Hamam square Utrecht

Starting with a fascination for the concrete 30x30 tile Flux has transformed a square in Utrecht, Netherlands. The square is located in the Utrecht neighborhood Lombok and is surrounded by an old Hamam (bathing house) now used as an office, a district office of the municipality of Utrecht and some areas where courses are given. There are new plans for the area, but because of resistance from local residents and the economic crisis, the area has been neglected for the last 5 years. Many buildings are empty and the public space has a poor quality. To improve the area while waiting for plans in the future, Flux has done an intervention in the public space which can be an impulse for the area on a short term.

The concrete 30x30 tile is the starting point for the design. Many public spaces in the city are paved with this tile, which is used from the 50s as a standard paving element. According to Flux it is time to think about ways to transform the tile in simple ways. The design for the square consists of a mosaic of painted black and white tiles. The pattern is a reference to the mosaics in the adjacent Hamam. The expressive bright floor of the square invites people from the streets to enter.

Utrecht, Hamam association, landscape architecture, landscape intervention, public space design, Flux landscape architecture, Utrecht, 2011