Presenting an opportunity, remaining largely unbuilt and mostly unburdened by heritage, the proposal for the Badel Block Complex by Luka Anic, Danko Balog, Tamara Baresic, and Srdan Gajic introduces new spatial configurations to the city center, opening the block area to public access and use. The large demanded gross built area quoted in the competition brief (65 000 m2) instils initial reproach. However, its justification can be found, apart from the apparent economical argument, in the term of density. A dense city is a live, vibrant city. Multiplicity of people, events, and spaces makes a city. And high quality density is what Zagreb lacks. More images and architects’ description after the break.
A large area invokes a large building, but also a multitude of smaller ones. A big building is always a focal point, a marker, a pole. Small buildings account for human scale and spatial richness. Among public open spaces, a park cannot be beaten. A small forest, the opposite of a city. A denial of a city within a city, a penance of greenery for the sin of brick and mortar. A union dreamed of, a park within a block.
