LA CIUDAD VIVIDA
Culture, leisure and community in urban balance
A PIECE OF CITY WHERE THE COLLECTIVE BECOMES THE STAGE OF LIFE
In the heart of Zagreb, this urban intervention is much more than a collection of buildings: it proposes a system of relationships between architecture and society. A dense yet fluid fabric, where museums, residential areas, and commercial spaces coexist with open spaces, civic courtyards, and corridors of everyday life. An urban fragment that doesn’t impose itself, but rather builds identity from what is shared.
NEED
The main challenge was to transform a fragmented urban area into an active and significant hub for the community. As a public entity, the client sought a new neighborhood model that could integrate cultural, administrative, commercial, and residential uses without imposed hierarchies or functional barriers. The priority was to create urban continuity, universal accessibility, and an atmosphere conducive to social interaction.
APPROACH
The complex is articulated through a key gesture: the liberation of the central space to establish a large public plaza around which the different volumes are arranged.
Each building is defined by its use (museum, offices, residences, facilities), but all are connected by pedestrian paths, green areas, active terraces, and covered transitional spaces, which successfully articulate the desired connections between uses.
The floor plan layout allows for the compatibility of daytime and nighttime uses, maintaining a vibrant activity throughout the day. The preservation of the industrial heritage (the warehouse refurbished as a museum) and the introduction of new architectural languages (leaning towers, active facades, contemporary materials) generate a powerful dialogue between the past and the urban future.
SOLUTION
The proposed urban proposal is based on the creation of a permeable and connected structure, capable of articulating different functions within a single coherent fabric. The central civic plaza acts as the epicenter of the complex, functioning as a space for reception, transit, and meeting, fostering social interaction. The various uses are arranged around it, including the renovation of an industrial warehouse as a museum, which provides heritage value and cultural significance to the surroundings. The residential and office spaces are developed in mixed typologies with distinct entrances but a unified formal integration, while the commercial spaces and the bar-lounge provide vitality at street level and maintain a direct dialogue with pedestrian flows.
The proposal is completed with a network of walkways, ramps, and walkable roofs that not only guarantee universal accessibility but also generate new perspectives and elevated public spaces. The choice of materials such as traditional brick, white concrete, structural glass, and anodized aluminum reinforce the identity of the complex, establishing a visual and functional hierarchy without resorting to excessive formal gestures. Thus, the architecture becomes a tool for urban cohesion, where each element contributes to creating a more livable, inclusive, and contemporary city.
technical data
PROJECT: Ideas competition for the neighborhood
LOCATION: Zagreb , Croacia
YEAR: 2013
CLIENT: Ayuntamiento de Zagreb
SIZE: 15.365 M2
SERVICES: Architecture
STATUS: Competition
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