Nicosia is not a stunning city. This is not
because there is nothing there, it is because what is there is not maintained.
It walled city, one of the few left in the world, because of the division you can only walk east to west because a concrete wall
cuts through the city centre. Nicosia is the world’s last divided city. The north of the
city and island have been under Turkish control since 1974. So you would think that with Nicosia being divided the authorities would treasure the part of the city they still do
have under their control. Think again.
Though there are some nice neighbhourhoods in
the Cypriot capital, such as the coffee area of Engomi or the views of Nicosia from
Aglantzia, the walled city that sits within the city centre has been left to
rot. Part of the reason for this phenomenon was that since the invasion in the
1970s people felt unsafe in an area next to the Turkish army stationed on the other side
of the wall. During the 1980s Cyprus saw its economy grow so as Nicosia
modernized people preferred to live in the inner suburbs, such as Likavitos and
Acropolis which has better access to schools and shops in comparison to the
winding streets of the walled city. The 1990s meant that outlying villages
became part of the city and only now are people turning their attention to
Nicosia’s beating heart – the walled city – which due to neglect has been on
life support.
The small cobbled streets, the Churches and
museums within the walls are still all there and today they sit alongside niche
boutiques and coffee shops. But the area still needs repair. There are one way
streets that even small cars cannot pass through, there are no or small
pavements and the roads are cracked. These tiny roads that ultimately lead to a
wall should be pedestrianised and lined with trees. (This is already the case
where Ledra Street is lined with orange trees. Everyone loves that and it makes
and impression, people point it out). The parking lots should be turned into parks.
Rent should become cheaper to encourage the creative community to move in and
breathe life into the old part of city instead of having buildings bought in
bulk up by Nicosia’s elite. And tax breaks should be given to start-ups in the
old town. I understand I am oversimplifying the challenges, but then again, I
am not the government that has insight into town planning. Plus they made the
mess so now they can fix it.
And fix it they did… in a way. But when you
involve a government they never get it quite right. They decided to ‘fix the problem’
of rejuvenating the old town by employing Zaha Hadid, the famous architect to
design a new square. The mayor at the time, Michael Zambelas, was presented
with the plan to fix Eleftherias (Freedom) Square, just outside of the walled
city. The Square is actually not a square but a four-lane road that is closed
for special events. The plan was to dig up the road that was constructed during
the colonial (British) times as a road into the old city. The plan was to have
an underpass and a water-feature. The new, revamped square was to be modern. To
Zambelas this was the architectural equivalent of a Gucci suit. To others it
was architectural carnage. And this is why…
The old town is a mix of British colonial,
Ottoman and Venetian buildings. There are Churches dotted everywhere. The wall
itself is of yellow brick with eleven bastions constructed by the Venetians. So
why were Hadid and Zambelas constructing something modern next to a historic,
traditional quarter. Some could argue that the glass pyramids in front of the
Louvre were a scandal when constructed but now are memorable and we cannot
imagine the Louvre without them. That may be so for the Louvre but the old town
of Nicosia is not the Louvre. It is a tiny area in a messy capital. What is
traditional should remain so. In addition the Louvre is not a living space. It
houses art. Nicosia is a congested capital. It needs more space. Hadid went all
Soviet on the Cypriots. Instead of looking at picturesque practicality she
created a modern monstrosity. Like the Soviets she favoured symbolism above
sanity. Adding concrete modernity next to it quaint houses is odd. It is
disorientating. It is Dubai when we should be aiming for Dubrovnik. They get
the city a face lift when all it needed was some make-up.
Hadid set to work on designing the Square.
Actually Hadid did not do the work herself. In fact she never visited Nicosia,
which as an architect is odd. Weren’t architects meant to understand the
environment they would build on? And so two associates from their firm worked
on the project of redesigning the Square. Once the work was done she signed it.
Et voila! Another Zaha Hadid masterpiece. As always in Nicosia, the cliché of
one Greek-Cypriot and one Turkish-Cypriot working together took root and they
designed the square. And to be fair the plans look excellent. The design is
modern and unique and original. But it is in the wrong location. The old town
does not need modernity. Nicosia is not Limassol. It is not bling. It is has a
star-shaped walled city and it needs to maintain the jewels it has. Not add
bling to them. The problem is not the design. It is the location. The design
has completely ignored the area it is in. Imagine a man with a three-piece suit
on the beach.
One successful project in Nicosia, loved by all
residence is the Taht-El-Kale area that has preserved the neighbourhood’s
traditional streets and building. It is so lovely people flock there and new
restaurants have sprung up. But it was successful because it maintained the old
and was practical. It was not window-dressing.
The Cypriot government boasted about the cost
and how it would change Nicosia. The Cypriot government and Zambelas need to
understand is that money does not buy class, it does not buy taste and it has
not helped preserve the old city. Furthermore it does not look like Cyprus. The
design is so futuristic that you could be anywhere. Dubai. Shanghai. The moon. Defiantly
not Nicosia. They could have spent half the amount of money for twice the
impact, maintaining what they do have in the old town and repairing the damaged
buildings. And what happens when the modernity of Hadid’s square gets old? A
new plan?
But there was a spanner in the works. As the
road was dug out the builders stumbled across an older wall underground. Work
was halted. Then the Cypriot bail-in happened. As the EU took Cyprus’ money the
government found itself bankrupt. So the work was still halted once again…
…but now work has resumed with full force. It
looks like Habib and Zambelas will get their square. And maybe when it’s
complete Hadid will visit.
If not Nicosians can send her a postcard... of
how Eleftheria Square it used to be.
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