The work submitted for the competition
"Best Diploma ARCHITECTURE" [A&B 12/2022]
The Luban range in the Gorce Mountains is crossed by the Main Beskid Trail, on the route from Krościenko nad Dunajcem to Turbacz there are no permanent facilities allowing rest, accommodation or shelter. The clearing at the top of Luban once offered such assistance to tourists—in 1937 a shelter was built under the top of Luban, which was burned by the Nazis in 1944. Only the ruins of the ground floor remain. In 1976, PTTK built a small shelter slightly below the top of Luban, on the Wyrobki Glade, which burned down completely in 1978.
In the autumn of 2020, PTTK, in cooperation with SARP Krakow Branch, announced an international, one-stage, implementation architectural and urban planning competition, aimed at obtaining the best solution for a model mountain hostel on Luban.
site development plan
© Agata Kobus
The aim of the project was to analyze the landscape, the proposed solutions in the competition and find the best architectural answer for visiting tourists and the surrounding nature. In the area of the competition study, the MPZT of 2014 is in force. The designed building was intentionally located inconsistently with the local plan. Currently, there are commemorative ruins of a shelter and valuable trees on the plot of land that can be built on. The proposed location of the facility is by the forest wall, a short distance from the current tent base, which has its sanitary facilities in the shelter. The proposed building offers travelers a summer cafe, restaurant, lodging or simply a place where everyone can relax. The building has a simple form.
west elevation
© Agata Kobus
The premise of the project is to open the first floor to the neighboring clearing and encourage tourists to use the facility outside the building. The ruins of the pre-war hostel are witnesses to history, so they require special respect and should be highlighted as part of the designed development in the form of a memorial.
In an era of climate crisis, pro-environmental solutions were an important aspect of the project. Here they translate into a conscious choice of materials, construction and installation solutions in the facility.
A-A cross-section and detail
© Agata Kobus
project idea
The main idea of the project is to develop a place that provides a sense of security and meets basic human needs, while blending into the landscape as well as possible. The design premise was to create a space that lives in symbiosis with the surrounding nature and to allow users of the facility to make the best use of the qualities of nature. The guiding theme of the project is the roof—as an archetype of a shelter.
east elevation and projection of level 0
© Agata Kobus
striving for cohesive forms
- architecture that creates community
Juliusz Żórawski in his book "On the construction of architectural form" writes:
"The vertical, the horizontal, the right angle, the square, the circle, the sphere are forms that have not been given to us from the outside, borrowed from nature or acquired through a sequence of long experiences, but which seem to be stuck in our inner self, as if by people they were created, invented, as if they were an integral part of ourselves." The aesthetics of construction dealt with geometrization very extensively in order to find the rules of beauty through this path.
The author of the book is looking for the right form for people, and talks about the tendency towards centralizing forms, towards cohesive forms.
In the project, the roof was developed as a cohesive form to symbolize shelter.
mockup
© Agata Kobus
regional context as inspiration
The regional architecture of the surrounding area is very diverse. One can observe a strong dominance of the roof in the body of the building. A characteristic element of the roof is the change of pitch angle in the geometry. In the project I refer to the local roof geometry and caricature it. It becomes the main theme of the project.
construction model
© Agata Kobus
land development project
The urban planning assumption was to interfere as little as possible with the existing surroundings, while respecting its history. The design decision after the analysis was to submit the local plan for discussion and consider a different location of the building than suggested by the local plan—to avoid devastation of the historic ruins and to prevent the cutting of trees on the part of the plot intended for the development of the planned hostel. The orientation of the building was adjusted to the hiking paths on the plot. They pass under the roof of the building, so the planned shelter becomes a stop on the trail at the same time.
Agata KOBUS
Illustrations: © Author
