Soft Networks and Emergent Topographies

The paper focuses on mapping of liminal space along the Buffer Zone of Nicosia and its emerging urban identity that is revealed through the documentation of its inhabitation patterns over time. The practice of seeing activities from the ground and the effective representation of the findings expose the complex and often-invisible layers of information that exist. The subsequent dynamic processing of information becomes a tool for reinterpreting and reconstructing how the site is portrayed and recognised. The process of re-reading the site extends and enriches our interaction with the specific conditions of the place; the slow and seemingly insignificant and ‘unseen’ organic evolution of the site is acknowledged as a strong part of its identity.
The edges from both sides of the buffer zone are examined, identifying penetrations and mutation of the buffer edge and how they affect the urban space of the city of Nicosia. Studying the relationship along this discarded and forgotten edge of the green line and the adjacent urban environment, creates a shift of focus from the built infrastructure to the soft network of multiple and complex relations of dependence and autonomy of public actors. Activities are understood in terms of their temporal and spatial structure and then seen as opportunities for change or points of transformation.
Through close analysis of the site we examine how small-scale occupations of the site create emerging practices of self-organization. Perceiving the site through this study, we find users and activities that are excluded from the official public spaces and that find their place and expression in the loosely defined edges of the buffer edge. By identifying the latent qualities of the site, we were able to cultivate the potential of these existing environments by finding opportunities in the emergent topography.