Ondřej Štěpán (5th grade) - Housing above the Stone Colony in Brno - JFK 07 final

My concept, essentially very simple, was born during my visit to the site and therefore derives directly from it. The weather was very changeable. Warm and sunny, while a few kilometers away in Brno, torrential rains were raging. From a spot on the edge of the quarry, there is a beautiful panoramic view of Brno, and this paradox struck me all the more strongly. The blowing wind brought me a fine spray of water, clearly indicating that, much like the storm on the horizon, it would soon be above my head as well. The atmosphere was tense and mysterious. I walked past overgrown fences marking the territory of gardeners, old rusty gates, rocks protruding in many places above the ground, and literally pushed my way through the encroaching greenery. Through locked gates, I observed long paths leading into the unknown, disappearing in green tunnels formed by trees and shrubs. I felt as if I were getting lost in a labyrinth, yet still sensed the way back. I experienced a similar atmosphere as a boy while reading the book "The Garden" by Jiří Trnka - see the illustrations.

I tried to preserve this atmosphere and transfer it into my future project, taking into account the introductory thesis "my apartment, my castle" - that is to create a hybrid between an apartment and a family house, thinking about these two forms of housing. I emphasized a clear division of the environment into public, semi-public, and private zones, similar to what is found in the neighboring Kamenná kolonie. Generally, a few following points (regardless of order) were running through my mind while designing, which can simplistically capture the concept.

- Human scale
- Greenery
- Garden
- Interface, edge, boundary, barrier
- Transition, transformation
- Function
- Context, continuity
- Hierarchy