How to build a house in an already existing row building type of a street, in the inner part of the city of Ostrava? That has been the question to which we were looking for an answer for quite some time. One of the traditional solutions is just filling the gap and seal "the decay in the city teeth". However, the current situation offers the possibility of the unconventional solution and that is our answer to the question asked. Instead of a classic urban patch in the form of a house with 2 facades /facing the street and courtyard/ and a long and dark corridor in the middle of the layout, we decided to propose a house with a square floor plan, and by rotating it, it obtains 4 equal facades. This creates a building that has qualities of a detached house - 4 equal facades, illuminated offices all around the perimeter of the building. The middle part of the building has an circular atrium going all the way from ground floor to the top, which is illuminated by a large skylight. The main idea of our proposal comes from the scene of a painting “Creation of the world" by Michelangelo Buonarroti. New building touches neighboring buildings and the street only at one point, almost like the man and the creator in the Michelangelo's painting.

Location: Ostrava, Czech republic
Status: competition
Year: 2024
Surface area: 1000 m²