Design concept for a sustainable living village «Schindler's Ark"

Saint Petersburg Stieglitz State Academy of Art and Design

Project idea

The concept of a sustainable settlement creates a new round of modern semi-urban life, without forgetting the great historical significance of the territory - the new center of life of the village of Brnenec is created in memory of Schindler's Ark and the 1,200 Jews saved here. The territory that once preserved these lives, now on the community of people living here, creates the prosperity and sustainable development of a new living environment, and above all, creates a friendly community based on good neighborliness, as an antithesis to the past.
One of the bases for designing a territory is the person himself and the creation of a special living environment similar to a community-commune with public goals and an open lifestyle, where in such an environment a person understands his comfort and the image of happiness of existence in the conscious responsibility and benefit that he can bring to the environment environment - nature.
By creating a new interpretation of a residential area, taking into account the environmental features of creating a conscious environment of consumption and community behavior, a living structure is designed, where the natural scenario of human life and its full cycle does not interfere with the creation of a logical residential area of ​​modular adapted decentralized housing with its own all the necessary minimum social infrastructure .
In an ordinary urban environment, a person primarily fulfills his basic fundamental needs in a narrow community - a family, and then goes into the chaos of the metropolis, where the process of “surviving for a place in the sun” takes place. Being in a special semi-urban structure of sustainability, where also together, together with everyone, it is possible to solve the individual needs of everyone - comfort in their own personal environment, moreover, socialization and expression of their own individuality, needs for recognition and the desire to improve their physical and psychosociological condition based on indicators housekeeping - growing as one of the occupations, your business and creativity, personal environmental and energy indicators.
Problem - the creation of a new village center will solve problem of development of small settlements, territory is in an abandoned state - a property that it has - lost and forgotten. Solve the shortage problem
modern housing for village residents will form an environmentally conscious society into a community, the makings of which are already available in the villages.

Project description

In a sustainable settlement there are houses with different number of storeys, where the main exits are directed to their own private garden, which at the same time is open and semi-public - there is a main passage area of ​​the 1st level, where the entrance of the first floor residential unit is directed towards each other and the 2nd floor level according to the same system. The second floor also provides a common passage area for all residents, without interrupting the walk on the second tier or you can also go down to the main road of the village with faster traffic or to the vegetable gardens of the 1st floor. The third, upper floor is combined with the roof of two-story modules, and accordingly, alternates - so the roof of 2 houses, as an exploitable roof, serves as a personal garden and recreation area for residents of the third floor. The third tier also has a through walking trail.
In this way, an overall structure is created that interlocks as a living single organism with three tiers, forming 9 lines, 4 open turns of the ground floor and 4 closed ones, directed towards the roadway and the hilly area, which allows them to also cover parking spaces completely - thereby useful the area is preserved, since the vegetable gardens and walking network also serve as a terrace on the 2nd level, which does not prevent the residents from being very different from each other. So, 76 families can move into such a settlement, keeping the buildings at a fairly low level. Through all the houses there are through paths from north to south, paths from west to east are directed to public points of attraction - functional areas of the public center, access to the water, observation tower and villa.
The commonality is also revealed in the fact that the internal system of the house is also divided into a number of stages - the house meter produces indicators of energy, water, temperature, water collection per house - for three or two families, depending on the number of floors, then a whole line of houses (4.3 or two houses) collect their common compost and sort waste. Everything accumulated is used again or taken out for processing along the western road of the site - the main and only adjacent roadway of the territory.
Along the river, the banks of which can also be reached from the main road bridge and pedestrian gallery (using the existing bridge over the river), there is a community center divided into three parts. From the side of the bridge there is a main scenic view of the villa at the end of the plot.
Each building of the center has access to the river, which is completely blocked from the road by trees. The center, in particular the building of the event zone, library and master classes and children's sports, is connected by the 2nd tier, extending from the houses, connecting the entire main continuous route. So, again, the community center serves as a connecting element, collecting the residential sector with walkways as the main reel, and the threads are pedestrian transit paths of levels 1, 2 and 3.
At the entrance, near the access road, there is a cafe area and a brewery-shop for convenient technical access. The view from the veranda overlooks the artificial terrain with vegetation and the preserved warehouse building. In addition to expanding the pedestrian area, the building is used as drive-thru grocery stores, a glass administration room and a technical indoor space - all equipped with a green roof under a greenhouse. Near the other gate entrance there is a medical center, a green area along the river and a store as an additional point. Connected by a second floor terrace and an observation deck on 4 floors.

Technical information

Thus, bringing a reminder of the former factory past with brick material, one can explain the choice of the red and white frame of modular housing, similar to half-timbered housing. The design of one module (2-storey house) exists in conjunction with a 3-storey building of 4, 3 or 2 houses in a line - the entire line is a frame of red wooden vertical and horizontal beams, the color of which is taken from traditional Czech roofing.
All the rest of the wood is light - the rest of the structure is “strung” onto the red frame, like threads on a spool (the entire layout system is based on a reference to the textile past of the factory). This partly explains the functional approach to zoning, which faces the facade of the housing - the “core” of the module and the main drain. Also on the main plan you can highlight the shifts of square areas, the main points of the frame and the grid of terraces - this refers to the same principle of creating free layouts and the international style of Mies van de Rohe.
Also, all buildings of the public center are completely wooden and replicate the frame structure of modular housing. Some have a green flat roof; the first floors are equipped with panoramic glazing facing north. All buildings are connected by bridges that lead to the second tier of the residential sector.
The administration building and restaurant area are equipped with a pitched green greenhouse roof; behind the panoramic through-glazing, a preserved brick frame can be seen