Revival of a ghost town. University campus in the Karosta district, Liepaja, Latvia

´ (…) all is as if the world did cease to exist. The city's monuments go unseen, its past unheard, and its culture slowly fading in the dismal sea.´ ―Nathan Reese Maher This words describe with conviction the effects of a town that slowly disappears into the dust of time. One case that couples perfectly in this picture is Karosta, located in the city of Liepaja, Latvia. It is a quaint district and forgotten part of a city with a rich history and culture. Built in the 1800’s as a Russian war port, the town was not independent until 1994, after which it was in a state of complete despair. Even though all that history seems not glorious but rather dark, a certain charm still remains in the town that is today almost deserted, with a population of approximately 6000 inhabitants. If the town boasts of architectural heritage and is surrounded by forests and a beautiful coast line, why is it that it remains so distant and forgotten? The town now-a-days, though it is not in the best of it states, manages to attract a fair amount of tourists and especially artists who are inspired by the rustic feels and impressions of the Russian empire and by the natural beauty of the seaside and the forest. The town is attempting to transform and revitalize its image from a previous war struck place, to a more welcoming and comfortable district. The area is in great need of a transformation at a social, economic and urban levels. A new project that serves as cornerstone and foundation of the new Karosta is the proposal of this Master Thesis. The idea is to develop a conducive environment to be able to provide growth and development to the area, together with an inward migratory effect. This revival of a ghost town is an attempt to bring the town into a new light, inculcating and facilitating tools to generate development, which are the need of the hour in an otherwise forgotten town.