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Business, art and technology brought together at Live Square space on Gediminas avenue
The future-inspired present reality space serving as the grounds for clustering between business, art and technology and for an exchange of knowledge and ideas – this is the vision that is behind the creation of the open space Live Square on Gediminas Avenue in Vilnius. In the celebration of the synergy between the technologies and art, a time capsule “is buried”. The traditional capsule is replaced by a levitation brick. Symbolically, it is laid not by the building or contracting company but by artist Julijonas Urbonas, through his horizontal walking and soaring above the foundations of the future site, while sharing the vision of the cities of the future.
The Mayor of Vilnius Remigijus Šimašius points out the changing face of the city, particularly noting the ever-increasing hustle and bustle on the main urban artery, Gediminas Avenue.
“With Gediminas Avenue section between Lukiškės Square and the Seimas becoming ever busier, I have no doubts that Live Square will be appreciated and welcomed by the public due to its innovative nature. I hope that this type of new urban spaces will soon mushroom across the City of Vilnius”, said Mayor Šimašius.
According to Domas Dargis, Director General of company Eika in charge of the development of Live Square, this project aims to revitalise this particular section of Gediminas Avenue, bringing it back to life and waking it up from its protracted slumber.
“Aims grow together with the project. Our current ambition is to have a unique space in Vilnius, which would serve as a pool for all the ideas and projections as regards the future. Architecture and urban development are always focused on the future, which is easier to imagine and see through art and technologies. It is exactly these fields that we will be working closely together in building the Live Square. The first synergy between business and art to run in parallel with the construction, will be a space for exchanging and taking further ideas for the cities of the future. We are pleased to present the first visionary – Julijonas Urbonas, an artist, designer, researcher, doctoral student at the London Royal College of Art”, says Domas Dargis.
According to the Director of Eika, the interest in Live Square has exceeded all the expectations. By now, 66 per cent of the business and shopping premises have been leased out. It will serve home for global leader for flexible workspace IWG and its top-class office space brand Spaces (over 1.500 sq. m), law firm Sorainen (2.1 thousand sq. m).
Source of inspiration
The Live Square will include a four-star Hilton Garden Inn Hotel run by Eika under a franchise agreement with the Hilton Worldwide international. It will be the first Hilton Garden Inn hotel in Lithuania.
“What hotels have been offering nowadays, is not only the highest quality of services, which is inseparable from any reputable hotel, but also something different and unique in terms of experience. We have been impressed by the vision and ambitions of the Live Square and have no doubts that it will become a good place for recreation and a source for inspiration”, says Marybelle Arnett, Vice President of Development at Hilton Worldwide Central and Eastern Europe.
The multifunctional space Live Square housing a business centre, apartments, a public space with a roof terrace, a square with an interactive sculpture and fountain, and an international Hilton Garden Inn Hotel will open up at the intersection of Gediminas Avenue and V. Kudirkos Street as early as spring 2019.
Levitation presents the space for generation of ideas of cities of the future
Today, the Live Square launch was announced by Julijonas Urbonas, an artist, researcher, engineer, vice rector at Vilnius Academy of Arts, doctoral student at London Royal College of Art. He put a brick-capsule on the wall of the Live Square while levitating, i.e. Passing horizontally across the foundation of the building.
“Together with Eika, we embark on a long trip in pursuit of cities of the future. And I do not mean 5 or 10 but 100 or even 1 000 years into the future. This may represent different scenarios, including the one of the Lithuanian identity in outer space or other speculative visions. Let’s think what the levitating cities might look like. How are we going to move around if there is no gravitation in the city somewhere beyond the universe”, says Urbonas while in the air.
The space for generation of ideas of cities of the future, which will be launched at Live Square in cooperation with Urbonas, will include artistic performances, lectures and other events accessible to the residents of Vilnius and city guests.
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