{tag:studenci} a student at the Faculty of Architecture at the Wrocław University of Technology, was awarded first prize in the international architecture competition Homestead: Design a farmhouse, organized by the UNI platform. The jury appreciated her Multitopia, a design of a house and farmhouse located in the Castilla-La Mancha region of Spain referring to traditional Castilian architecture.
The competition task was the design of a farmhouse in the Castilla-La Mancha region of Spain
© Pola Kopras
The goal of the competition organized by the UNI platform was to design a home that reinterprets the concept of a farm, blurring the boundaries between the interior and exterior of buildings, and will be placed in an agricultural region of Spain. Poli Kopras' work titled Multitopia: The Utopian Nature of Agroecosystems beat out the other projects submitted to the competition and won the top prize. The project was at the same time an engineering diploma, carried out under the supervision of Dr. Ada Kwiatkowska at the Faculty of Architecture of the Warsaw University of Technology.
People, animals and vegetation were treated by the architect as equal inhabitants
© Pola Kopras
I undertook to develop an engineering design and at the same time to participate in the "Homestead: Design a farmhouse" competition because of my interest in the customs of Spain and the attachment I have to the place of development. I wanted to use the knowledge acquired through the experience of living in the central part of Spain and to include personal observations about the way of life of the local people. Most of the functions and rooms included in the work are derived from the program set up by the organizers, while others stem from additional functions or my design suggestions," says Pola Kopras.
The premise of the buildings includes four sections
© Pola Kopras
living with nature
The subject of the study is a country house located on the outskirts of Ciudad Real in Spain's Castilla-La Mancha region. The entire premise consists of four sections: residential (up to a single-family home for six people), residential/recreational, specialized livestock (2 cows, 3 horses, 15 hens) and storage livestock. The buildings were designed with the customs and lifestyle of a Spanish family in mind. Therefore, the functional-spatial scenario is relatively simple, based on open spaces, concentrates the life of the residents in the living areas, and takes into account the numerous guests.
In the design, the author has provided space for numerous guests
© Pola Kopras
Multitopia, and what is it?
Together with the rest of the biocenosis, we form an ecosystem. Its individual areas - biotopes, make up a dynamic system, a system connected by a network of various interdependencies. A biotope is always considered against the background of the biocenosis living in it. The attempt at symbiosis of all elements of the ecosystem shows a utopian character. We come into contact with the concept of biotopia. The quintessential multitopia is a collection of individual biotopes, along with the relationships that bind them. Specific biotopes with specific characteristics, combined with agrocenosis, make up the agroecosystem. The utopian composition of replicated biotopias served as a primer for my spatial analyses of the area under development. I began to find similar relationships in other agricultural assumptions, not only in Spain, but throughout Europe and on other continents. The graphic analyses I conducted led me to look for common denominators in the landscapes being developed. The design process I used was guided by the process of ecosystem formation in the natural environment. Functional spaces intertwine to form systems," explains the author.
Functional spaces intertwine to form systems
© Pola Kopras
architecture as mediator
The student designed the complex of buildings so that their clearances make room for nature, and wove pastures, gardens and leisure spaces into the layout of the buildings and various crops. Mutlitopia's spatial layout consists of a complex of buildings and a system of crops. Each of the establishment's masses was shaped in an individual way, as a result of the interweaving of spaces with different functions and strips of cultivated fields. People, animals and vegetation were treated by the architect as equal inhabitants. Being aware of the numerous differences between the aforementioned groups, she suggested using architecture as a mediator.
The harmony of the layout is what guarantees their healthy functioning, seamless relationship-building and tangible benefits for each of the included groups, Pola adds.
Clearances in the facilities make room for nature
© Pola Kopras
inspiration from castilian architecture
A significant factor influencing the final form of the buildings was Castilian local architecture. It is characterized primarily by the consistency of the urban fabric and the choice of building materials and finishes of the buildings. Thus, for example, the walls of the projected farmhouse are stone masonry 8 to 40 centimeters thick, in places covered with cement-lime mortar. This solution takes advantage of the thermal inertia of traditional building envelopes. Facilities with such walls store energy, which is important in view of the sizable temperature fluctuations throughout the day.
The farm's walls are stone masonry
© Pola Kopras
I set myself the goal of making the buildings fresh and modern while respecting regional architecture. I allowed myself to make my own interpretations of the tradition and culture of the place and to reach for unconventional inspirations," says the architect.
The author referred to Castilian architecture
© Pola Kopras
The design emerges from the fields, referring to the traditional local pastoral shelters of los cucos. The shape and design of the roof, the author also drew from the local architecture of los lavaderos laundromat, and the storage building towers over the rest of the development much like the windmills above Campo de Criptana.
