After World war II the region of Gorizia was divided between Italy and former Yugoslavia. Gorizia remained on the Italian side, while the major part of the region with a few smaller settlements around Gorizia was assigned to the Federal People’s Republic of Yugoslavia, today the Republic of Slovenia. Because the region on the Slovenian side remained without an administrative centre, in 1947 work began on the construction of Nova Gorica, a new modern functionalist town to the north of the railway station.

Because of the creation of a new state border that carelessly cut into the existing built up tissue of Gorizia, large “buffer zones”, were formed on the edges of both cities, effectively preventing direct contact between them, causing them to develop independently.

With the dissolution of Yugoslavia and the birth of an expanded united Europe in 1991, Gorizia and Nova Gorica, the two towns once divided by wars, saw new opportunities for connecting the separated parts of the former region, not least the spatial integration of the two cities into a uniform urban structure.

In 2019 Nova Gorica and Gorizia set themselves an ambitious goal – to become a cross-border European Capital of Culture in 2025. Regardless of the success of the candidacy, the two Administrations, aided by the EGTC, have decided to continue the process of connecting the two cities by planning a common central area on the state border in the area of the railway station of Nova Gorica.

The goal of the international competition and the aim of the two Municipalities is to find a project solution for the design of the area in front of the railway station (now divided in half by the state border) with the creation of a new square – the Europe square/ Piazzale della Transalpina and the design of a transcultural hub, called EPICenter, or European Platform for the Interpretation of the 20th century. 

This cross-border Competition intends to address the problem of uniting a city once divided by a border which no longer exists as a physical barrier in today’s EU.
The promoters also wish to gain conceptual programmatic ideas for the remodelling of the wider urban area across the border, from Solkan / Salcano to Rožna dolina / Casa Rossa. Examining this wider context is a unique opportunity, not easily found in other cities. It offers a basis for the establishment of either a brand new programme or one that allows for the replacement of all or some of the functions currently found there.

The competition is thus divided into two parts:
- Area 1 - Project proposals for the design of Europe Square / Piazzale della Transalpina and the transcultural hub EPICenter
- Area 2 - Ideas proposals for the remodelling of the border zones from Solkan/Salcano to Rožna dolina / Casa Rossa.

AREA 1
Part 1: EUROPA square / Piazza Transalpina
The goal of the Competition, is to rearrange the Europe square / Piazza Transalpina to enable the citizens and visitors to experience the historical continuity of the place and to raise its cultural and historical value with innovative and original solutions which respect landscape and heritage parameters. This part of the Competition calls for an architectural idea for the rearrangement of the square.

Part 2: EPICenter 
European platform for interpretation of 20th century history.

The EPICenter shall be a new symbolic construction or an artefact in the area of the Europe Square / Piazza Transalpina. The construction will be intended for meetings of and cultural tourist activities for the inhabitants of both towns - Gorizia and the Nova Gorica.

The structure shall offer in its programme permanent exhibitions and multi-purpose spaces created for meeting, learning, sharing stories and documenting new ones. It shall be designed to appeal to the public of all generations and backgrounds. It must be economically viable, so functions should enable the centre to generate some income or at least make it feasible for different initiatives, so that the structure would not have to depend wholly on public funds.

The EPIcenter’s main mission shall be establishing meeting areas on the border – places to encourage cross border socialising with the goal of discovering a shared interpretation of the divided past and plan the future of this common living space.

The first and foremost goal of the EPICenter shall be to improve understanding of the area's history, its heritage, as well as present the past in all of its complexity. The ultimate objective is to contribute to the construction of a tolerant society and raise the awareness about diverse perspectives and interpretations.

AREA 2
Concepts regarding the remodelling of the urban area across the border, from Solkan/Salcano to Rožna Dolina/CasaRossa / AREA 2

The participants will be asked to give ideas on how this larger area can be included in the concept of transborder facilitation and cohesion, linking single elements to form a continuum that stretches from Casa Rossa to Solkan, thereby enhancing the importance of the Transalpina Epicenter project.

Photos: M. Pelikan, L. Caharija, D. Verlič

Update of the International architectural ideas and project competition for the urban development of Piazza Transalpina/ Trg Evrope Square timetable in view of the ongoing global health crisis COVID-19
Due to the current epidemiological emergency COVID-19, in accordance with the Secrétariat Général de UIA and on the basis of the UNESCO provisions for international competitions, the individual terms of the timetable, laid down in the notice, published on the 25th February 2020, have been postponed.
The deadline for the registration to the competition is postponed to the 1st of June 2020.
The deadline for the competiton entry submission is postponed to the 31st of August 2020.

Total prize money: 48.000,00 EUR, as follows:

1st prize           25.000,00 EUR

2nd prize          15.000,00 EUR

3rd prize          8.000,00 EUR          

All amounts stated are net amounts (exclusive of VAT).

Ex-aequo prizes are excluded.

Honorary mentions - can be awarded at the discretion of the jury. It represents an encouragement to the authors not otherwise rewarded.

The competitor must register for the competition by sending a request, indicating the name and e-mail address to which the information relating to the competition is to be sent, to the following email address: procurement@euro-go.eu . The Competition manager will give the participant a CODE. This CODE is necessary to register on the public procurement portal in anonymity. The participant will receive a temporary password to access the public procurement portal.

Using this password, that can be changed to a new and definitive one, the competitor will access the portal for the transmission of the project proposal.

For clarifications regarding the technical and operational procedures, contact technical assistance at the following email address: procurement@euro-go.eu .

Competition entries will be submitted electronically only on: https://app.albofornitori.it/alboeproc/albo_gectgo

THE OFFICIAL COMPETITION DOCUMENTATION IS AVAIABLE HERE: 
International Architectural Ideas and Project Competition for the Urban Development of the “Piazza Transalpina / Trg Evrope” Square