Project 2+

Idea projektu

The goal is to reflect upon and improve the modernist housing estate (Invalidovna, Prague). This will be achieved by improving public spaces, densification, creating a local center, and defining functions and spaces. Multifunctionality and universality are major themes of the project.

Popis projektu

Introduction: We are entering the challenging context of a housing estate – although Invalidovna was intended to be an exemplary instance of "good" new building and living, its structure has shortcomings. The new construction surrounding the original urbanism does not integrate the locality into the city; rather, it does the opposite – it disrupts connections, creates barriers, and reduces the permeability and usability of the area. Due to poor maintenance of public spaces and some buildings, the quality of originally well-designed parts of the housing estate has also deteriorated. Invalidovna is a beautiful place. It has its own spirit – elegant building forms are immersed in lush vegetation... Life extends to the ground – some areas have fences, but elsewhere they are not needed. None of the houses standing today have undergone drastic reconstruction, and the face of the housing estate has been very well preserved. But Invalidovna is not just romantic images. Contemporary people live there, and just as its architects once demonstrated its adaptability and versatility, we want to continue to present the place in that spirit. We will sensitively try to revive this once young district. We will repair what is broken, reanimate what is dead, articulate the unspoken, and also add our own opinion – on how similar housing estates could be managed to raise the standard of living while being mindful of the cultural and historical context. Project Area: I have chosen the southern edge of the housing estate as my project area, specifically the plot near the towers where a never-built third tower was originally planned. Little happens there now – a parking lot for the entire district was placed there (cars still do not park inside the housing estate). The hard front of the military area opposite also does not add much to the residual space. The brief: a new beginning for the end of the world. Design: I propose supplementing the place with two new buildings. I reject one and one tower – there are 2, and I'm adding PLUS. 2 towers and 2 new masses: a taller building (with flats, workshops) and a lower public building (with a cinema, theater, and greenhouse) will complete the vertical composition – they will enclose a vibrant community courtyard between them, and activate two bays towards the street. The space will become a crossroads of work, living, and leisure. I want to provide space for life for all age groups. The courtyard concentrates the most important focal point of activity. Workshops can expand into it in summer, and cafe seating turns towards it. A small square in the middle. Seating, table tennis. A sandbox and a pump. Flower beds, a small fence. Running, cultivating. As calls echo from the balcony, so they resound from the courtyard. Children will dig in the sandbox, as well as in dirt and water. Adults will sit, chat, walk around, teens will play ping pong, go skateboarding in front of the building, or find a spot to cause mischief. Seniors will walk their dogs. In the courtyard are tool sheds and bike sheds. The courtyard is the heart, the heart pulses, in the heart is life. The two bays also have their purpose: the first (at the front of the cinema) – a small square with a wading pool, intersected by a small columnar "colonnade" at the tower entrance, where I propose so-called "pofel" steps/a small stage for the local drama club. The second bay (the square under the foot of the building) is working – the main gate to the courtyard, where things are brought in, waste is taken out, but you can also stop for a moment and sit in the shade. I propose workshops for the raised ground floor and the first floor of the taller building. Variable units can be connected and divided as needed (an mezzanine can also be inserted). They can serve as workshops, offices, residential studios, scout clubs, etc. I assume the building will be built by a cooperative/city as housing for students, young families, lower middle class, people who want to live together... The locality will come alive with new relationships and connections. People will inhabit large shared apartments (4-8 inhabitants/apartment) with a communal loggia, or individual apartments (studio and 2-bedroom) with a shared balcony. Shared apartments can be converted into separate units and vice versa. The ground floor of the public building – a multifunctional hall with a bar functioning as a cafe with facilities, a cultural center, a dance hall, a gallery... I will move the "Kámen" theater stage, located nearby, to the 1st floor. The space also serves as a smaller cinema, lecture hall (facilities and storage are also on this floor). On the roof, there is a greenhouse and terrace available to the residents of the apartment building. I intervene minimally in the towers: I enlarge and add a more generous loggia to each apartment, and insulate the entire building. The biggest intervention is on the ground floor of the south tower, where I adapt part of the layout for theater office spaces, a rehearsal room, and a drama club (entrance via a small outdoor stage). Residents will not have to move out during construction. The expression of the building derives from its surroundings. I am building a modern panel building from wood, concrete, steel, and plaster. I wrap it in titanium-zinc, polycarbonate, and aluminum. Material colors and earthy shades of lacquers. I want a strong tectonics so that the house speaks. It will step its foot into the street, extend a cantilever, and hang a tie rod. I emphasize the construction and technical equipment. Landscape: I collect water from the built-up parts of the plot into accumulation tanks (under the sandbox and in the greenhouse – for watering the flower beds). Excess water is processed by infiltration blocks and an infiltration basin. Felled trees are replaced by others, and new ones are planted – maples, plane trees, horse chestnuts, groups of birches, and in some places even fruit trees (apple, cherry). I define meadow strips of unmown grass. I want to intentionally let some areas become wild and overgrown. Surfaces are treated with used road panels, used concrete tiles 30x30, and I also try to utilize broken asphalt pieces (paving). Gravel lawn for parking and driveways to the houses.

Technické informace

The structural system of the new building is a universal skeletal system. Two types are used: a heavy reinforced concrete prefabricated frame for the ground floor, and a wooden frame for the upper floors with apartments. Spatial rigidity is ensured by stair cores, steel tie rods, and bracing walls. Partitions are designed from wooden CLT panels. The balcony statically functions as a suspended steel structure (cantilevered beams with thermal bridge interruption cooperate). The tower loggias are combined suspended/supported, depending on the position and size of the original balconies. The building is partially basemented (technical rooms). Shading is achieved with classic external blinds; the cinema has its own flap shutters (the space can be fully darkened). Heating is underfloor.