OBSERVATION INDICATORS The main intention of design, is to introduce a system of inserted elements, spread in a way that they can act as viewport generators to the dramatic landscape and the historic elements that lay within. The way all volumes are designed, embraces the uniqueness of the nocturnal sky as a basic element, that values observation as a spatial experience, rather than an activity. The main guidelines of the intervention, refer to the observations made on site: The placement of the new dwellings, observatory houses, should stay on the “built ribbon� on the edge of the hill. The fortress settlement and the church are developed on the edge of the high crags of the hill, suggesting an inserted settlement that protects this coherency of built forms. Housing volumes lay on this edge. The insertion of a new centrality within the landscape, chosen strategically on a point that offers wide panoramic view of the settlements, both pre-existing and introduced by design. The introduced buildings are inspired by the structural vocabulary of the rich historic context of the fabric, mainly through study of archive church sections. The element of the arch, is embraced through all introduced interventions.
2
OBSERVATION INDICATORS
3
2
0
1. Entrance 2. Rest 3. Observation
3
1
1
2m
Designed elements The sky lounge: the circular volume that is the core of the proposed centrality. The form itself forms a looped path on the perimeter of the outline of the building, offering a spectrum of interesting visual qualities throughout, from the panoramic view of the landscape to the centralized direct view to the sky. The junction between the built form and the steep hill, creates two main entrance points to the building, “inserting” visitors to the core of the loop, to discover the recourse to the sky, transforming it to a whole new dimension of the spatial experience. All dwellings proposed are consistent in typology, from the smallest apartment to the villa. They are all valued by the element of the arch, that proposes a dominant view of the landscape and the historic settlements. The crack on the edge of the ceiling, centralizes the view to a direct viewport of the sky and offers good quality of light, enhancing the environmental-friendly intention of design. The observatory cabins, as the only settlements inside the fortress walls, are of the “slightest touch”, to let the historic fabric stand proud of all qualities.
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OBSERVATION INDICATORS
2
1
1
1
1
5
3 2
6 4
1. Entrance 2. Didactic observation area 3. Information point 4. Restaurant 5. Bookshop 6. Service center
Floor Plan A
Floor Plan B 0 0
11 22
55
10 10
20m 20m
Section
5
1
5
3
2
4
Observatory Apartment
Floor Plan
1. Entrance 2. Lounge 3. Kitchen 4. WC 5. Closet 6. Bedroom
6
Observatory house
0
Observatory Villa
Section
6
1
2
5m
OBSERVATION INDICATORS
7