wider relations – context
Lipno – the name that raises expectations of a mountain destination perfect for active spending of free time. The site offers highland atmosphere, fresh air, forests, ski slopes, cycling paths, beach, lake, and yachting.
Unfortunately these natural sights are not backed up by the poetics of a traditional highland settlement that would form an authentic centre of the tourist resort. The artificial municipality is scattered in individual districts, hotels, boarding houses and a live social centre is missing.
The premise for the plots we have dealt with is not only the close relation to the forest, beach, and lake but they are also valuable for their location in the assumed centre of the municipality. They are valuable for their potential of creating the centre of the whole region.
The opportunity to utilise this potential and offer housing in social-entertainment centre evoking traditional highland settlement could be the main theme of the whole development.
inspiration
The design has been inspired by the traditional folk architecture. Lipno belongs to the region where the phenomenon of the so called alpine house was extensively spread.
A whole village of these houses could be seen in nearby Volary. One of the characteristic features of the house was the fact that the life of the farmer’s family, domestics, stock, storing of farming products and machines took place under one roof.
The reason for that was clear – the rough climate.
Lipno itself belongs to the climate zone CH7 – number of summer days per year 10-30, number of days with precipitation per year 120-130, and number of sunny days per year 40-50.
The awareness of climatic conditions and knowledge of building traditions resulted in the idea to integrate all components forming a live municipality into one unit, into one house under one roof – in principle, to rewrite and advance in scale the traditional alpine house.
mass design
The mass and the overall stylisation of the apartment house with the social centre of the municipality is the transcription of the form of the traditional alpine house. Therefore we have designated it as the Lipenský dvůr (Lipno Estate).
square
The public area, the area similar to a village green is not formed by the design incidentally as an open space between the buildings but it is a “structure” on its own. It is the soul around which the housing body, commercial ground floor and garage facilities have been assembled.
The transparent ground floor is directly linked and is formed by the extension of the transverse pedestrian boulevard connecting the centre of the village with the lakeside. It levels the grade line of the descending landscape and forms a generous square crowned with the strip of the commercial ground floor. In the east it is linked to the municipality streetscape, in the west it provides a unique view of the lake surface through the trunks of pine trees from the height
of a second floor.
The village green area is roofed by the cascade of the terraced receding flats in the shape of a saddle roof. The base of the platform also holds flats. The roofing allows the village green to be used regardless of weather or season. It is an area similar to the traditional German “markt” or “fest halle”.
It is divided only by the ramp of the pedestrian boulevard and up-scaled fireplace which in reality is the traffic and utility core also used as a view tower.
housing
The units of flats are gathered round the central area. All flats have their terraces covered. The flats in the roof have the opportunity to view the village green – they form a sort of sky boxes.