| Aufgabe |
The former building of the Bulgarian National Bank – Plovdiv branch, with administrative address No. 51 “Raiko Daskalov” Street, is a singular immovable cultural heritage property from the modern era, without a specific category, declared with letter No. 395/13.02.85. of the National Institute of Monuments of Culture. The building is located in a group immovable cultural heritage property A – a system of street ensembles along “Knyaz Alexander I” Street, „Otets Paisiy“ Street, „Raiko Daskalov“ Street, „Hristo G. Danov“ Street and Dzhumaya Square, falling within the boundaries of the Historical Zone „Philippopol – Trimontium – Plovdiv“.
According to data from the cadastre, the building is marked with the identifier 56784.518.415.1, Plovdiv district, Plovdiv municipality, Plovdiv city, Central district, 4000, 51 „Raiko Daskalov“ Street, designated for an „Administrative, business building“, with 5 floors, consisting of 2 separate units, with a built-up area of 1080 sq. m. Currently, the building is divided into two sub-units, one of which is privately owned and today houses a branch of Unicredit Bulbank.
HISTORY
The building was initially constructed as a bank and it retained its original function within its active lifetime. It was built according to the project of arch. Henri (Heinrich) Mayer (1856 – 1930), who arrived in Bulgaria in 1878, and in 1892 became the chief architect of the first Bulgarian Exposition, designing a large number of the pavilions. The building was designed in the spirit of late classicism with clearly visible Renaissance influences.
The construction of the original bank, one of the most emblematic buildings of its time, was carried out according to Mayer‘s design in 1909. The original design featured a balanced composition of two volumes – a higher 3-storey body with offices and a lower body, in which the bank lobby was developed levelling the second floor in height. The central façade facing „Raiko Daskalov“ Street was designed as strictly symmetrical, in 5 axes. In the southern side (facing „Bankova“ Street), both volumes can be discerned, the lower of which is resolved in 4 axes. An interesting element is the pronounced transition in the levels. The whole composition has a clearly marked pattern and a strict but harmonious single rhythm.
CREATING AN IDEA VAULT
The current concept competition for the reuse of the former bank building aims to restore the importance of the building as an urban landmark by implanting a new function in accordance with the city development. A rethinking of functions and unused spaces is needed. The opening of the iconic for Plovdiv building to the general public is of key importance for its socialization and preservation.
The aim of the current initiative is to identify and select appropriate functions for future development, which will serve as a basis for the building’s resocialization as a recognizable and valuable element of Plovdiv‘s cultural infrastructure.
The expected result is the discovery of an opportunity for the building to be reborn as the focus of the surrounding territory by creating a semantic connection (physical/virtual/conceptual/artistic) not only with the adjacent territory, but also with the entire urban organism. The current competition is a case study for a systematic strategy to provide a basis for the sustainable preservation of immovable cultural values.
Participants should study and clarify the various parameters for the possible implementation of the proposed idea, justifying the functional necessity and expediency of the proposed idea; to determine the functional structure and the required spaces, as well as to make an economic justification.
Within their proposals, the participants should focus on determining the functional structure of the building, the adequate synthesis between the planned function and the existing building and the integration of the building into the current social and cultural infrastructure. Within the economic justification the Participant should propose both a management model and proposed timeframe for the procedures, the planning and the overall implementation of the proposal.
The presentation and the submission of the concepts is not tied to the creation of an architectural project. The competition is for ideas for a new function of the building and does not constitute a competition for an investment project within the meaning of the Law on Territorial Planning and the Ordinance on holding competitions in spatial planning and investment design.
There is no specific functional line to be developed by the participants. The only restrictions are related to the requirement that the building should remain with public functions, and that the adjacent public square space should be harmoniously included, in compliance with the best principles and practices of cultural heritage preservation at national and international level, taking into account the national regulatory framework and treating with respect the original building structure.
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