TStudio - Guendalina Salimei
TStudio - Guendalina Salimei

Vydrica Biosustainable Neighborhood

Bratislava, Slovakia

TITLE

Project to redevelop and enhance the Vydrica neighborhood through an energy- and land-responsible approach

CLIENT

Zillion s.a.

TYPE OF INTERVENTION

Urban Renovation

STATE

1st Prize - Project

Vydrica Biosustainable Neighborhood

Bratislava, Slovakia

TITLE

Project to redevelop and enhance the Vydrica neighborhood through an energy- and land-responsible approach

CLIENT

Zillion s.a.

TYPE OF INTERVENTION

Urban Renovation

STATE

1st Prize - Project

Quartiere Biosostenibile Vydrica
The revitalization project for the Vydrica district is located in a place of great importance for the image of the city of Bratislava, at the foot of the hill on which the Castle stands. The site occupies an area that reaches the bank of the Danub and is visible from a great distance. The intervention at the foot of the castle becomes part of the skyline of this most iconic part of the city, depicted in paintings and photos. The project of the new eco-sustainable neighbourhood, which originates from the sediment of the demolitions that took place between 1948 and 1967, takes its cue from the comparison with this image to create a dialogue with its constituent elements.
Quartiere Biosostenibile Vydrica

A hill-neighborhood that rises from the Danube to the Castle, redrawing the skyline

In fact, for those who travel the coastline in whose inlet the port is carved, the castle and, by reflection, the entire island are a reference capable of orienting, the background of any view of the historic city to the south and west. The project that affects the island includes interventions designed not only to strengthen the symbolic value it takes within the Trapani scenario but is also aimed at not making it considered only a scenic backdrop and is therefore aimed at making it usable to citizens, offering a new public space to the city and allowing the entrance to the castle and the shed through the attribution of a new use. In addition to the functional issue of creating a museum and a place for receptive activities inside the Colombaia castle and in the shed adjacent to it, the project seeks to pursue a number of general objectives concerning the rethinking of the entire island.

To achieve this, we took into account the two natural elements that are, respectively, the background and Bratislava’s setting: the hill and the river, which today, however, are disconnected in the image of the city. We therefore decided to restore a unitary image of the city by connecting the two elements through a distinctive choice of materials and the enhancement of certain monuments that act as a trait d'union along the new path. The attention to urban monuments such as the Cathedral of San Martino, the Water Tower, the Castle Hill and the Danube ensure a visual continuity with the old city that now serves as a background for the new buildings.
The design choices are therefore aimed at increasing the new transversal connections between the castle and the Danube, precisely to restore a unitary vision that does not currently exist. So, we thought of a system of new access routes that connect the surrounding landscape with the city through a new walkway along the Danube that leads to the historical center of the city and new residences. The hill and the river are thus connected by paths and lie amidst the new artifacts.
The buildings, with their divided and differentiated step structure, reinterpret the distinctive features of the old town with a contemporary language and create a bond representing its history and complexity. The parts of the historic center, divided since the demolitions, have once again entered dialogue; the flow of pathways leading from the banks of the Danube to the Castle's cliff comes back to life.
Credits

DESIGN ARCHITECTS Guendalina Salimei – Tstudio e Roberto Grio con Elio Ravà e Francesca Contuzzi

Salimei, G., Quartiere Biosostenibile Vydrica. In: “Metamorfosi Quaderni di Architettura” n.4, Lettera Ventidue Edizioni: Siracusa 2018, pp. 68-71.
Salimei, G., City Landscape. Ilios Editore; Bari 2012 pp. 70-77.
_Demain la ville? La péripherie à travers le concours Europan. In: “Techniques & Architecture” n.427. Editions Regex-France: Parigi 1996, pp. 81-82.
_The town on the bridge. In: “Europan 4. European results”. Europan: Parigi 1997, p. 51-53.
_Costruire “la ville sur la ville”. Transformation de sites urbains contemporaines. In: Europan session France. Les éditions de l’Imprimeur: Parigi 1997, pp. 24-30, 95-106.
_Dossier, 74, Moniteur Architecture AMC, 1996 p. 7, 39-41.
_FórumArchitektury 7-8/96 MesacníkApolkuArchitektovSlov. p. 2-6.
_FórumArchitektury 12/96 MesacníkSpolkuArchitektovSlov. p. 1-3.
_SlovenskéStavebníctvo 11/96, pp. 6-9.
_Projekt, revue slovenskejarchitektúry 1/97, pp. 19-20
_ARCH och 10-12/96 pp. 10-11.
_Urbanisme, 297, 1997 pp. 19-22
_Staromestskénoviny, 25/07/1996 p.3.
Catalogo EIRE – Expo Italia Real Estate 2010, p. 290-293

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