The family house for a couple with children is located in the green residential part of the city of Zagreb. The former family house was built in the 1950s on a steep hill slope and did not fully use all the advantages of the site nor did it meet the requirements of contemporary living standards. The beautiful view to the city and large garden was not valued appropriately. On both sides the site is bordered by a street and a high building. These contextual facts determined the concept and the shape of the new project. The "L" layout with closed fronts "protect" the house from the street and the neighbouring building. At the same time the garden has been redesigned with all the main rooms in the house oriented towards it.
The living room, dining room and kitchen form a unique space and together with a swimming pool are built into the ground. In this way, being at the same level and separated from each other by a glass wall they bring the garden into the house. The house entrance is above, at street level, together with garage, storages, closet-space and studio. The family area is above the entrance space along with the living and dining rooms.The materials used for the façades correspond to the spatial organization of facilities. The living and dining spaces are separated by glass walls which completely open the living space to the outside; on the other hand, the bedroom walls are alternatively panelled by wooden boards.
Family house K is situated on a large residential plot on a moderate eastern-facing slope at the edge of a forest near the base of Sljeme hill.
The concept of the house is inspired by the shape of a snail's shell, which involves a spiral twisting around its own axis, and as such all functional elements of the house follow each other and are built around a central atrium. The atrium was made in order to compensate for a lack of sunlight in the living-room area and enabled two-way lighting of certain rooms.
The house is maximally open and rises two floors towards a vast green meadow and forest; towards the street the house is enclosed by a simple ground-floor façade with a hidden garage door.
Diverse and colorful elements which find a place in the home in order to satisfy the needs and wants of the inhabitants are developed in a 600 m2 area and in several half-levels, thus making the best possible use of the terrain's difference in altitude and visually making the house appear smaller.
All façades and terraces are paneled with untreated teak boards. The use of wood paneling continues in the interior in response to the spiral progression, as well as to achieve an intimate and comfortable atmosphere.
A final accent to the house was made by the roof terrace. One reaches it via an external spiral staircase that hangs in the atrium between the first level and the roof, thus accentuating the fact that a family house, besides being a home for a family, has also to serve as a place for indulging in companionship, comfort, luxury and gratification.
The concept of Croatia´s presentation at World EXPO 2005 in Aichi, Japan is based on the idea, the plan layout and the metaphor of salt pans. This concept culturally upgrades the initial, general theme "A drop of water" into "A drop of water: a grain of salt" due to the recognizable particularity of the Croatian landscape and history - the salt pans. Salt is the integral part of every drop of sea water, but it is also its opposite - it is obtained through hard labor. This theme unites philosophical and spiritual imagination with reality. The Pavilion was conceived rather like an event than a classic piece of architecture since it is based on visual and sensual experience. We have created the space in Japan along these lines and it is a combination of a live and mediated event. There are three rooms and five themes of the event. We think that in the future a lot of primarily public architecture will be designed in this way.
Spaladium Centar, sports and business complex is located on the northern part of the Split peninsula, in the vicinity of Poljud, a sports complex with a football field and pool built for The Mediterranean Games in 1979.
Spaladium Centar consists of a handball arena for 12,000 spectators, a wellness center, a sky bar and an exclusive restaurant on the top floor overlooking the entire city, its surroundings and the islands of the Split archipelago. There are 1,500 garage parking places. The shopping center guarantees visits even when the handball arena is not in use. The arena itself is a multi-purpose hall. In addition to handball, the arena will be used for basketball, tennis, volleyball, boxing, motocross, and will also be a venue for trade fairs, conventions, exhibitions and concerts.
With this complex Split will get a sports, entertainment, culture and recreation venue that will activate and reaffirm the northern part of the Split peninsula.
The complex achieves a balance between the low-lying main area and the tower?s verticality. The agreement between the horizontal and vertical is in its composition and urban planning set in order to place the location with special importance. It resembles a ship carrier: a platform with various attractive contents, with its vertical element serving as a landmark, lighthouse and location sign. It is an entrance to the new city area, its future and gateway to the northern harbour.
The complex is integrated into a compact unit by its shape, and is unified by a distinct exterior that binds functionally different elements and usages throughout the year.
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Spaladium Centar
House N is situated in a quieter secondary neighborhood on Pantovcak street in Zagreb, perched in the western hills and boasting a delightful panoramic view of the forest and the city.
A relatively narrow steeply sloping and elongated plot was the key element that defined the position and layout of the house. Close proximity to neighboring buildings on the eastern and southern borders of the plot influenced the house's relatively compact design with a reduced number of openings in these two façades. Directions of movement in the interior were additionally accentuated within the external volume of the house and represent its main design element. The entire house, its façades and the roof are covered with the same material, dark brown HPL panels, which, in contrast to large openings, make its volume more compact.
The ground floor consists of a living area, which extends to the outer environment through wooden terraces, some of which are roofed over, while others are open to the sky, winding up in completely natural pebbled areas amid grass. Unlike the living room and the dining area, contact between the kitchen and the exterior is not as direct. Nevertheless, the placement of the kitchen in an otherwise unfavorable position in relation to neighboring homes and the surrounding terrain was auspiciously counterbalanced by the introduction of a broad corner window set level with the garden lawn. Hence the work surface, placed alongside the window, appears to stretch out toward an open expanse of the garden.
The unfortunate position of an access road running alongside the entire length of the plot makes opening from the living room area to the most desirable southern vantage impossible. Consequently the southern area is modestly covered in a triangular glass shell that rises towards the southwestern corner and connects to the expansive glass surfaces of the western part of the house which are wholly open, thus connecting the living room with the garden.
The main accent in the interior is a wide two-floored hall that signifies the main connector of the ground and first floors. It is dominated by a hanging Poulsen "artichoke" bathed in diffuse zenithal lighting that comes from a high main window and gives the entire area a unique atmosphere. The first floor consists of intimate areas; a work area, parent and children's zones, from which one may take in a most breathtaking view through a corner window.
Floors of oiled teak and white walls create a respectable foundation for any color intervention which might take place in the future. Special attention was given to the lighting of the rooms. Toilet and wardrobe areas are lighted with roof lights in order to provide them with as much natural and superior quality illumination as possible. The fitness room is situated in the basement and gets its only source of light through round glass ceiling lights placed along the southern glass surface of the living area floor.
Simplicity and compactness of volume, a limited choice of materials and resultant colors in the end make the house look like a piece of fine dark chocolate placed atop a green meadow.
With the coming of new and modern multiplex cinema theatres, the old Zagreb cinemas in urban blocks of the city centre have gradually started to die out, and the buildings have started to deteriorate. Noticing this, the City of Zagreb has launched a process of converting these areas for alternative cultural purposes. The ex-Apolo Cinema is a typical back-building in a Zagreb Downtown block, with a public court in front of it, providing for a number of great opportunities, but unfortunately neglected, as are most of the Downtown blocks.
Despite the fact it was built in 1890, the building has had good predispositions to be converted into a public space. A new theatre has been formed within the existing premises of the former cinema, and the building has kept its original ground plan.
The project removes the old structure by fitting in the new stage and auditorium with 220 seats inside the existing wall perimeter resulting in reinforcement of the pre-existing spatial qualities.
The project is not restricted to the structure - architectural domain but also creates a complete visual identity, from theatre setting of individual spaces; the panel on the street, the entrance lobby, the coffee bar, to the theatre hall itself ?becoming a new element and active participant of the urban scenography in the context of theatrical scenery on the inside and in the context of the city itself on the outside. The present physical and social importance of the building is interpreted in accordance with the ancient theory of theatre function.
House V was designed in order to satisfy the needs of a family. Applying communication between the common and individual rooms, the facilities and functions of the space have been connected into a single unit that creates a comfortable living area for a family.
The house is situated beneath Zagreb mountain Medvednica, on a relatively mild hill that stretches from south to east. The formed building direction and the quality of the landscape have directly influenced the position of the house.
The house is closed on the north side along the street and opens up into a large private garden thus creating a sense of intimacy for family life. The ground floor is intended for the common activities of the inhabitants, with a gradual staircase connecting the serene living area to private rooms on the first floor. Exits to the outdoor landscape are possible from the pool on the southern side, the porch area on the southeastern side, along the glass front of the living room and from the commercial part on northeast side. The open ground floor is directed towards the outside area while the partly enclosed first floor with a terrace only symbolically plays with the relationship of the intimate and transparent.
The longitudinal volume that breaks amply is included in the dynamic by vertical openings on both floors on the western façade. With its shape and careful fit into the surrounding landscape, House V stands out distinctly from the buildings around it.
