DESA1002 'Nine Quarter City' - <Haren Dias>

Abstract

Retail and Cultural Hub Dubrovnik, Croatia Idea. The idea for the building arose from site that I choose, the fact that the site was situated in between two main road networks that ran through the city was influential when it came down to choosing a building type that would suit my sector of the 9 quarter city. My site was the perfect location for an intersecting pathway or a system of pathways that would link up these two main roads. Design. I wanted to create something Dubrovnik-like, something that the local people would readily accept but at the same time unique. What I came up with was to keep the original buildings as they stood and create this road network through and around it. By doing so I could keep the same essence and character that makes Dubrovnik so magical. What resulted was that I raised the ground level to the second floor introduced steps that allowed pedestrians direct entrance to the first floor. Typically pedestrians travelling through would start their journey by climbing up the stairs and into a series of paths and networks that emulate the same experience to that of being on the stradas themselves. Along the way, pedestrians would be guided by a glass-cladded aluminium frame work that so intricately stiches these paths, floors and whole buildings together. The glass ‘canopy’ allows natural elements to penetrate the building further adding to touch and feel of the original strada. On the first floor, the pathways wind in, out and within the building connecting what was four separate free-standing buildings together. Within there are shops, restaurants, cafés and other retail outlets that open haphazardly onto the pathways bringing the same essence and structure of the old stradas to the building. Below this the ground floor hosts a service level that will serve the retail level above. On the floors above, I introduced an exhibition space/arts gallery space that offers spectacular views of the level below, to go along with this; I created a workshops and studios, these act as the cultural elements of the building.