In this article, we continue our series on Competitions.archi, presenting a collection of articles on different architectural competitions. Today, we will be featuring the winner of the The Living Museum Competition by Terraviva Competitions
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Architectural competition is a great opportunity to strain your architectural brains on a clearly articulated task. It is almost impossible such a task from a real client in this period of your professional life, but this is exactly what you dream about. On the websites of architectural periodicals, you can find descriptions of current competitions – tasks, jury composition, geographic locations, requirements for participation, awards, the possibility of realization. All you have to do is go through them and choose one according to your taste. When your work and your idea is rewarded – it becomes the best motivator, the engine for moving forward!
After my recent graduation and the Master’s, which usually takes place in a stressful mode at a maximum capacity, I had a feeling of creative vacuum: no tasks, no deadlines. Due to the circumstances and the inability to work at that moment, I decided to try myself in the architectural competitions. Previously, I had experience of participating in competitions in collaboration with friends or colleagues, but I never did it alone. This was an important psychological step.
The Living Museum Competition organised by the TerraViva attracted me with its program and location. The idea of integrating an accommodation program together with a small-scale museum got me hooked. It perfectly reflects trends and meets modern life changes: mix everything with everything, multi-functionality, mobility, blurring boundaries. The COVID added fuel to the fire – the pandemic has pushed the world for a re-thinking and re-evaluation of such fundamental life concepts as housing, home, temporary housing, etc. Typology of accommodation, very standardized and therefore boring, could undergo an amazing transformation. Transformation both in the physical sense, responding to the already existing structure | program of the museum, and in the ideological sense, entering into a cultural dialogue with the theme of the museum. Breaking standards is always an intriguing challenge for an architect. The second feature was the geographical context of the museum. I am more or less familiar with the location of the competition: living in Italy for 5 years, I see that here, as nowhere else, there is a special attitude to history in all its manifestations. I realize how careful interventions should be, especially considering the current location -a small town in the middle of the Mediterranean island in Italy. In Russia, where I come from, on the contrary, reverence for the new and neglect of heritage prevail. Knowing the two extremes gives me special professional vision, so it is a challenge for me to be able to find a balance between those, a compromise.
+++ Sometimes the familiar location and theme of the competition prompts you to participate. In contrast, unfamiliar subject can discourage you. But looking from the other side, this could be an occasion to learn something new for yourself +++
Getting started is always a research including a standard list: natural, historical, social, and other contexts, characters, probably visiting a site .. While gathering information, I find it very important to hear and track my own reactions in response to each studied feature of the topic: feelings, memories, references, experience.
Costantino Nivola. Honestly, The artist was not familiar to me. The museum’s website provides a lot of materials about his personality (a detailed biography) and his art (an archive of works). As a versatile artist he had several stages of creative evolution, followed by various works: from huge wall murals for modernist lobbies to intimate terracotta figurines. Here are some of the keywords: paintings, nature, femininity, stone sculptures, terracotta figurines, sand-casting technique, sculpture | art garden, the open-air room, friendship with modernists, Sardinian fireplace, pergola and more. Doubtless, there was a lot to be inspired by. That’s why at first there was a strong desire to imitate one of his creative ideas (I hardly restrained myself from it). After studying these materials, a strong impulse arose in relation to this artist, I felt the strength and harmony in his works, I could not stop downloading the images of his works. In total, the very first impression that I noted was the eye-worship caused by his works, an honest admiration.
Taking into account the growth of the collection and body of the museum, initially I interpreted the task of the competition as another “extension” of the museum, another chapter in its history. I respected the layering created by past contributors, each author enriched the museum with his own touch, both inside and outside. To understand these connections it was necessary to model existing buildings and place them in the urban and natural context. Finding and understanding this relationship also gives possible directions for the development of the idea. After analyzing the existing structure of the museum, I highlighted this particular fragment, shown below, about the composition of three: sculpture, olive tree, rocky ground.
Since my attention was focused on his works, I wanted to emphasize, literally lift them to a pedestal. I did not perceive them in a white enclosed space, typical for a museum voids, I needed a certain background and an open air. A large area with rows of olive trees, rough stone landscape, hilly slope and panoramic view of the city – the perfect background was already there!
+++ The competition brief called for small-scale detailed elaboration of units, rather than a conceptual rethinking of them, but I decided to follow my sensory perception and propose another extension of the museum.
A night at the museum is a unique experience. A night at the museum should be remembered as something special. It means engaging in secrecy, trespassing, risking. Reflecting on this topic, I remembered films about fraud and theft of art objects from the museum, when the characters hid in the back room to remain unnoticed, and waited for the nightfall. The title of my project – “Night at the Museum” – was taken from the title of the Hollywood movie that instantly conveys a sense of mystery + entertainment.
Keeping an atmosphere of secrecy in my head, I came up with the idea to hide the living rooms so that the residents could go unnoticed, dissolve in the museum garden. Even the entrance door has to be found. Thus, the required accommodation program was deliberately hidden, inserted in the “back room” of the museum. The obtained space for temporary living in the thickness of the stylobate is intended to be tense, awkward and unusually tight. I deliberately take the tenant out of their comfort zone, I have defined this experience | emotion of the user as my goal.
For me, the task of the competition was not only to provide a connection between the living rooms and the museum, but also between the residents and the artist. As an option, I thought about the possible physical contact of the tenant with the piece of art by placing it in the rooms. But this idea did not work, because in this case the private space became public and vice versa … As a result, the resident lives inside the base of the sculpture. In my opinion, such a spatial relationship gives a sense of engagement, makes the resident feel that he is also a hidden part of the exhibition.
After that the concept was confirmed. It was necessary to think over an illustration that would immediately explain my idea:
Stylobate is an extended volume cut into a steep terrain. An extremely narrow rectangular space is formed in its thickness. A full-wall window allows you to break out of this compressed space and relieve tension. The width of the accommodation unit is equal to the width of the double bed with a side passage, the height is about 6-8 meters. Everything that remained was to add the tenderness of the fluttering transparent fabric by the window and let the light in. I used a collage technique in Adobe Photoshop. The model was primitive. The mood and perception of the picture is transmitted through space, light and view to the landscape. This is a the key view, it pops up in the head immediately after the main idea is developed.
According to the competition brief, the number of rooms should not exceed 8. I had different types of stylobates I could design: a flat stylobate, a stylobate at an angle, a stylobate with stairs, filled with water or with sand, carved into the rock. The interior space of each room was similar. Moving on to the planning solution, each unit has a basic “hotel” set, which includes a shower + toilet, a storage room, a double bed and a desk with a chair. The entrance zone, storage and toilet were lower while the height of the living space was exaggerated.
The material of my intervention is a stone. The stone wall, which can be seen in one of the buildings of the museum, seemed to me a very organic solution – the volume is disguised as a terrain. This is exactly the property of the material that I needed to dissolve the living units into the landscape. I also leave the raw stone inside rooms to intensify the narrowness of the space. Thick walls keep warm in winter and cool in summer.
In my proposal, the 7 artifacts are presented on the site. All of them are placed on the territory depending on the relief oriented towards the city and are located between the rows of olive trees. Living spaces are hidden in five artifacts, the remaining two are common spaces intended for leisure and communication of guests, social and cultural events etc. This includes an open-air communal room and an event area. In the communal room, I put together items that directly refer to the artist. It is a closed perimeter room with an open ceiling and 3-meter high wall. Looking above one can see the sky and olive branches hanging down on the sides open. The floor is covered with sand drifting from the wind and changing pattern (sand-casting technique invented by Nivola as a reference). There is also a Sardinian traditional fireplace, which is going to work as a gathering place for residents, artists or visitors due to the activities | workshops. The second common artifact is the scene. It is a flat square open to the city. The stage with a breathtaking view of the city serves as a platform for performances not only in the museum, but also for the commune of Orani.
In my proposal, the 7 artifacts are presented on the site. All of them are placed on the territory depending on the relief oriented towards the city and are located between the rows of olive trees. Living spaces are hidden in five artifacts, the remaining two are common spaces intended for leisure and communication of guests, social and cultural events etc. This includes an open-air communal room and an event area. In the communal room, I put together items that directly refer to the artist. It is a closed perimeter room with an open ceiling and 3-meter high wall. Looking above one can see the sky and olive branches hanging down on the sides open. The floor is covered with sand drifting from the wind and changing pattern (sand-casting technique invented by Nivola as a reference). There is also a Sardinian traditional fireplace, which is going to work as a gathering place for residents, artists or visitors due to the activities | workshops. The second common artifact is the scene. It is a flat square open to the city. The stage with a breathtaking view of the city serves as a platform for performances not only in the museum, but also for the commune of Orani.
When the concept with stylobates and inhabitable rooms in their thickness was formed, I determined the main viewpoints which better represent the concept. I’m interested in verticality of the pictures (a sculpture and a bed below it). In the end I got 3 vertical pairs in a row, and I placed axonometrical drawings of the rooms on the sides of the panel. Next, I was engaged in a design of the general axonometry and the master plan. As mentioned above, the artifacts were scattered over the steep relief, so the important part was to show the contrasting terrain with shadows. Rows of olive trees also should be shown, because the units are situated between the trees and not vice versa.
To summarize, I would like to say that the main outcome of the design process is a strong concept. The architect’s message must remain clear and readable. Regardless of the scale of the project. If the components of the design organically follow the concept, if there’s a visible and noticeable hierarchy of the techniques, it is a true sign that the idea is good. All subsequent methods must be subordinated to the main idea, nothing must appear out of nowhere, otherwise the Hierarchy may crumble and all the work will lose its ideological framework.
Author: Tatiana Skorduli from Russia
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Architecture Competitions Yearbook.
