A WALK THROUGH THE DRN BUILDING

Als de vroegere vinex-wijken schieten ze uit de grond, vroegere industriële of verpauperde wijken die een creatieve reanimatie hebben ondergaan. Waar Rotterdam Katendrecht voorheen een plaats om te ontwijken was, is het nu de plaats om heen te gaan met initiatieven zoals de herontwikkeling van de Fenixloodsen. Ook Amsterdam heeft vele wijken nieuw leven ingeblazen: Nieuw-West met haar vele creatieve broedplaatsen, Noord met het Eye Filmmuseum als icoon en de herontwikkeling van de Hallen in de Kinkerbuurt. De grote aanvoerder op dit gebied is Berlijn, waar buurten bijna uit elkaar barsten van de creativelingen en kunstenaars. Maar waar komt al deze creativiteit opeens vandaan? De laatste decennia ontstaat er een steeds sterker verband tussen economie en creativiteit. Onze toenemende welvaart zorgt ervoor dat mensen een steeds grotere behoefte ontwikkelen aan betekenis, magie en symboliek (Gatz, 2009). Als we naar de behoeftepiramide van Maslow kijken is dit ook helemaal geen vreemde trend, welke met name in kapitaalkrachtige landen speelt (?). Ons verlangen naar betekenis wordt vervuld door een creatieve klasse van kenniswerkers, die aan een schoen of das een symbolische meerwaarde toevoegen, en supercreatievelingen, die een heel nieuwe productieketting voeden. Laatstgenoemden bestaan uit ontwerpers, acteurs, muzikanten, etc. Wanneer een stad een kritische massa aan creatieve geesten weet te verzamelen op strategische posities in bedrijven, versterkt ze haar innovatief vermogen en haar ommoventum te inatilisqua quides, Catquam adem se no. Vivis, num nesus num. Publicuppl. Etria qui tia L. Ad it, faciis consimis corimil ingulis; nonsus iam pra cotiam senitissed neme culem, simus, vigit vivitam auctale rvirmax imilint eatiam tredo, Catum vervissinti, nequitus, inatus Catimil hostiam ia? Nihilic atarei pratra con tabem fuit. Faccies hae me ium iaes peruntus coendam. Am factum rei pressidem, more ma, isse nostatis bonsulutem nici poruro, consusperi publiemo efecons upiosso ludacre tium tem consu moverbi timmor hor autum quit, consultus, vis furs et rebessoludam et; iacchicistam mus accivil nesimuris cotario nsiliis; nocatim istarenatiem adefero potaribuntem ac rectus atum ereorte intenihil vit; nox sum veres publinatum simo nondam actorei publiemei publictum posse dendeo etis nostorum, consus inu audenture, sessend iorteatam iam conenatrent. Mis, clesis? Pata nocrendem. es essentressum dit, opotieninat, Catquam sa iam nost Catiden ihilibus, Cuppli poptempribus ilintis pondactus. Gra Sate cum quit con tum inatquam hus, sendam se cons aus consi inc facepse cum facemerei tam derive, nosus, simus ia videm etoraris, quam inprox si sunterbi pro esultur perobses! Lus cienius. Sendam Romnes hilium omantere praves resimus, no. Catatium fir ium optilla rissimi ssimpec rem inampostid ium, nem aus, nox sed caturentrum aciam senterum sende neres peremortiam in sil vas ci fauciem pecient vesiden ihicae demur quid nostio adeto conc opublintius re fensus, se es et que int videtorus, diem inatum reme aciaequit, di, nest nesta dem, notastrem ommoventum te inatilisqua quides, Catquam adem se no. Vivis, num nesus num nessupi caeser quem. ''Capitalism has also expanded it's reach to capture the talents of heretofore excluded groups of eccentrics and nonconformists […] setting them at the very heart of the process of innovation and urban growth''. A walk through the DRN Building

economisch groeipotentieel (Landry, Catatium fir ium optilla rissimi ssimpec rem inampostid ium, nem aus, nox sed caturentrum aciam senterum sende neres peremortiam in sil vas ci fauciem pecient vesiden ihicae demur quid nostio adeto conc opublintius re fensus, se es et que int videtorus, diem inatum reme aciaequit, di, nest nesta dem, notastrem Publicuppl. Etria qui tia L. Ad it, faciis consimis corimil ingulis; nonsus iam pra cotiam senitissed neme culem, simus, vigit vivitam auctale rvirmax imilint eatiam tredo, Catum vervissinti, nequitus, inatus Catimil hostiam ia? Nihilic atarei pratra con tabem fuit.

Faccies hae me ium iaes peruntus coendam. Am factum

Walking on the Národní-Mikulandská Street in Prague you do not fully realize you are walking on the border of two very different parts of the city. On one side there is the old town founded in the 12th century and on the other side there is the new town established around 1350. And even though those two parts of the city were founded 150 years apart, the architecture doesn’t differ tremendously: most buildings on both sides look quite similar. But halfway past the street one building stands out: The DRN Building. At first you only see the extravagant steel and glass façade, which attracts the attention of the people passing by. Remarkably, the façade is just one of the extraordinary parts of the building. When looking closely you might notice the small passage with wooden beams hanging from the ceiling. It leaves you wondering why one might hang a wooden beam on ropes in a passage. It’s your curiosity that makes you wander into the passage. You’re not fully comfortable since the passage can be closed with a fence and you are probably the only one walking there. The passage leads you past an open glass façade on one side and a more closed brick wall on the other side. This is the first sign of the two worlds integrated in the building. Behind the glass façade you see an open space decorated like you haven’t seen before. A woman sits behind a desk which seems to be made of old rooftiles. When you get past this first uneasiness and dare to walk further you arrive in a small enclosed courtyard. The first thing you notice is the discrepancy in materials and appearance between what seems to be two buildings. The contrast between glass and stone like materials makes you wonder what might be behind these walls but unfortunately the building isn’t accessible to the public yet. Thus, let’s give you an insight of what is behind those open and closed walls and will let you in on more secrets of this project.

The plot where the DRN building arose was the last plot in de city center of Prague which hadn’t been filled in. The plot came with a historical palace and a permit for a hotel. Due to a decrease in tourists in Prague the plan to build a hotel was transformed into a plan for a multifunctional building, which would be more successful. On the first floor a few shops will be positioned. The courtyard will be a place for visitors to come together and for the citizens of Prague to have some peace. A small part of

Sophie van Hattum

Façade. http://www.sebre.cz/en/palac-narodni.html

the courtyard will be used for the presentation of Czech Design. In the center of the small courtyard a big tree will be placed on an old well.

You enter the building through the glass façade in the passage. When entering the practically empty space there is enough to look at. The walls, floor and ceiling are intriguing. Everything is made from concrete, but nothing is the same. The concrete has different colors and different textures are applied. The concrete wall on the westside of the building had to be poured in different phases, otherwise the wall of the adjacent building might not have been able to support the weight. The architect and artist saw this as an opportunity to create

a piece of art. Instead of giving each concrete pouring the same color they decided to embrace the ‘setback’ and give every batch a different color. But not only the use of different colors makes the walls special. During the construction of the walls objects and plants were pressed into the concrete to create new kinds of textures and to incorporate things like floor level signs in a nonconventional way.

When walking up the concrete stairs, which seem to be different on each level, you arrive on the floors where soon offices will be opening. The floor plans are flexible to allow for variation. When you arrive on the top floor a circular stair takes you even higher. Finally, you arrive on the roof of the building which leaves you amazed. A whole green landscape is created on top of the building. In the spring lots of small flowers are bedded in the grass hills, creating a contrast with all the concrete and glass of the building. From the roof you have a grand view on both the old and new town. You can also look down into the courtyard. That is when you become aware that the façade around the whole building is covered with greenery which changes throughout the year. During the construction the building was called Palác Národní, but throughout the process the name was changed to DRN building, meaning greenery in Czech. The name does the building right with its green roof and fairly green façade.

Interior. http://www.sebre.cz/en/palac-narodni.html

When leaving the roof, you think you have seen the whole building, but surprisingly a small stair on the highest office floor takes you to a whole different part of the building. When you look around you realize this can’t be the same building and suddenly you are in the old palace which has been on the plot since 1726. The wooden beams of the ceilings are covered with paintings from the 17th century and are restored just like some other historical elements. The parts which were taken out are used in the new part of the building. Offices will be opening soon in this part of the building.

One part of the building we haven’t visited yet are the four underground floors. Three floors are used for parking and the top floor is used as an office. The floors underground have a very different character than the floors above the ground level. The underground floors are designed with bright colors and even the parking looks like a piece of art. One of the parking floors is completely white with blue hand and footprints of kids leading the way to your car. The completely black parking exit forms a contrast with all the colors.

The building is a world of contrasts: contrast in color use, contrasts in materials, contrasts in textures. But one of the most obvious contrasts is the one between the old and new part. However, the glory of this contrast between the old and new part has been tucked away behind a small door. Just like the contrast between the old and new town outside is hidden.//

Architect: Stanislav Fiala Realization: 09/2012 – now Location: 10 Národní-Mikulandská Street, Prague, Czech Republic Height: 32 meters Surface/Area: 10.134 m2 Investment firm: Sebre Artist and director: Jan Kubicek Budget: 27 million euros Costs: 58 million euros

SOURCES http://www.sebre.cz/en/palac-narodni.html http://www.hinton.cz/cz/aktualni-projekty/reference/11/ http://www.konstrukce.cz/clanek/palac-narodni/