the ark

Here's an architectural project for change.

The assignment was to create a "Human pavilion" for Prague Zoo in Troja, a new not-too-big building in the very end of the Zoo, on the slope of Troja Rock. It should work as a new entrance, tea room for 40 people, bike deposit, and the rest was up to us. We had to focus on the relation between humans and animals, human and nature. Kind of philosophical stuff this time

Sorry for the bit dull presentation layout, I don't really have strength for experimenting more. At the end of this article is link to the original presentation.

About my concept:

TODAY'S ZOO IS LIKE NOAH'S ARK: DEVICE CREATED BY HUMANS TO SAVE ENDANGERED SPECIES AND THEMSELVES AS WELL.

Structure as a symbol
The shape of the noah's ark is generally understood to be a symbol and archetype of both ship and safe home. It is the archetype of the place where humans and animals lived together in order to survive and save the nature.

The human pavilion is located on the border between the realm of humans and animals, between water and rock. The old ark seems to have shipwrecked on Troja Rock long time ago, bringing animals to a new place to live. Rediscovered and transformed into living pavilion of human, the ark reminds us today that humankind and beasts are still "on one boat" - dependent on each other.

Historical context
The shape of ship refers also to the history of the place choosen for the building. Formerly, the next-to-river path was called "Šífárna", where ships used to be hauled upstream. Ships are therefore a part of genius loci.

Structure as a toy
The ship-shaped building should instigate imagination of children, the typical zoo visitors, inviting them to play and to discover, giving them and their parents an easy to remember place for rest on the most distant place in zoo. When parents ask then whether they want to have lunch in a restaurant or on the ship, the decision will be quick. This will support business developement int this spectacular location that has not been discovered by public yet.

Universal human space
The concpet of the ark interior is to make universal place, allowing for enjoyable stay and rest. Due to limited space, it was decided to extend the tea room to the whole space. On the top of that, the ark ends up with a huge window into slope garden which can be opened when wather allows. The zoo itself is then just "upstairs".

Execution
The construction is made of wood, a perfect material for this purpose and is widely used throughout the zoo. Wreck-like construction greatly links the functional and practical interior inside to the nature outside. The inner part of structure frame is made of simple wooden beams nad columns, while the outer part is mostly made of glued flexed beams. The gued flexed beam factory is located in the Uhrivneves village, the very vicinity of the site, hence the transportation costs are reasonable.

This display is done for deviantart, the original presentation (with much more stuff) is here: [link]