Living on the Edge

architects Petar Mišković
project Row houses, Matulji, Croatia
written by Maroje Mrduljaš

 

Rukavac is a rather small place above the town of Matulji and is a part of the periphery of Rijeka, the so-called prigrad, where traditional settlements that have a dense physiognomy and plain architecture of Primorje function as strong points of the urban network. The development of the suburbia, poorly regulated and with no public infrastructure, is spreading among these urban nucleuses. At Rukavac, the urban network becomes quite scarce and transfers into nature. This edge of the edge is situated on the slopes of the Učka Mountain above the Kvarner Bay; its natural and cultural characteristics, as well as its history, have placed it between the sea and the land. It is not a very picturesque area; the sea is far and the traces of the harshness of the karst typical for the Ćićarija area can be felt.