Category: competitions

The cemetery as a place of memory and a ritual place of farewell, both a place of community and a quiet place of contemplation, is designed at the transition between the verticals of the forest and the limitlessness of the horizon. The space of the cemetery is defined by contrasting relationships and transitions between open and closed, between light and dark, between here and hereafter.

It is located in an exceptional location, on a ridge above the central part of Ankaran, above the modernist church of St. Nikolaj along the Oljčna pot, which offers views of the Bay of Trieste and Slovenian Istria. It is precisely because of its exceptional location that the land was originally planned for commercial programs, but after protests by the local community it was re-purposed as a cemetery. Ankaran did not have a suitable place to say goodbye to the deceased, in therefore the new cemetery presents one of the main public spaces of the local community, both functionally and symbolically.

The forest cemetery shows its dual nature by design. On the one hand, it functions as a freely passable park forest intended for walks and contemplation, and on the other, as a series of marked burial fields, smaller cemeteries, which are lined up in terraces on the slope above the farewell building. The relief is geometrized into five terraces, which, due to their connection to the existing terrain, spread out like a fan. On the first terrace there is a farewell building, accessible by a low ramp. Walled burial fields are located on the next three terraces, and on the highest one there is a space for ash scattering. Smaller more intimate ambients are connected by a serpentine ritual path embedded in a network of forest paths connected to the center of Ankaran. The path is where the process of saying goodbye, mourning, remembering and reflecting, as well as socializing and meeting can occur. The well-thought-out dramaturgy of architectural and landscape elements lined up along the path directs the visitor’s gaze alternately along the terrain into the verticals of the forest and perpendicularly to the terrain towards the sea, into this unfathomable dimension that merges with the sky on the horizon.

The farewell building is close to the edge of the forest and set aside from the building mass of the church, which enables unobstructed views of the horizon. It consists of three parts. An entrance platform with a bench as an space of entrance open to the horizon, a farewell chapel as an introverted mourning space illuminated by zenithal light and a covered farewell area, separated from the chapel with a green atrium with focus into the depths of the forest via a water mirror. The longitudinal composition of the building relates to the structure of the cemetery walls and consists of long walls parallel to the terrain covered by a floating flat roof. Set to the back is an introverted volume with service facilities (storage, toilets, kitchenette). The location and transitory nature of the farewell building mark the beginning of the ritual path and the transition from the public to the space of memory.

The design of the burial fields derives from the interpretation of traditional walled cemeteries found near Ankaran, Lovran, Bertok and Stari Milje. The burial fields are surrounded by a low wall, which is interrupted by a higher urn wall at the entrance. Each burial field offers urn niches in the urn wall as well as an area for ground graves (both coffin and urn). The tombstones are set in place in such a way that they facing the entrance and have the view towards the horizon in the background. The last burial field is surrounded by a clipped hedge is intended for ash scattering and therefore consist of two levels. The upper level is bounded by a thin line of retaining wall, from which the undertaker scatters the ashes into seemingly infinity. In total, the cemetery contains 110 ground coffin graves, 246 ground urn graves, 180 urn niches and an area for ash scattering with 272 places for epitaphs.

All architectural elements materially derive from the colors and textures of the location. Amidst the massive washed concrete walls in the earthy color of the flysch layers, the polished concrete urn walls stand out, while the bright connecting path floats above the terrain. Individual accents and functional elements are made of local karst limestone, wood and metal.
Ankaran Cemetery, with its modern approach to the cemetery as part of a free-passable park forest accessible to all, transforms the traditional idea of ​​the cemetery space as a place of the dead into a metaphor for community.

The spatial design of the courthouse comes from three typological units that are connected into a new whole: the court tower, the office slat and the park pavilion. An extended passage on the ground floor of the building covers the vestibule of the entrance hall from which the public rises to the level of the discussion halls. Their organization into the varied vertical volume of the court tower enables the development of the court palace’s vertical hall with multi-level interspaces and hall waiting rooms oriented towards the park and the city center with Ljubljana Castle. The court tower becomes the new representative public space of the city.

The extensive office program is arranged in a double-sided lamella that follows the building line along Dunajska cesta. The lamella floats above the public ground floor and descends into the ground-floor pavilion volume at the corner between Dunajska cesta and Topniška ulica. On the upper floors, the lamella rests against the court tower so that judges can access each floor of the tower directly from the internal corridor of the departments.

The court palace park is enclosed towards Topniška street by a ground-floor pavilion with a restaurant, which opens on both sides to the park and the street. The low volume balances the building mass of the palace and introduces a human dimension to the park area. The topography of the abandoned building pit and the unique ecosystem that developed within it are interpreted by the new, varied public landscape of the court park.

The duality of the public discussion and supporting internal administrative office program is demonstrated both in the volumetric design and the facade. The public part of the building is transparent and designed as a light structure with slender columns, thin metal railings and building elements in the interior. The office lamella is designed according to the principle of a glass facade with movable aluminum blinds, which create the impression of light awnings. Movable blinds allow variation of the uniform facade area and the impression of individuality within the repetitive rhythm of offices.

What should be the place for the enforcement of sanctions, which will encourage humanity and the reintegration of protected women into society? The reflection on the modern prison is based on the promotion of social inclusion instead of isolation and thus preparation for freedom. Here, architecture can play a key role only to the extent that it ensures, within the required security requirements, the openness of the design, which enables and encourages communication with the outside space. The concept is developed from three elements: a plinth, which redefines the forecourt of the castle and highlights the castle as a spatial dominant; walls that rise from the plinth and terrace the area into which the new program slats of the shutter are placed; notches at the contact with the existing topography, which illuminate the basement floors, open up views of nature and establish the necessary height of the protective perimeter.

The existing commercial building “Nama” is being transformed into a new typology of a modern public library, a low pavilion, open on all four sides, which establishes a series of public spaces and connects them with the interior and leads through all floors of the building to the roof terrace with a view of the city skyline . Ivan Tavčar’s new library thus becomes one of the important public contents along the central city axis, which connects the historical spaces and institutions of the city.
The new library follows modern approaches in the design of general libraries by creating an open public space among the treetops, which serves not only as a storage of information and a generator of content, but above all as a connector of the local community and a promoter of creative processes. With its floor plan, the building becomes a platform for local social life, connecting and intertwining learning spaces, inspiration spaces, event spaces and meeting spaces. The variety of environments creates an inclusive and flexible space for socializing and working, relaxed conversations, concentrated study, social events, lifelong education, open lectures, creative workshops …

The renovated building is a demonstration facility for a sustainable society, as the existing structure is stripped bare, surrounded by a new transparent facade membrane and presents to the public technological systems for obtaining renewable energy sources and a design that enables better microclimatic conditions. From the point of view of indicators of sustainable construction, a major contribution is the preservation of existing building structural elements. On the preserved existing reinforced concrete skeletal structure, measures are planned to improve the building’s resistance to anticipated external influences and increase seismic safety. The entire design takes into account the starting points for ecologically aware, energy-efficient and economical sustainable planning to the highest extent. The project is based on a thoughtful, compact bioclimatic design; a well-designed building envelope with which we achieve the optimal energy effect and on the production and utilization of energy from renewable sources.

The new building of the State Audit Institution of Montenegro is a compact building volume that follows the building lines and at the same time is morphologically connected to the geometry of the surrounding buildings with the notch of the intermediate vertical hall. The hybrid typology of the business palace combines a low pavilion part on the ground floor, open directly to atriums with a mediterranean garden, and a vertical urban hall that runs through all floors. This works as a generator of communication between employees, as all workplaces are visually connected to each other. The flexibility of the work space is achieved with a variable configuration of workplaces, which is provided by an open floor plan without structural supports – the entire building is supported by two reinforced concrete cores on which the steel structure of the floor rests.