Skatepark & Parkourground Mziuri | David Giorgadze Architects + Maxime Machaidze (LTFR)

Skatepark & Parkourground Mziuri are located in Mziuri Park – one of the central green areas of Tbilisi. “Mziuri – the city of children” is the original name of the theme park built in the 1980s. The park was based on the stories of a Georgian writer Nodar Dumbadze, who once went to Disneyland, got inspired, and decided to build a park for Georgian kids. The park is located between two neighbour districts so it also functions as a passage between them. This is the place where kids bond, make new friends and grow; it’s a “ghetto Disneyland” on a post-soviet land.

Built on the right bank of the river Vere, one of the small river canals passed through the park and served as a recreational part of the area. One of the main pathways leads to a small bridge that crosses the river canal. In 2010 a highway was built along the river by the municipality. They packed the river in huge metallic tubes, so our small river canal that crossed the park got cut off and dried. In 2013 there was a huge flood that inundated the park and the zoo which was located nearby the park. The result was surreal: tigers, wolves, lions, hippos, and penguins, the whole zoo broke loose, so we had a few days of an urban jungle.

It was so scary because a panther roamed the streets, a penguin was found in Baku, a tiger ate a man, it was insane all over. So that flood gave the area another interpretational value like it was reborn. The local youth worked together to clean up and save the park after the flood, and that also made the bond with the park stronger and generated a certain feeling of belonging.

We think that the flow of the riders – skaters and tracers – maintains the life of the canal; now instead of the river youth flows through it, free and wild like water. And it has been full of people, since the first time we announced that the concrete is dry and it is ready to go.

The parkour ground and the skatepark are located next to each other so these two tribes could observe one another and communicate. We designed the parkour ground as a symbol of the city, the shapes of obstacles and their distribution create an ambiance of scaled-down buildings. The parkour ground represents a circle and makes a metaphor for constant movement.

The skating area consists of two parts: it starts out as a street plaza skatepark and flows into a halfpipe that goes under the bridge and then ends with a bowl tail, fully repeating the original shape of the canal. apart from skating the park has many spots for observers – the bridge, which turns random passers-by into observers and gives them an opportunity to get to know, or become a part of the skate and parkour culture, maybe just a glance, the unexpected joy that will accompany one’s day like a good prayer. There is an amphitheatre, that also goes under the bridge and follows the skatepark, everyone is welcome here, and will easily find a spot.

Project Info
Architects: David Giorgadze Architects
Country: Georgia, T’bilisi
Area: 1820 m²
Year: 2020
Photographs: Levan Maisuradze, Givi Maghradze, Nastia Sartania, Courtesy of David Giorgadze Architects
Lead Architect: David Giorgadze
Structural Engineer: Maka Mgaloblishvili
Consultant In Skating: Clive Crofton
Skater: Giorgi Patarkacishvili