Winter Lead Dušan 2013 - awarded studios
Studio of Petr Hájek and Jaroslav Hulín
Topic and program of the Hájek - Hulín school studio:
Theme:
The Zbraslav quarry has gradually grown into the city. In fifty years, it will be exhausted, and extraction will end. What will happen to the place next? We are trying to answer this question in our research. The quarry space has been divided into corridors - slots, which we "program with architecture." Rather than focusing on specific buildings, we aimed to establish the limits and capacities of the site. However, to do this, we first had to design them.
Work in the studio:
Consultations took place for half a semester according to a predetermined schedule, and the second half was done collectively at school and virtually on individual blogs. Although everyone works on their own assignments, there is an emphasis on team cooperation in the studio. The semester projects concluded with a public defense in front of a "jury" composed of external experts.
Presentation of works:
The studio emphasizes a high level of project presentation. In addition to drawings and visualizations, a physical model and a digital presentation on a publicly accessible blog is required. This form of presentation is not self-serving but serves to deepen the understanding of the designed space, place, atmosphere, and connections between material objects. It is a valuable tool for team collaboration and allows for much more intense feedback.
More on the blog >
Assignment: Zbraslav quarry
The scar in the landscape is complemented within the original topography. This fill is designed with a grid of concrete walls built perpendicular to the river. The walls are half a meter wide and spaced 12 meters apart. The walls create parallel corridors - spatial parcels for development. Each student selects one corridor (12m wide, length from 20m to 650m depending on its location in the quarry) and designs their own object and function to give this place a new meaning. The task can be approached as a solution to a single house or as an entire urbanism.
Jury comments:
The "Wow!" effect of the generosity and flair of the presentation lingers even after filtering out the presentation packaging. Mastery in condensing elaborate ideas into a small space without loss of communicativeness. If the FA has a world-class level anywhere (and sustainably), it is at the doors of the HH studio.
The task of subdividing the space between the concrete blades vertically dividing the mined quarry sparked a long discussion among the jury about the meaning of the assignment. Of course, we must set aside issues from reality and let ourselves be carried away by the fascinating power of projects placed into refined forms.
The method of creating the assignment is a brilliant pedagogical tool. It creates clear limits, simplifies the task, clarifies, no urbanism, landscape, nothing. Just nine meters of clear width. Anything we straighten into the crack seemingly works. A ski jump, a solar cannon, a monastery, a ski slope, a columbarium, a fairground, a toboggan. At least in graphics close to the advertising industry, it looks that way.
I was looking forward to Hájek's work, perhaps that's why overall, the quarry/slot seemed flatter compared to previous semesters. The reduction of the addressed area to almost a 2D cut is undoubtedly stimulating. The quarry/slot concept (I don't know how to name it in short) may also evoke enthusiasm. Purist restoration of the mass of the hill (which hill look is the only correct one?) somewhat denied the charm of cooling extruded innards as a remnant of purely utilitarian use for crushed aggregate (the poetics of rock vs. the poetics of a concrete parking lot). The apocalyptic shattering of decaying reality into racks of unrelated micro-worlds forces the subconscious to scratch, gnaw, and crumble the unchanging nature of concrete partitions with all its might and scream into the silence: "Is there someone on the other side?"
We can copy the assessment from last year. Seriously – the overall impression is the best. Presentations like at a biennale. Meant as "a complex impression." Remarks like small display, power outage, etc., were addressed… Beware, I think the teacher and their assignment overshadow the students' individuality. All projects were great because of the assignment. I feel that such a path is fine for lower years as a game with a guaranteed ending.
Studio Kuzemenský & Synek
Housing for seniors in Podvinní
The task for the winter semester was to design housing for seniors in an area enclosed by the residential complex Podvinný mlýn, the Rokytka stream, and the Podvinní park. It involved a combination of "care home," "home for the elderly," and "day care center" + senior club. The total capacity of the facility is approximately 80 people.
The goal was to understand the client or user, their needs, wishes, interests, concerns, and especially their daily life, and to project this into the design.
Another fundamental theme of the assignment was the "residual" and "wildness" of the place. The non-urban character. Romance? Inappropriateness? What image of the house is adequate? Seeking a harmonious whole.
Further questions:
• Who is a senior?
• What role does changing homes play in life?
• The "image" of home
• Openness vs. closure
• Shared, outdoor, and indoor spaces
• Adequate comfort
• Working with the terrain and "wild urban greenery"
Jury comments:
One of the studios where the jury spent the most time. One of the most interesting, although the opinions of the jurors varied the most here.
I appreciate the relentless work, the willingness to do things well, earnestly. The detailed development of the project automatically confirms the processed solution; not insignificant is also the visual aspect – perspectives enhancing the strong impression, mood. A generation of honest, capable young architects is emerging here.
Philosophy is more important than architecture! Anything else would only dilute this.
One of the strong studios, with which I unfortunately could not identify. The uniformity of layouts, supported by a claustrophobic presentation space overflowing with architecture, reflected the majority conception of senior living as a closed institution with standardized spaces and uniform top-notch care. The autumn stream cannot replace the cry of despair into the roar of the weir. I was looking forward to old age, now I dread it (in a wallpapered corridor with recesses).
None of the projects was an unequivocal favorite; each was heavily debated pro and con. However, what they all had in common was tremendous commitment and honesty, a lot of emotions. Different approaches to the task and differing perspectives on the concept of solutions testify to the ability/willingness to lead to one's own opinion.
If anyone is poised to repeat the phenomenon of the 1990s known as "studio Miroslav Šik," it is Michal’s studio with Ondřej. Similar connection and experience of the educator/topic/students. A search for the essence of obvious commonality. Architecture with emotion, in the best sense of the word social, so much needed for the building culture in this country. Antithesis to bombastic gestures. The identification of students, bordering on sectarianism, is a phenomenon in itself.
Topic and program of the Hájek - Hulín school studio:
Theme:
The Zbraslav quarry has gradually grown into the city. In fifty years, it will be exhausted, and extraction will end. What will happen to the place next? We are trying to answer this question in our research. The quarry space has been divided into corridors - slots, which we "program with architecture." Rather than focusing on specific buildings, we aimed to establish the limits and capacities of the site. However, to do this, we first had to design them.
Work in the studio:
Consultations took place for half a semester according to a predetermined schedule, and the second half was done collectively at school and virtually on individual blogs. Although everyone works on their own assignments, there is an emphasis on team cooperation in the studio. The semester projects concluded with a public defense in front of a "jury" composed of external experts.
Presentation of works:
The studio emphasizes a high level of project presentation. In addition to drawings and visualizations, a physical model and a digital presentation on a publicly accessible blog is required. This form of presentation is not self-serving but serves to deepen the understanding of the designed space, place, atmosphere, and connections between material objects. It is a valuable tool for team collaboration and allows for much more intense feedback.
More on the blog >
Assignment: Zbraslav quarry
The scar in the landscape is complemented within the original topography. This fill is designed with a grid of concrete walls built perpendicular to the river. The walls are half a meter wide and spaced 12 meters apart. The walls create parallel corridors - spatial parcels for development. Each student selects one corridor (12m wide, length from 20m to 650m depending on its location in the quarry) and designs their own object and function to give this place a new meaning. The task can be approached as a solution to a single house or as an entire urbanism.
Jury comments:
The "Wow!" effect of the generosity and flair of the presentation lingers even after filtering out the presentation packaging. Mastery in condensing elaborate ideas into a small space without loss of communicativeness. If the FA has a world-class level anywhere (and sustainably), it is at the doors of the HH studio.
The task of subdividing the space between the concrete blades vertically dividing the mined quarry sparked a long discussion among the jury about the meaning of the assignment. Of course, we must set aside issues from reality and let ourselves be carried away by the fascinating power of projects placed into refined forms.
The method of creating the assignment is a brilliant pedagogical tool. It creates clear limits, simplifies the task, clarifies, no urbanism, landscape, nothing. Just nine meters of clear width. Anything we straighten into the crack seemingly works. A ski jump, a solar cannon, a monastery, a ski slope, a columbarium, a fairground, a toboggan. At least in graphics close to the advertising industry, it looks that way.
I was looking forward to Hájek's work, perhaps that's why overall, the quarry/slot seemed flatter compared to previous semesters. The reduction of the addressed area to almost a 2D cut is undoubtedly stimulating. The quarry/slot concept (I don't know how to name it in short) may also evoke enthusiasm. Purist restoration of the mass of the hill (which hill look is the only correct one?) somewhat denied the charm of cooling extruded innards as a remnant of purely utilitarian use for crushed aggregate (the poetics of rock vs. the poetics of a concrete parking lot). The apocalyptic shattering of decaying reality into racks of unrelated micro-worlds forces the subconscious to scratch, gnaw, and crumble the unchanging nature of concrete partitions with all its might and scream into the silence: "Is there someone on the other side?"
We can copy the assessment from last year. Seriously – the overall impression is the best. Presentations like at a biennale. Meant as "a complex impression." Remarks like small display, power outage, etc., were addressed… Beware, I think the teacher and their assignment overshadow the students' individuality. All projects were great because of the assignment. I feel that such a path is fine for lower years as a game with a guaranteed ending.
Studio Kuzemenský & Synek
Housing for seniors in Podvinní
The task for the winter semester was to design housing for seniors in an area enclosed by the residential complex Podvinný mlýn, the Rokytka stream, and the Podvinní park. It involved a combination of "care home," "home for the elderly," and "day care center" + senior club. The total capacity of the facility is approximately 80 people.
The goal was to understand the client or user, their needs, wishes, interests, concerns, and especially their daily life, and to project this into the design.
Another fundamental theme of the assignment was the "residual" and "wildness" of the place. The non-urban character. Romance? Inappropriateness? What image of the house is adequate? Seeking a harmonious whole.
Further questions:
• Who is a senior?
• What role does changing homes play in life?
• The "image" of home
• Openness vs. closure
• Shared, outdoor, and indoor spaces
• Adequate comfort
• Working with the terrain and "wild urban greenery"
Jury comments:
One of the studios where the jury spent the most time. One of the most interesting, although the opinions of the jurors varied the most here.
I appreciate the relentless work, the willingness to do things well, earnestly. The detailed development of the project automatically confirms the processed solution; not insignificant is also the visual aspect – perspectives enhancing the strong impression, mood. A generation of honest, capable young architects is emerging here.
Philosophy is more important than architecture! Anything else would only dilute this.
One of the strong studios, with which I unfortunately could not identify. The uniformity of layouts, supported by a claustrophobic presentation space overflowing with architecture, reflected the majority conception of senior living as a closed institution with standardized spaces and uniform top-notch care. The autumn stream cannot replace the cry of despair into the roar of the weir. I was looking forward to old age, now I dread it (in a wallpapered corridor with recesses).
None of the projects was an unequivocal favorite; each was heavily debated pro and con. However, what they all had in common was tremendous commitment and honesty, a lot of emotions. Different approaches to the task and differing perspectives on the concept of solutions testify to the ability/willingness to lead to one's own opinion.
If anyone is poised to repeat the phenomenon of the 1990s known as "studio Miroslav Šik," it is Michal’s studio with Ondřej. Similar connection and experience of the educator/topic/students. A search for the essence of obvious commonality. Architecture with emotion, in the best sense of the word social, so much needed for the building culture in this country. Antithesis to bombastic gestures. The identification of students, bordering on sectarianism, is a phenomenon in itself.
The English translation is powered by AI tool. Switch to Czech to view the original text source.
0 comments
add comment
