Recreational centre, Varėna
Recreational centre
VARĖNA (LT) - When it comes to regionalism in today's Lithuanian architecture, the subject often lurches from one extreme to the other – it is a mawkish direct imitation of a log house, lavishly adorned with wooden tracery, or a muddy result of mental acrobatics, trying to spice the fashionable international style with some incoherent 'local' details.
'Nakcizibis', a recreational complex by architecture studio arches, consisting of eight wooden houses and placed along the shore of Lavysas lake, is a homogeneous fusion of contemporary and regional architecture – one must say, in the latter's favour. Its modest scale, simple shapes, pitched roofs and natural materials generate a restrained image without any pretention to 'wow' the world with innovativeness. However, tangible references to the adjacent heritage-protected ethnographic villages, scattered around in the pinewoods surrounding the lake, are established.
Taking the natural environment – the lake and forest – as the main asset of the site, the architects sensitively integrated the buildings into the milieu, appropriating its advantages, yet not being overly exploitive. The volumes are distributed irregularly, taking into account the original shoreline, old pine trees and existing openings in the wood. Thus an intriguing sequence of varied spaces in between the buildings was created: a visitor walking through the complex encounters an array of pleasant spaces of different sizes, shapes, moods, levels of intimacy and opening views.
Consistency from the whole to the smallest detail, respect to the local (historical and natural) context, and precedence given to the good feelings of its users, both inside and outside, make the 'Nakcizibis' an original piece of welcoming but subtle recreational architecture with apparent Lithuanian identity.
Wednesday | 1 December | 2010 | Lithuania | Rūta Leitanaitė
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