Different Everyday Life, Different Architecture

architects Blaž Budja, Rok Jereb
project Occupational Activity Centre, Mengeš, Slovenija
written by Matevž Čelik

 

An unusual new building in Mengeš, a little town situated 15 km north of Ljubljana, will soon fall into the rhythm of a different everyday life. Why unusual and in what way different everyday life? Standing in front of the house, we get an impression of something being out of the ordinary. We see elements that seem familiar – a gable roof, a balcony locally termed ganjak, a portal with the old carved doors, wooden sheathing, a yard next to the road and a back garden. But spatial relations among the elements are different than in the surrounding houses. The gable overhang covers the stairs and is coated with rough white plaster. Sheet metal and wood enveloping the house, its volumes and structure are of mostly geometrically irregular shapes. The gable roof changes directions twice and the ridge slopes downwards, as if the roof is settling down. The old wooden doors are carved into a modern wooden sheathing and the balcony is cut out of the sheet metal roof covering the first floor.