Bastion Citadela


competition, 1st prize
Zadar, Croatia
The city of Zadar
open competition
cultural heritage
Project team: 
Aleš Žnidaršič
Katja Žlajpah
Urška Bertok
Kaja Todorovič
Vesna Vraničar
Matija Žerjav, Inspekting
Matej Mejak
  • Bastion Citadela

A dialogue with the past

The renovation of existing environments of historical value is, in general, subject to the concept of reconstruction – of preserving the original image, whose appearance should express the historical records of a certain historic period. In contrast to the boundary conditions of the location of the walls and the outlying palaces, expressing a strong note of the historical records, we can define the empty areas of the markets and platforms between them as a document of the specific location in situ.These areas may be upgraded within the framework of the overall communication system of the programming paths, in such a way that a system of continuous paths is established connecting the individual areas. In designing such empty spaces we see an opportunity, where they represent a testing ground for creating spatial tensions, situations and relations between the existing and the new, experiencing this as akind of virtual journey,enabledvia well-defined »adventurous« paths through the varied ambiences.