Case study
Visby
Summer Squares
Visby, Gotland, 2026
Studio Doms + Tengbom + Region Gotland
Design brief
Transform two parking-dominated squares into places for people — to meet, play, linger, watch and perform.
Constraints
Two Squares.
High inclusivity.
Short timeframe.
Limited budget.
Parking lot on the the Main Square (Stora torget) in Visby. Spring 2026.
Cars filling the space at Visbys Main Square (Stora torget) during spring of 2026.
Parking lot at the South square (Södertorg) in Visby. Spring 2026.
Cars filling the space at Visbys South square (Södertorg) during spring of 2026.
Before transformation
←The Main Square | The South Square →
Watch the before and after movies.
From parking space to public space
For most of the year, The Main square (Stora torget) and the South Square (Södertorg) are shaped by movement, logistics and parking. During the summer, the ambition was to temporarily shift that balance.
What happens when space normally given to cars is instead given to people?
The intervention introduced places to sit, meet, eat, rest and play — adding vegetation, colour and new social situations without permanently rebuilding the squares.
The temporary format made it possible to work quickly, test ideas at full scale and allow the city to experience the spaces differently.
A temporary intervention can be a way of asking a permanent question: what should our public spaces be for?
Reuse / Circularity