Nursery School

Nursery School

Ston, 1998

By its shape, this house could be seen as a reference to the architecture of the fifties and places where modernism was transformed into critical regionalism (which, unlike modernism, “the body has not rejected”), but the cross-section explains the architect’s intention to replace the surface of the dug-out hill slope with the roof surface and that the roof is also a possible floor, which is a pronouncedly contemporary reaction. The roof / floor of the nursery school mounts the hill in the same way the walls of a fortress surrounding a city climb, respecting the topography like all dry walls on the Pelješac peninsula. On the other hand, the outdoor playgrounds/terraces respect the wisdom of vineyard builders.
Looking from above, we can better observe the cultural gap between the city houses within the walls and the ones outside the walls, which we may provisionally refer to as less classy. The architecture of a nursery school should act as a bridge between the two sides and become an integral part of both in the process. And soon, when this house – with its ordinary façades and low-tech details that we can sooner call a “structure” than a “palace” – is integrated into the greenery, and the red karren stone turns grey again, it will become part of its natural environment. Because building houses out of stone has been discontinued in Dalmatia (although cladding has fortunately still remained), we can declare without hesitation that the pouring of concrete into formwork and rendering it with thermo-plaster is part of the authentic local building heritage. The heart of the Ston nursery school is the “inner vineyard”, three parquet-floor terraces down which space runs like a waterfall, from the eastern to the western front. These three “units for children’s play and accommodation” are connected or separated by sliding doors. The southern sides of the rooms are open towards the “outer vineyard”. The architectural element that connects and clarifies inner spaces, in the same way it does this with the outer spaces, is the slanting slab of the ceiling, i.e. the roof. The unusual layout of the inner space further increases the value of the ordinariness of the other architectural elements of this house, and it is also a good characteristic that this specific quality was sought in the cross-section, and not in the fronts, which function more as surfaces that “seal” the cross-section.

Excerpt from a text by Goran Rako
(Man and Space 29)

Ova kuća svojim oblikovanjem može prizvati arhitekturu pedesetih i mjesta na kojima se moderna preobražavala u kritički regionalizam (koji, za razliku od moderne, „tijelo nije odbacilo“), no presjek će nam pojasniti namjeru arhitekta da plohom krova nadomjesti površinu iskopane padine brda, te da je krov ujedno mogući pod, što je izrazito suvremena reakcija. Krov/pod dječjeg vrtića penje se uz brdo onako kao što se penju i zidovi tvrđave koja okružuje grad, poštujući topografiju onako kao što je poštuju i svi suhozidi Pelješca. Vanjska igrališta/terase poštuju pak mudrost graditelja vinograda. Gledajući odozgo, bolje vidimo koliki je kulturološki jaz između gospodarskih kuća unutar zidina i onih, nazovimo ih, manje gospodskih izvan zidina. Arhitektura dječjeg vrtića trebala premostiti, a pritom postati integralnim dijelom obiju strana. A kada uskoro ova kuća običnih pročelja i low-tech detalja, koju prije možemo zvati „objektom“ nego „palačom“, zaraste u zelenilo, a crveni kamen „škrape“ ponovo zasivi, postat će dijelom i svoga prirodnog okoliša. Budući da je u Dalmaciji zidanje kuća kamenom nestalo (oblaganje je srećom ostalo), možemo mirne duše lijevanje armiranog betona u oplatu te njegovo oblaganje termo-žbukom proglasiti autentičnim lokalnim graditeljstvom. Srce dječjeg vrtića u Stonu je „unutrašnji vinograd“, tri parketne terase niz koje se prostor slijeva poput vodopada, od istočnog prema zapadnom pročelju. Te tri „jedinice za igru i boravak djece“ povezuju se ili odvajaju kliznim vratima. Južne strane soba otvorene su prema „vanjskom vinogradu“. Arhitektonski element koji povezuje i pojašnjava unutrašnje prostore, jednako kao što je povezao i pojasnio vanjske, kosa je ploča stropa, odnosno krova. Neobičnost unutrašnjeg prostora još više uvećava vrijednost običnosti ostalih arhitektonskih sastavnica ove kuće, a dobra je karakteristika i to da se ova posebnost tražila u presjeku, a ne na pročeljima, koja su prije plohe koje „brtve“ presjek.

Izvadak iz teksta
Goran Rako (Čovjek i prostor 29)

Nursery School

built 1995_ 
1998
Address: 
Ston
Team:
Igor Franić, Sonja Franić

Client: City of Zagreb, Ston District

Gross surface area: 570 m2

Site area: 2000 m2