Croatian architecture: Head-turning house design from the heart of Istria
- by croatiaweek
- in Business
There are a number of eye-turning houses with creative architecture being built in Croatia at the moment, and a house designed for a young married couple in Istria is definitely one of those.
The couple, eager for innovation and adventure, wanted a house design that will stop passers-by with its appearance, and also provide a pleasant space to live and relax in.
The Scope House project was created in 2016 by the award-.winning Studio Putinja who have their headquarters in the heart of Istria in Pazin. The team consists of four young enthusiasts covering a range of activities in the field of architecture with an emphasis on residential, public and social buildings, interiors and urbanism projects.
(Photo credit: Studio Putinja)
“As each project is approached in a fresh and individual way, the main goal is for the space to create different experiences, whether the basis of the concept is the spirit of the context, or a completely modern architecture where the concept is opposed to the context and conceived in a somewhat abstract way,” Studio Putinja explains.
(Photo credit: Studio Putinja)
An additional challenge was presented by the location itself, such as what was required of the architects according to the spatial planning documentation, and that the fact that the pool must not be seen from the air. It is not uncommon for every municipality and every spatial plan to have challenging provisions that architects are forced to adhere to or to approach in a creative way.
(Photo credit: Studio Putinja)
The location where the house is located is not far from the small Istrian town of Bale. With a direct view of the village on the north side, the road on the east and on the west and south side of the plot is surrounded by greenery. The question that arose at the very beginning of the design was how to cover the pool with the building.
(Photo credit: Studio Putinja)
The connection of the form continuously extends to the ground floor and rises with a slight slope all the way to the upper floor. The house creates a gradual gradation of the function by shaping the form. From the ground floor with daily communal and semi-communal facilities for living and shared housing to the first floor, night area with the intimacy of the bedrooms.
(Photo credit: Studio Putinja)
Studio Putinja says one of the premises of the design was to form the privacy of the rear semi-atrium by the building itself. Towards the road there is a quiet, simple front of sloping lines on which only the recessed glass entrance stands out. Upon entering the building, a view opens towards the semi-atrium with a sun deck and a terrace.
(Photo credit: Studio Putinja)
“The stone block found on the plot itself creates an organic balance within the forms of straight and minimalist lines of the house. Thus, it becomes a constructive load-bearing part of the first floor, which leans on and rests from the strong architectural tension.The circular window with its perfect shape, unchanging, without beginning, without end, without deviation, contributes to and completes the relationship between straight lines and an irregular stone block,” the studio explains.
(Photo credit: Studio Putinja)
All the necessary documentation is currently being prepared and the house is expected to be completed by next year.
(Photo credit: Studio Putinja)
