1st PRIZE of International Competition for an Urban Planning and Architectural preliminary design of Tourist Centre on The Klekovaça mountain in Republic of Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
An evolutionary city.
Cities evolve over time. Cities grow, they transform, contract and mutate continuously over the years and centuries. Our proposal for the Klekovaca Tourist Centre is a flexible structure that’s able to adapt in a positive way and evolve with the changes. It would be possible to draw multiple cities within the city’s own structure and all of them would remain being the same city. This allows a structure that gives order as well as freedom to the city. This structure is formed by a large forest ring where the architecture is a clearing within the forest. Its shape is fixed but the possibilities are endless.
The large clearing on the Kozila Plateau.
The Kozila plateau is a place with its own identity. A large clearing surrounded by walls of fir trees, it is a place where every season brings new changes, from snow in winter to spring wildflowers.
The forest ring. A clearing inside the clearing.
Our proposal for the Klekovaca Tourist Centre is a clearing within the forest clearing: a large forest ring in the center of the Kozila plateau, as a reflection or extension of its original condition. However, while the large natural clearing has an irregular shape caused by the local conditions (geographical, biological, anthropic, historical, climatic, etc.), the new clearing responds to factors related to identity, ecology, mobility, sustainability, etc. This is a circular ring made up of 7,000 trees such as firs, beeches, poplars, etc.
The topography and the valley.
The forest ring takes advantage of the topography and the valley section.
The prevailing winds.
The forest ring protects from the cold winds (storm and nocnik) and opens to the dry and warm wind (white wind).
The natural hydrological system.
The force of water is present in the place. The Kozila Plateau is marked by traces of water. The sinkholes are large runoff’s coming down the slopes of the Kozila Plateau. The forest ring adapts to the natural runoffs allowing its continuity and never changing its course.
The tourist houses and the climatic health resort equally respect the natural runoffs, allowing water to flow naturally at all times.
The forest ring opens onto the ski slopes, allowing skiers to enter the city’s interior. The chair lift that allows skiers to go back to the skiing plateau has been moved from the inner void to the forest ring to avoid interference with the central plaza. The new gondola lift connects the skiing plateau with the climatic health resort.
The architecture is a clearing inside the forest ring.
All the hotels and indoor sports are located in different clearings inside the forest ring.
Once users of the Klekovaca Tourist Centre leave their cars at the plateau interchange, there are multiple ways for them to move around inside. Priority has been placed on means of transport with 0 energy consumption; in other words, those powered by the users themselves. The next level of energy consumption still low and represents elements used to move people. This is the lightweight machinery that weighs less than the people it transports, such as gondola lifts, chairlifts, and elevators. The final energy level includes machinery that is heavier than the persons being transported, such as electric buses, and whether these are public city buses or the semi-private buses from each hotel. The rest of the vehicles using the communication loop (for loading and unloading, emergency vehicles, etc.) should also operate using a sustainable energy source.
Klekovaca Urban Zone is a Tourist Center for winter and summer sports. Our proposal should be atractive to tourists who want to practice sports in an amazing natural environment. We believe that Forest Ring could become an icon able to be recognized from many different scales: from the architectural scale of the clearing, to the top of Klekovaca Mountain or from Google Earth.
Most of tourist, before they decide to visit any place, they browse in google earth and travel virtually. For this reason, it is important to enhance the design of Klekovaca from google earth scale.
Google earth view of Klekovaca Torist Center
Forest Ring Landscape layers
Landscape has became the main structure for urban design. It is from where evolutionary design starts but never finishes. So, we need to set up the rules for landscape evolution and change. Forest Ring is a complex structure formed by two layers: the canopy layer of trees and the understory layer of shrub vegetation and ground cover spaces. Between both layers architecture and activities are going to be set up.
The current layout of Forest Ring Architectural Preliminary Design is structured from landscape to architecture, but with a common background of how activities and people are going to be developed. In other words, Evolutionary design synchronizes nature with architecture to enhance social life.
Forest Ring interior landscapes.
The richness and complexity of Forest Ring enhances its own diversity and difference. Thus, it is not an isotropic pattern of trees but a dinamic and resilient structure that generates different situations and ecosystems. Depending upon the its surrounding environment, the Forest Ring modifies its own structure in order to give response to new requirements. In such a way we have systematized some situations inside Forest Ring like the limits and contacts with different types of interior landscapes: mobility, clearings, water, playgrounds and Central Plaza.
Forest Ring evolution.
Forest Ring landscape is the future structure of Kozila Urban Zone. Streets and buildings, as we conventionally understand them, are going to be replaced by a forest with clearings inside. Furthermore, due to landscape is under continuous transformation and change, Klekovaca Urban Zone will evolve and grow synchronized with natural environment. This means that rather than designing a finished and close village, we propose a structure under permanent and continuous transformation able to adapt to future requirement and changes.
The landscape is not only the beginning but the catalyst of a long process where architecture is just a part of it. All future steps are going to be supported and enhanced by the landscape. Even though landscape impermanent feature, the Forest Ring gives structural stability and coherence to the future evolution of Klekovaca Urban Zone. Paradoxically, stability and transformation are two different sides of the same structure.
So, we start with the Forest Ring landscape but we never finished with it. Along this process, activities and architecture will emerge. We enhance and give support for the grow of trees, vegetation, activities and architecture.
Forest Ring and Central Plaza Architecture
Forest Ring and Central palza Mobility System
Forest Ring Evolution. Evolutionary simulation of the Environmental Unit 02
Summer view of Environmental Unit 02 facing Klekovaca Mountain
Winter view of Environmental Unit 02 facing Klekovaca Mountain
Clearing Evolution
Clearings are designed as a fallow land where some temporary and more permanent buildings and activities can be developed. Initially, empty clearings are just designed as a potential space surrounded by the Forest Ring. Time and future requirements will conduct future steps and transformations.
From empty clearings to constructed clearings there are some intermediate stages as important as the last one. While waiting for construction, empty clearings can accommodate temporary activities and programs such as forest nursery, shrubs nursery, greenhouses, log cut stock pile, playground, skating, sport center, artificial sink hole or photovoltaic panels.
The forest clearing buildings are located within the forest ring and they house the hotels, apartments and residences, along with other complementary programs such as shops, restaurants, etc. The underground level functions as an interchange that connects with the communication loop. This interchange includes the various platforms used by the hotel bus passengers, as well as the loading and unloading areas for the shops and hotels. The hotel users enter at this level through the two-story entrance hall, which houses the main reception area on its lower floor. The conference space is also located on the underground level, and it can either be divided for sharing among the hotels or turned into one large room. The utilities equipment, laundry rooms, and other service spaces for the hotels are also located on this level.
Forest Ring Central Plaza.
Central Plaza is the heart of the activity of Klekovaca Tourist Centre, where most of commercial and facilities are concentrated. Our aim is to design a “village look” center in terms of scale and density. Moreover, architecture will be keep some common design rules to enhance formal coherence and continuity.
Central Plaza is fragmented likewise in smaller and confortable plazas. Main activities are going to be concentrated in these cosy squares to enhance a vibrant and enjoyable life. Smaller Plazas are cut by skiing slopes but connected by a pedestrian bridge to ensure the relation of both sides. Main objective is to allow any types of activities but without conflicts. Thus skiers can pass through the plazas while pedestrians can cross over them.
DESIGN TEAM: Victor Jiménez / Teresa del Prado / Pablo Magán / Pablo Méndez / Mireya Escobedo / Brianda Campoamro / Sara Cezón Nieto / Héctor Rivera Bajo / Germán Chacón / José Lacruz
MOBILITY SYSTEM: Carlos Corral.