The family house in Maksimir rarises from the idea of a wholeness composed of smaller segments of varying forms. Each of the parts comprising the house, although specific and seemingly distinct, initself contains the characteristics of the whole.
Segments are being subtracted from the unrefined initial volume until it reaches the desired form. The final formis reduced to the essential, without anything redundant. The design process starts from a basic geometric shape–a half of a cube measuring approximately 14x14 meters. Its dimensions are a consequence of a practical combination of conditions of the spatial plan and the optimal location of the house on the lot. Positioned in such away, and rooted into its habitus, the house starts to modify.
The half of the Plato’s cube isintersected by two axes, dividing the plan square into four equal quadrants. Two additional, decentralized axes createa central ‘’cross’’, two internal and two external spaces. The same principles are applied to the both remaining stories, the basement, and the upper floor. By establishing the set of basic rules, the building starts to self-generate. All the service spaces are positioned within the central cross. The remaining internal spaces become living rooms, bedrooms, and the garage, and the external spaces enclosedintimate courtyards and/or terraces.This allows for a clear interrelation and interdependence between the internal and external certain parts of the house.
Discovering the house begins by entering the front yard. Having passed through the entrance gate, we find ourselves in a partially covered space,aperforated façade protecting it from views. The circular opening above it, the porous façade, the grassed area, and the big glass wall, which enables the view to reach all the way to the backyard, create a number of simultaneous, very intense stimuli. That is the moment is which the process of understanding the structure begins.
The somewhat phantasmagorical external spaceleads us into the entrance hall that serves as the phenomenological ‘’threshold’’ between the interior and exterior of the house. Having passed through the entrance hall, we reach the center of the house, based on the two-axes symmetry, and the house diagonally opens towards us. The living room is laterally defined by the kitchen and the dining room, and the stairway and the entrance hall in the peripheral plan replace the toned down vestibule.
The space illuminated by the natural light leads us into the more intimate stairway space. Located between the garage and a smaller backyard, the stairway leads down to the basement story and up to the upper floor. By climbing or descending we again find ourselves into the plan center of the house. The upper floor offers a view onto the whole house and its external area, but this time in the vertical direction. Children’s rooms with a workspace, master bedroom, and the services paces flank the external terraces.
The circular balcony with a philigree metal fence invitesus to take a final step in our exploration of the house. A moment of greatest spatial introversion is, again, intertwined with a moment of greatest extroversion. This emphasized repetition of the same scenario serves better understanding of the structure. By stepping onto the balcony, we become aware that the path ends in the same place where it begins–in the frontyard. However, although we find ourselves in the same place, our perception of the house is completely changed, and the ideaof the ‘’wholeness’’ much more comprehensible.
Team:
Studios: Struktura & 2A1-BÜRO
Authors: Grgur Butigan, Jakov Matas and Rade Trbara
Project team: Jakov Matas, Grgur Butigan, Rade Trbara (architecture)
Structure engineering: Dragan Garić
HVAC system engineering: Aleš Dežman
Electrical installations: Mladen Stošić
Plumbing systems engineering: Ivan Batinić
Landscape architectur: Ksenija Jurčić Diminić
Visualization: Roman Krajcarz, Luka Jecić
Structural engineering: BROD KONZALTING d.o.o.
Plumbing systems engineering: Crna tinta d.o.o.
HVAC systems engineering: Crna tinta d.o.o.
Electrical engineering: ELEKTROPLAN d.o.o.
Landscape architect: Office of the appointed landscape architect
Main contractor: Prizida gradnja d.o.o.
Electrical installations: ETC Electro Technical Ćurak d.o.o.
HVAC installations: SGH PROJEKT d.o.o.
Photographers: Bosnic+Dorotic
Materials Used:
Thermal insulation: Schöck
Thermal insulation: FIBRAN d.o.o.
Facade system: Sto Ges.m.b.H.
Wood/Aluminum facade systems: RV d.o.o.
Lighting: Lodes
Ceramic tiles: Marazzi Group
Furniture: Artisan
