with every urban area that is renovated, the presence of urban vegetation is significantly increased to improve the microclimate.

Authors: BLENKUŠ Matej, MATJAŠEC Darja, ŽITNIK Primož, FLORJANC Nejc, KOŠAK Dominik, VALENČIČ Grega