Pier-Lighthouse | OFIS Arhitekti

No man is an island, all by himself; every person is a piece of the continent, part of the land; if the sea washes away a lump of land, Europe shrinks like a mountain, like the estate of your friends or your own... wrote the English meta-physical poet John Donne, and the quote was highlighted by Hemingway in the famous novel “For Whom the Bell Tolls”. And the same could be said for houses; all are part of the city and each contributes to the integrity of the place. On the island of Cres, construction is limited by considerations of how to deliver the material. Due to the difficult accessibility, all interventions must be pragmatic and deliberate. This also characterized the architecture of the small stone house on the corner of the square. The internal dimensions of the building are only 3 x 3 m, there are two floors and an attic above the ground floor. The structure of the existing house was solid enough before the renovation that the architects completely preserved the perimeter walls.

The mezzanine structures were removed and the house completely emptied. The design of the new interior of the house follows a radical architectural concept. The house was hollowed out so that only the stone perimeter walls remained. A light wooden structure was inserted into the empty perimeter, which makes the house usable, and at the same time, the inserted volume functions as a single piece of multifunctional furniture. The material design of the move is also radically simple, although not simple. It is made from a basic element: laths with a section of 4 x 4 cm, which were assembled on site according to a very precise plan into a structure that fills an empty stone void. The load-bearing capacity of the inserted light structure is ensured by three frames in which all electrical installations, lights and switches are installed. All mezzanine panels are transparent, shaped by the full-empty rhythm of the slats. The thickness of the mezzanine surfaces is 4 cm. In this way, the architects achieved a great saving of space, as well as an extremely beautiful atmosphere of the ambience. The new zenithal window on the roof illuminates the entire space up to the ground floor, literally through the floor. The light from the top reaches the ground and creates an interesting play of shadows. Intimacy is ensured in the transparent interior by inserting niches in each floor, which can be either an armchair or a bed, covered with curtains. There is a kitchen with a dining room on the ground floor, a living room that can be converted into a bedroom on the first floor, and an additional bedroom on the second floor. Each floor has a small bathroom, one with a shower and sink, and the other with a toilet and sink. When the contractors were assembling the structure, they set up an improvised workshop on the square in front of the house. This came to life as a city meeting place.

The residents asked the carpenters if they could do anything else or repair anything. The construction site became an event in the city. The works were carried out by masters from Slovenia. The planning took place according to the principle of "consensual architecture": the architect gives verbal instructions to the contractor, and the contractor does as he understands.

All randomness and unforeseen "mistakes" thus become part of the result. Subtle and sensitive, but also bold and surprising, the architecture brings an unexpected architectural boldness to the peaceful seaside place. ... every man's death takes a part of me, because I belong to the human race; the same applies to houses in places that used to be alive, which turn into ghost towns during periods outside the tourist season. Each new abandoned house affects the entire settlement, but each new revitalization breathes new life into the place. In the case of the house on Cres, the romantic past that characterizes the place inspires with relaxed modernity.

[SLO]

Noben človek ni otok, popolnoma sam zase; vsak človek je kos celine, del kop- nega; če morje odplavi grudo zemlje, se Evropa zmanjša, kot bi se zmanjšal rtič, kot bi se posestvo tvojih prijateljev ali pa tvoje lastno … je zapisal angleški meta- fizični pesnik John Donne, citat pa je izpostavil Hemingway v znamenitem romanu Komu zvoni. In enako bi lahko rekli za hiše; vse so del mesta in vsaka prispeva k celovitosti kraja.

Na otoku Cres je gradnja omejena z razmislekom, kako dostaviti material. Zaradi težke dostopnosti morajo biti vsi posegi pragmatični in premišljeni. To je zaznamovalo tudi arhitekturo majhne kamnite hiše na vogalu trga.

Notranje dimenzije objekta obsega- jo vsega 3 x 3 m, nad pritličjem sta dve etaži in mansarda. Konstrukcija obsto- ječe hiše je bila pred prenovo dovolj zdrava, da so arhitekti obodne zidove v celoti ohranili. Odstranili pa so mede- tažne konstrukcije in hišo popolnoma izpraznili.

Oblikovanje novega interierja hiše sledi radikalnemu arhitekturnemu konceptu. Hišo so izdolbli, da so ostale le kamnite obodne stene. V izpraznjeni obod so vstavili lahko leseno konstruk- cijo, ki omogoča uporabnost hiše, hkrati pa vstavljeni volumen deluje kot enoten kos multifunkcionalnega pohi- štva. Radikalno preprosta, čeprav ne enostavna, je tudi materialna zasnova poteze. Narejena je iz osnovnega ele- menta: letve prereza 4 x 4 cm, ki so jih na lokaciji sestavili po zelo natančnem načrtu v strukturo, ki napolnjuje prazen kamniti void.

Nosilnost vstavljene lahke strukture je zagotovljena s tremi okvirji, v katerih

so napeljane vse elektro inštalacije, sve- tila in stikala. Vse medetažne plošče so prosojne, oblikuje jih polno-prazen ritem letev. Debelina medetažnih povr- šin je 4 cm. Tako so arhitekti dosegli velik prihranek prostora, pa tudi izred- no lepo atmosfero ambienta. Novo zenitalno okno na strehi osvetljuje ves prostor do pritličja dobesedno skozieta- že. Svetloba z vrha doseže tla in ustvarja zanimivo igro senc. Intimnost je v trans- parentnem interierju zagotovljena tako, da so v vsako etažo vstavljene niše, ki so lahko ali fotelj ali postelja, zagrnjene z zavesami.

V pritličje je umeščena kuhinja z jedilnico, v prvo etažo dnevna soba, ki se spremeni v spalnico, v drugi etaži je dodatna spalnica. V vsakem višinskem nivoju je izvedena tudi majhna kopalni- ca, ena ima tuš in umivalnik, druga pa stranišče in umivalnik.

Ko so izvajalci sestavljali konstruk- cijo, so na trgu pred hišo vzpostavili improvizirano delavnico. Ta je zaživel kot mestno srečališče. Krajani so prosili mizarje, če lahko še pri njih kaj naredijo ali popravijo. Gradbišče je postalo dogo- dek v mestu.

Dela so izvajali mojstri iz Slovenije. Načrtovanje je potekalo po principu »dogovorne arhitekture«: arhitekt da izvajalcu ustna navodila, izvajalec pa naredi, kakor sam razume. Del rezulta- ta tako postanejo tudi vse naključnosti in nepredvidene »napake«. Subtilna in rahločutna, a tudi drzna in presenetljiva arhitektura vnaša v miren morski kraj nepredvideno arhitekturno drznost.

… smrt slehernega človeka vzame del mene, ker pripadam človeški vrsti; podobno velja za hiše v krajih, nekoč žive, ki se v obdobjih izven turistične sezone spreminjajo v mesta duhov. Vsaka nova zapuščena hiša vpliva na celotno naselje, toda vsaka nova revi- talizacija kraju vdahne novo življenje. V primeru hiše na Cresu romantično preteklost, ki zaznamuje kraj, navdahne s sproščeno sodobnostjo.

Architects OFIS: (Rok Oman, Špela Videčnik, Jolana Kováčiková, Amadej Mravlak)

Project collaborators: Structural engineering: Project PA, Milan Sorč

Photography: TOMAZ GREGORIC