City Lounge, St. Gallen Urban Living Room

City Lounge, St. Gallen Urban Living Room

City Lounge, St. Gallen Urban living room is an innovative urban design intervention that transformed a previously underutilized quarter in St. Gallen, Switzerland, into a vibrant public space through a groundbreaking approach to street furniture and spatial design. Created by architect Carlos Martinez in collaboration with artist Pipilotti Rist, this distinctive project, completed in two phases between 2004 and 2011, encompasses 4,600 square meters of urban space characterized by its striking red granulated rubber flooring that unifies the entire area into a cohesive whole. The design concept deliberately breaks with conventional notions of public space by treating the outdoor area as an extension of interior living spaces, effectively creating an urban living room where pedestrians take precedence over vehicular traffic. The project's most distinctive feature is its continuous red rubber surface, which serves as a metaphorical carpet that extends across all furniture and functional zones, creating a tactile and visually striking contrast to the surrounding architectural precision. This innovative use of materials and spatial organization earned the project a Platinum A' Design Award in the Street and City Furniture Design category, recognizing its exceptional contribution to urban design. The space is organized into various functional zones analogous to interior spaces, including reception areas, lounges, and foyers, while maintaining a seamless integration with existing elements such as trees and access roads. The design's psychological impact on traffic calming is achieved through the visual ambiguity between leisure and traffic spaces, naturally encouraging drivers to reduce speed and increase awareness of pedestrians, thereby creating a more harmonious urban environment that prioritizes human interaction and comfort.

urban design innovation, public space transformation, red rubber flooring, street furniture integration, pedestrian-friendly architecture, spatial psychology

— Adam Dawson