Plovdiv, Central Square

The Municipality of Plovdiv (Bulgaria) and One Architecture Week invite worldwide architects to participate in an open international competition for concept design. The competition is to outline the future of the Central Square in Plovdiv—an emblematic location where most of the significant historical periods of the city overlap. A solution for their untroubled co-existence is yet to be found.

Central Square is a difficult place ridden with problems. Most of the historical and architectural layers of the city intersect right here – archaeological excavations, a socialist Party House, a Modernist and later renovated post office, а park from the late 19th century and a number of transport conflicts.

The aim of the competition goes beyond renovation of the square and its adjacent areas. The challenge is to provide a strategy for harmonizing all these layers into an actively functioning, attractive and distinctly contemporary space.

Competition projects should propose:

Ideas for the preservation, exposure and socialization of the archaeological cultural heritage
Reorganization of the public space
Development of urban design elements, green areas and paving