Students from the Faculty of Architecture of the Bialystok University of Technology (PB) will design pocket parks in Hajnówka. They will be small green enclaves that are currently being created in many cities around the world. Pocket parks are an idea to alleviate the effects of so-called overconcreting.

Excessive sealing of surfaces by concreting and asphalting causes the natural water circulation to be disrupted. The establishment of pocket parks not only improves the water balance, but also serves the aesthetics of cities, enables residents to relax among plants, and can also influence the conservation of local animal and insect species.

The Hajnówka Town Hall, which is implementing the project ‘Hajnówka OdNowa – Zielona Transformacja’ as a result of obtaining Norwegian funds, envisages the creation of one or two pocket parks within the town. It asked employees and students of the PB Faculty of Architecture for ideas on how to put the town’s green policy in order.

“When designing course curricula for the subjects I coordinate, such as: landscape architecture and green areas; spatial development studies and plans; regional planning; urban planning practice or thesis topics, I always try to take advantage of the current demand for architectural or urban planning projects in various locations in our region”, says Dr Eng. Halina Łapińska, lecturer at the Faculty of Architecture at the Białystok University of Technology, who, on behalf of the faculty, coordinates cooperation with the Hajnówka Town Hall.

Hajnówka’s cooperation with the Bialystok University of Technology involves many more projects. In addition to the already mentioned student designs for pocket parks, the ART TIME architectural competition will be settled in mid-November 2022. It is a competition for young architects, mainly students of the PB Faculty of Architecture, for the concept of developing the area around the former railway station in Hajnówka.

Adrian Andrzejewski