You're reading: Winners selected in international contest to remake central Kyiv, commemorate EuroMaidan Revolution

Kyiv City Hall on June 16 announced the winners whose project proposals were chosen to redesign four sections of where the EuroMaidan Revolution took place in November 2013-February 2014.


The international competition,
titled Territory of Dignity, initially received 478 proposals from 40
countries. They were narrowed to 149 projects from 13 countries.

The first project is to create a public
space on Maidan Nezalezhnosti, or Independence Square, at the core of the
revolution where a stage kept a tent city of protesters informed and
entertained throughout the wintery peaceful uprising that ousted the corrupt
presidency of Viktor Yanukovych.

The second was to design a
commemoration of the “Revolution of Dignity and Memory of the Heavenly Hundreds
Heroes.” The third was to revamp the Ukrainian House on European Square and the
fourth to design a multi-functional “Museum of Maidan” or “Museum of Freedom.”

Juries composed of Ukrainian experts
but chaired by Carl Fingerhuth, a Swedish architect and urban planner, chose
the winners. Serhiy Tselovalnik, chief architect of Kyiv, said that there was
one criterion for the jury – “all that is good for the city and for the
people”.


Carl Fingerhuth, a Swiss architect and urban planner, chaired the juries that selected the top project designs to overhaul Kyiv’s Independence Square and commemorate the EuroMaidan Revolution. (Courtesy)

Thirteen projects won in four sections.
First prize and €10,000 in the first nomination went to Alessandro Martinelli,
Hanju Chen, and Xinyu Zhao from Taiwan. Their vision is to redefine the Maidan with
a circular arch bridge that links two sides of Khreschatyk Street and provides
scenery for big public events. Simplicity of urban form will make this place
functional and comfortable for pedestrians, bicyclists and cars.

An Italian team composed of Andrea Matteini, Bianca Barducci, Elisabetta Gabrielli,
Matia Biguzzi, and Fabio Re
from took first in the nomination to
commemorate the memory of 100 protesters who died on the square, mostly from
gun shots. They want the Maidan to remain a living
part of the city while Instutytska Street, where most of the deaths took place,
becomes an urban forest where from wounds grow trees.

The winning project in the third
nomination to revamp the Ukrainian House was submitted by Anton Oliynyk, Andriy Shulyar, Mariya Pakhomova, Sergiy Ferley,
Olena Orap, Olexiy Pakhomov, Dmytro Spesivcev, Denis Matvienko from Kyiv. They want
to transform the former Lenin museum into one of the best cultural centers in
Europe. The area around the building includes European Square, a place for public
gatherings, a court for street art and sports, and an amphitheater for performances.

The Ukrainian House will include a
place for public discussion, library, free university, language-learning rooms,
lecture halls, concert hall, food court and an observation deck on the rooftop.

Two projects in the fourth project
still need revision.

The chosen projects now will undergo
public discussions. The competition was organized by the Department of City
Planning and Architecture.

The design proposals can be viewed
outside on Independence Square until June 25 or by visiting http://terradignitas.kga.gov.ua/en/about-the-competition/registration.

Kyiv Post staff writer Oksana Torhan can be reached at [email protected].