PRIMARY SCHOOL “DRAGUTIN KUŠLAN”, ZAGREB, competition, 2007.
authors Rajka Bunjevac mag.ing.arch., Vlatka Vidović mag.ing.arch.

The architectural concept was to position two volume elements in a given space. These complex “school” and “sports” elements are interrelated and intertwined; however, they are two conceptually separate volumes recognizable from all lines of sight. External spaces have been extracted from the internal ones and “drilled” out of the basic volume. Those two elements have then been connected into one “Rubik’s cube” around the common central entrance space. By drilling into the full, various micro-level relationships have been created, which complement the functional component. The volume is compact on the outside, but divided on the inside. An illusion is created that all spaces on the upper floor are connected with the outer terrain because they have exits to green roofs and terraces, the same as the ground floor classrooms. We made use of the existing configuration of the ground, so that a part of the object was partially embedded. Some of the terrain has been artificially modelled and delevelled in order for the large sports hall, located in the basement, to get a visual contact with external sports grounds. At the same time, the access square slightly rises towards the entrance. By interweaving of the full and the empty, the internal and the external, the constructions and the greenery, the simple elements of volume have created a complex system of light, shadow, image, surface, line of sight and reflection.