In the exhibition: Ivan Matušík - exhibition at the SNG
As part of the exhibition cycle In the Display, we are continuing the theme of Bratislava's undercastle by presenting an architectural model depicting construction visions for the area by the prominent Slovak architect of late modernism, Ivan Matušík. The architect donated it to the collection of the Slovak National Gallery as part of a larger set of 15 models.
Since the competition for the university city in the 1940s, architects have been more or less intensely addressing the new form of the Danube waterfront beneath the Bratislava castle hill. In the meantime, several internal (among teams of former project institutes) as well as large international competitions have taken place for the new face of the undercastle.
Architect Ivan Matušík worked on the architectural design of the area twice. The first time in 1972, when he participated with colleagues from the State Project Institute of Trade (Ján Bahna, Pavel Čížek, Fedor Minárik) in a narrow invited architectural competition for the parliament building. The second time, thirty years later, when in 2002, the then private landowner announced an urban-architectural competition for the solution of the Bratislava-Undercastle zone, in which Ivan Matušík's and Sebastián Nagy's proposal named Cukermandel received the highest award. [1]
The addressed area occupied the space immediately below the castle hill's foot up to the waterfront transport artery, between the bridgehead of the New Bridge on the eastern side and the trio of residential high-rise buildings from the 1960s at the western end. Despite the neglected condition that had plagued the area since the construction of the bridge across the Danube and the parallel demolition of historical buildings, the investor and architects were able to sense the potential of the site as a representative, modern multifunctional quarter near the Danube promenade.
In the concept of the winning competition design, one can also perceive the effort to merge modern architecture with the genius loci of the area, as well as the endeavor not to disproportionately interfere with the visual impact of the castle monument. Ultimately, this was acknowledged by the competition jury with the award for the "continuous horizontal character [of the proposed structure], which forms a suitable base for the castle massif". [2]
The new construction was divided by the authors into three sectors, into which they sensitively integrated the preserved remnants of the historical construction layer of Cukermandel and the Water Tower with a new function – a music pavilion. Nothing was to be lacking in the proposed zone that a modern way of life requires – housing, commerce, services, culture, administration, and recreation, interconnected by a transport system providing conflict-free operation for pedestrians, cyclists, and car traffic.
In urbanism, architecture, construction, and layout, the architects chose a set of five squares measuring 10.8 × 10.8 m as the basic building block, grouped into a cross structure. Through this, they created a mass that offers a dynamic expression for pedestrians passing through its inner longitudinal axis, while from a greater distance, it appears – as recognized by the jury – as a calm horizontal impression. The shape and color variety were intended by the authors to evoke the diversity of buildings in the past, but the genius loci in their understanding did not remain limited to just this building-historical layer. The rocky character of the castle hill, the mighty river, greenery in the immediate vicinity, the sun, and air/wind were transformed into a solution that respects all these elements. Among other things, they found their reminiscences in green residential terraces, in the Danube gravel covering the flat roofs of the buildings, or in the glass roofing of the most attractive spaces.
[1] Collaborators: Michal Kurina, Zuzana Hlinková, Miriam Šebianová, Ján Bustín.
[2] Assessment of competition proposal no. 2 – entry "Cukermandel". In: Urban-architectural competition Bratislava-Undercastle 2002. Published at his own expense by Ivan Matušík, p. 8.
Since the competition for the university city in the 1940s, architects have been more or less intensely addressing the new form of the Danube waterfront beneath the Bratislava castle hill. In the meantime, several internal (among teams of former project institutes) as well as large international competitions have taken place for the new face of the undercastle.
Architect Ivan Matušík worked on the architectural design of the area twice. The first time in 1972, when he participated with colleagues from the State Project Institute of Trade (Ján Bahna, Pavel Čížek, Fedor Minárik) in a narrow invited architectural competition for the parliament building. The second time, thirty years later, when in 2002, the then private landowner announced an urban-architectural competition for the solution of the Bratislava-Undercastle zone, in which Ivan Matušík's and Sebastián Nagy's proposal named Cukermandel received the highest award. [1]
The addressed area occupied the space immediately below the castle hill's foot up to the waterfront transport artery, between the bridgehead of the New Bridge on the eastern side and the trio of residential high-rise buildings from the 1960s at the western end. Despite the neglected condition that had plagued the area since the construction of the bridge across the Danube and the parallel demolition of historical buildings, the investor and architects were able to sense the potential of the site as a representative, modern multifunctional quarter near the Danube promenade.
In the concept of the winning competition design, one can also perceive the effort to merge modern architecture with the genius loci of the area, as well as the endeavor not to disproportionately interfere with the visual impact of the castle monument. Ultimately, this was acknowledged by the competition jury with the award for the "continuous horizontal character [of the proposed structure], which forms a suitable base for the castle massif". [2]
The new construction was divided by the authors into three sectors, into which they sensitively integrated the preserved remnants of the historical construction layer of Cukermandel and the Water Tower with a new function – a music pavilion. Nothing was to be lacking in the proposed zone that a modern way of life requires – housing, commerce, services, culture, administration, and recreation, interconnected by a transport system providing conflict-free operation for pedestrians, cyclists, and car traffic.
In urbanism, architecture, construction, and layout, the architects chose a set of five squares measuring 10.8 × 10.8 m as the basic building block, grouped into a cross structure. Through this, they created a mass that offers a dynamic expression for pedestrians passing through its inner longitudinal axis, while from a greater distance, it appears – as recognized by the jury – as a calm horizontal impression. The shape and color variety were intended by the authors to evoke the diversity of buildings in the past, but the genius loci in their understanding did not remain limited to just this building-historical layer. The rocky character of the castle hill, the mighty river, greenery in the immediate vicinity, the sun, and air/wind were transformed into a solution that respects all these elements. Among other things, they found their reminiscences in green residential terraces, in the Danube gravel covering the flat roofs of the buildings, or in the glass roofing of the most attractive spaces.
[1] Collaborators: Michal Kurina, Zuzana Hlinková, Miriam Šebianová, Ján Bustín.
[2] Assessment of competition proposal no. 2 – entry "Cukermandel". In: Urban-architectural competition Bratislava-Undercastle 2002. Published at his own expense by Ivan Matušík, p. 8.
The English translation is powered by AI tool. Switch to Czech to view the original text source.
0 comments
add comment
