THE OVERLAPPING WORLDS PENSION
Ghiroda, Timiș County / 2012 / 245.000 EUR (PNDR Grant)
The assignment parts form the client’s wish to invest in a small scale pension for rural tourism. The project responds by reinterpreting the idea of traditional rural architecture and by exploring what living in the country side involves. It proposes a pitched-roof wooden-covered volume as a first floor that lays upon a socle made up of two modern ground level volumes. Two worlds overlap – the old world, on the upper floor, and the new world, at ground level.
With a careful eye on the small surface area imposed by the client, that could only accommodate 3 rooms, we brought in a simple and efficient concept – two ground level volumes, with flat terrace roofs jointed by a traditionally inspired pitched roof house at the upper level.
Through a simple offset gesture, the volumes arrange themselves as to form exterior courtyards and gardens, with variable degrees of intimacy, places that breathe, places that remind us of our grandparents’ garden.
The overlapping worlds idea is found at all levels of the intervention – the volumes, the functional hierarchy, the materials and finishes. The upper floor volume – the old world, the reinterpreted traditional architecture – is isolated and passive, as this is where the rooms and. It is covered in wood, with its characteristic vibrancy of texture. The lower volumes – the new, modern world – is facing the street, it is active and presents itself as a simpler, austere block.