Residential Complex Villinki
Nominated for the Mies van der Rohe Award 2017.
The residential complex is situated on the periphery of the Slovak capital on the edge of a large housing estate from 1970s and the fabric of scattered family houses. It lies on a hillside with southern exposure and an attractive view. The complex consists of four residential buildings, kindergarten and commercial services. It frames a structured public space in form of main communication axis surrounded by green areas and small playground. Publicly open community garden with fruit-trees and barbecue is integral part of the complex.
The residential complex tries to solve the typical problem of the periphery, where the new developments meet the modernist housing estates and the scraps of original rural settlements without solving the relation to the surroundings and without creating any added value in the form of public space and services. Our aim was to eliminate such negative effects of the densification and exploitation of the territory. We have therefore designed the complex in a form of pavilions that articulate the open spaces in correspondence with the principles of urban planning of the housing estate embodied particularly in the semi-enclosed courtyards. In the same time the new complex reflects the low building structure of the surrounding family houses. Unlike neighbouring monofunctional new developments the complex is hybrid structure that integrates housing, kindergarten and rentable spaces for commercial use. The residential houses are of hybrid nature as well when associating three types of apartments: roof apartments with large terraces, ground floor apartments with gardens and standard apartments with large balconies and attractive views. The central longitudinal public space is clearly articulated in terms of sloping ground and runs into the community garden. Below the surface the parking garage for residents and visitors is situated.
The complex brings natural spatial and functional diversity to the city periphery and integrates it into the urban context.
