Simultaneity of Confronted Concept

architect Boris Podrecca
project Hotel Mons, Ljubljana, Slovenia
written by Vera Grimmer

 

Constructions in natural settings always have a potential for conflict. How the conflict between artefact and nature is resolved often determines the starting point of the project. When he had to build a hotel in the midst of a thick pine wood on the edge of Ljubljana, Boris Podrecca reacted in an interesting way that is characteristic for his work in general. The architect’s hand, in a reversed scale, is symbolically placed in the model of the woods, with fingers stretched between the trees. Out of the five fingers, three were built in the first phase of the project.

 

It was necessary to start a dialog with nature, to categorize trees, to choose those to be felled and those to direct the project. This starting point determined the morphology of the project and followed a constant in the architect’s oeuvre – the transformation of corporeality.