Controversial redesign of Nicosia's Eleftheria Square

Dr Savvas Levtchitch, Professor of Civil Engineering, is highly critical of the planned redesign of the Cypriot capital's Eleftheria Square. "This project looks as if brought from another planet and forcibly superimposed on a historic place which is going to be listed as the UNESCO heritage site. A famous architect Zaha Hadid [Iraqi-born British] ... has shown an inexplicable contempt for Nicosia. She did not visit the place and her vision of the square is based on the Google satellite image. This is a provocative arrogance and a cause of being totally out of touch with conditions at the particular site. Such a revolutionary project cannot be built in the centre of an old town with a very distinctive character. ... Irrespective on the adoption or dismissal of this project, the town-planning regulations for the walled city of Nicosia must be changed conceptually. The existing ones have proved to be a complete disaster."

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