How many more excesses can the Slovenian countryside endure before it can still be called a countryside?
The Slovenian countryside is dotted with numerous farmhouses, dwellings and buildings used to manage arable land, pastures, meadows and forests. The cultural landscape, the natural environment and the settlement culture intertwine to create distinctive landscape patterns. Posavje, especially its rich hinterland of rolling hills on both banks of the Sava, boasts an exceptionally varied pattern of scattered farmsteads, orchards, vineyards, hill meadows and pastures, and interspersed patches of beech forest. Much of the country is characterised by traditional modest architecture, building forms and their elements are simple and repetitive. It is an extremely delicate place, where the specificity is not manifested in colourful peculiarities, but in the hidden details and characteristics of the available materials, the knowledge and the resilience of the inhabitants, who have lived in the intersection of different peoples and different masters.
The renovation of the apartment house combines modern living principles with the footprint and layout of the existing small farmhouse. The basic layout of the building bodies is retained, including the external terrace, but the ridges of all three houses have been unified by the reconfiguration of a later small extension. The roof pitch was raised to 48 degrees, the eaves were redesigned and the window and door openings were standardised.
The two-storey space in the main house emphasises the vertical dimension of the building as a counterpoint to the relatively small dimensions of all the rooms. The living area is therefore not spacious and wide, but rather like a slightly larger seating area inserted into the available body, while at the same time being airy and with open views throughout the depth and height of the building. The central feature of the renovation is a large brick fireplace, which continues into a wide chimney set in the centre of the building. The chimney is also the technical body in which the air conditioner is hidden.
The external space between the two buildings is divided into a small intermediate lawn, formerly a carriage yard, and a larger terrace, which opens transversely towards the access side and continues longitudinally into a steep walnut grove. The buildings are located on a gentle slope, the basement is partly buried, and the contact between the ground floor and the surroundings is interrupted by the height difference. This fact is expressed by the shallow accentuated balcony, which hangs over the stone base, and at the same time defines a distinctive gauge, almost a contour of the design, which continues into the interior.
The façade and roof are made of the same material, grey fibre cement panels. This “gesture” was also chosen to emphasise the key role of the unified building blocks, which sit calmly, harmoniously and respectfully in a picturesque rural context, rather than just the design of the facades themselves. Even though it is a modern building in its content, its stance on the introduction of excessive modernity and excesses into a sensitive environment is strongly negative.
Authors of the project: BLENKUŠ Matej, FLORIJANČIČ Miloš, CIMPERMAN Katja
| Static: | Anton Berce |
| Other engineers: | Križaj Tomi, Škrabe Nevenka |
| Implementation: | SL engineering |
| Project year: | 2004 |
| Year of implementation: | 2007 |
| Photo / visualisation: | Kambič Miran |
| Customer: | private |
| Exhibitions, publications: | Article Ungewőnlich traditionell, published in a foreign publication, Häuser, #4, Hamburg, DE, section Titelthema, author Sandra Hofmeister, p. 35, April, 2009 Article Above the Vineyards, published in the local publication, Ambient magazine, #71, author Mateja Medvedič, p. 74 – 79, June, 2007 Article Residential and commercial building on Oklukova gora, published in a local publication, Hiše magazine, #68, special issue Petletka, editor: Bor Pungeršič, p. 54 – 55, December, 2011 Publication Slovenian Architecture, Slovenian Spatial Planning 2006 – 2007, published in the Slovenian publication, Slovenian Chamber of Architecture and Spatial Planning, pp. 55, October, 2007 Article Idyllic views, published in the local publication, Nepremičnin World, #3, author of the article Ana Struna Bregar, p. 58 – 65, March, 2007 Article For Encouragement!, published in a local publication, Hiše magazine, #57, author Jure Grohar, p. 42 – 47, February, 2010 |
