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Interpolation - affordable housing complex by Zoka Zola architects

zoka zola architecture + urban design 1737 west ohio street chicago IL 60622

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info@zokazola.com

interpolation
of buildings into nature
4 residential buildings with 80 condominiums retail spaces + 4 garages Rijeka, Croatia 1st prize winner of architectural and urban competition

home new s projects about us

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 com petition We w on this invited and open competition for affordable housing in Croatia in August 2008. Construction is scheduled for September 2009. Jury com m ents: 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 requirem ents 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 childrens playground, park areas and fire lanes to reach each condominium. The condominium sizes and each room areas w ere specified. 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 floor

stairw ell

view from north

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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.

Interpolation - affordable housing complex by Zoka Zola architects

view show ing transparency of the building

garage plans for each building + ground floor of the site (including w etland and fire lanes)

view from southeast

close-up view show ing buildings aliignment w ith site contours

typical floors 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 find 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 lifted 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.

view of the apartment w ith the afternoon light

cross ventilation of apartments An additional objective w as to give all condominiums a view of the Adriatic Sea. Our building typology of double sided units and lifiting 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 morning light

diagram show ing view s to the mountains and the sea

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

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Interpolation - affordable housing complex by Zoka Zola architects

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

. Send One person recommends

Zoka Zola 2007

All materials on this w eb site are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast w ithout the prior w ritten permission of Zoka Zola. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content. Credits: Client: City of Rijeka Design: Zoka Zola Dorothea Schulz, Vuki Backonja, Kate Casey, Fred Grier, Adi Kohn, Blake Smith back to top

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