interpolation - affordable housing complex by zoka zola architects

6/30/12 Interpolation - affordable housing complex by Zoka Zola architects

1/3www.zokazola.com/affordable_housing_rijeka.html

interpolationof buildings into nature

4 residential buildings with80 condominiums

retail spaces + 4 garagesRijeka, Croatia

1st prize winnerof architectural and urban

competition

view of site show ing 4 new buildings

view from south show ing 3 out of 4 buildings

diagrams show ing mathematical interpolation of contour lines into building shapes

The competition

We w on this invited and open competition

for affordable housing in Croatia in August

2008. Construction is scheduled for

September 2009.

Jury comments:

“This project is important to architecture for

its discussion about the edge of the city. It

w ill set new standards for architectural

quality for the national affordable housing

program.”

The requirements

The requirements of this competition w ere to

design 80 condominiums in 3 - 5 buildings

each on its ow n new ly formed lot. In addition

w e w ere to provide 120 parking spaces,

some commercial spaces, a children’s

playground, park areas and f ire lanes to

reach each condominium. The condominium

sizes and each room areas w ere specif ied.

City zoning and building codes w ere to be

applied.

The Site

The parcel of land is fascinating. Its

topography is like scrambled papers; 15’

open ground f loor

stairw ell

view from north

home

new s

projects

about us

zoka zola architecture + urban design 1737 west ohio street chicago IL 60622 t 312 491 9431 f 312 491 9432 [email protected]



topography is like scrambled papers; 15’

over 15’ of dip in one direction, than 10’ over

20’ rise in another direction and so on. On

the highest elevation there is a small circular

w etland. The entire site is a habitat for a

dense forest that is green, w ild and varied in

species.

Is this piece of land appropriate for building

such a dense development?

If it is, the topography and forest have to

remain a key element of the development.

view show ing transparency of the building

view from southeast

garage plans for each building + ground f loor of the site (including w etland and f ire lanes)

close-up view show ing buildings aliignment

w ith site contours typical f loors 2-5

The Concept

We call the project “INTERPOLATION” w hich

in architectural vocabulary usually means

insertion of a building in a tight and mature

city fabric, but this time w e mean

Interpolation of building INTO THE NATURE

.

Our strategy w as to f ind locations on the

site w here land is at the same elevation as

the tw o surrounding streets and from there

to follow the topographical contours w ith the

building. This strategy w as the only w ay to

ensure minimum disturbance of the

topography, w hich in this case means the

minimum disturbance of the soil and

consequently of the forest. But since the

topography of the site w as so extreme, w e

had to “interpolate” the topographic curves

that w e had chosen to reduce them to four

point polylines that formed a building shape

w ith tw o “bends” and three variable lengths

betw een the polyline points.

Therefore bulldozing any part of the site

destroys this system.

The buildings are lif ted off the ground w ith

empty ground levels from w hich the entire

site and its surrounding, w hich is the edge

of the city, is perceivable to every inhabitant.

In the same time subterranean condominiums

are avoided.

By choosing to place the buildings

perpendiular to the edge of the city every

condominium gets a view of the city and the

forest.

An additional objective w as to give all

condominiums a view of the Adriatic Sea.

Our building typology of double sided units

and lif iting the buildings off the ground

allow s a view of this gorgeous sea from

every single condominium. For people of

costal cities in Croatia, the view of the sea is

the most prized non material element of their

dw elling.

view of the apartment w ith the afternoon light

diagram show ing view s to the mountains and

the sea

cross ventilation of apartments view of the apartment w ith the morning light

panoramic view of site show ing how the buildings interpolate into nature



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w est-east section through the site show ing very irregular topography

. .

©Zoka Zola 2007

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Credits:

Client: City of Rijeka

Design: Zoka Zola

Dorothea Schulz, Vuki Backonja, Kate Casey, Fred Grier, Adi Kohn, Blake Smith

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