project: PCS_Špansko church
client: City of Zagreb
type: religious
location: Zagreb, Croatia
surface: 6750 m2
date: 31.08.2008
status: competition entry
project team: AVP_arhitekti, SANGRAD, Arh. Emil Špirić
The project is situated within a very challenging site for it is located on the crossing of one of the most busiest and heavy-traffic avenues of Zagreb. Also, it lacks of privacy being exposed to the outskirts of the neighborhood. Thus, it was important for us to create a physical barrier in order to block the noise and by doing so, provoking a sense of protection and intimacy. Hence, situated in a way that blinds itself towards the exterior and opens in a subtle way towards the community, the pastoral center acts as an intention to bring the peace and serenity it needs, and to aspire to the label of being spiritual. The urban composition of the program responds not only to these aspects (noise, privacy, etc), it also spreads and folds the program creating an internal patio as well as an external square (atrium). This layout allows us to create a more intimate access to the precinct and to offer the neighborhood a public space which could satisfy spiritual needs and would foster the social life of the community. Finally, the belfry (church bell) emphasizes the access to the complex thanks to its height thus, acting as an urban icon to make it easier for the project to be recognized and rapidly located.
