Spartacus Alive

With: Nikoloz Lekveishvili, Andrea Torri, Silvia Minoia, Irene Acevedo

From our point of view, the proposed competition site is part of a larger park and of an articulated system, already rich with the monuments of interest, places of leisure and green routes coming up on the banks of the river. The built part of the city of Yaroslav it is the "scenic backdrop" and the border. We propose a building that belongs to this landscape system and it implements the connections and potentials of tourism and leisure. The project was therefore intended as the first proposal for public relations and full of possibilities. Not only a place of access to the new exhibition and conference guests, but also the square where you can organize shows, events, outdoor art exhibition, markets, commercial areas etc. ... according to the needs of the municipality.
The idea behind the project was to use the existing morphology of the land to create a large square around which are organized, partly underground, all the functions: exhibition, conference or business. According to the isoghipses lines of the ground the square is open on one side to the view of the Church of Spasa Na Gorodu, while the other ends in a large amphitheater / staircase. In this way not only the building becomes a space that connects the park system and its various attractions rather than becoming an obstacle, but it also would keep the historical memory of the place fully preserving the existing morphology, in an attitude to great respect of the place.
The architecture that ensued, explores the potential of the plastic section of the "ravine" reshaped in reinforced concrete and its variations in the form of stairs, steps, wall or slope. It 's easy to see the charm and power of the alternation of solids and voids that alternate or blend into the mass of concrete. The search for clarity of expression has alternated with surrender to the lure of spatial solutions that the project offered.
Precisely the characteristic of the site to be avoid in the urban context as well as an imprint in the ground provides the ability to connect visual relationships with important monuments and churches of historical and natural interest. In preserving this feature we wanted to emphasize it by designing the system of connections with the park. For example, the staircase that leads to the church of Nikolas Rublenni constitutes an axis of perspective; the south-west side of the square was left free from impediments of any kind to leave a clear view towards the church of Spasa Na Gorodu.; coming from the parking area to the south-west of the site we have chosen to place the entrance to the museum permanently aligned with the access road.

The functional organization

Plaza

The center of all visual connections , of all penetrations of the park system and access to all the functions provided , the square ends in a spectacular amphitheater where you can organize shows, concerts or just sit and admire the view of the churches , the park or the square. The design of the flooring, island greens and water features, deliberately leaves ample space to the need to organize events based on the wishes of the administration. You could then organize outdoor exhibitions , markets or install temporary pavilions . You could also cover it with a tensil structure temporary or permanent. Finally, it is possible that during the excavation work will not emerge archaeological or ancient buildings that could then be left in place by a glass cover and become an integral part of the square. The flexibility of this space is not less important than the expressive force of its architecture.
Around the public square is organizing two major functions : the museum permanent and temporary exibition part with adjoining conference center.

Permanent Exibition Part

Access to the permanent museum is a large hall that in addition to performing the functions of reception, ticket office and cloakroom, includes a relaxation area , toilets and bookshop . The course of the visit to the museum follows a path through the various rooms (some with artificial lighting to other mixed natural and artificial lighting , the last with only artificial lighting ) , video-projection room etc. ... and then return to the lobby to input through a long narrow room that flanks the large window where , in addition to being exposed to some pieces of the collection or parts information , you can appreciate the view of the two churches that overlook the square and the new view of the park . The output is made through the book-shop and spaces for the relaxation provided in the lobby.
It includes a plan below to the storage connected by stairs and elevators , which in future could be used as an exhibition space .

Temporary Exhibition Center and Conference Hall

The different functions provided are organized around a common lobby , which leads to temporary exhibitions , the cafe and conference center on the floor below. Temporary exhibitions are planned in a large space with mixed natural and artificial lighting and others with only artificial lighting, left free to give maximum flexibility in exhibition . The local cafe directly accessible from the entrance hall or directly from the outside allows you to easily organize events related to exhibitions.
Downstairs there is a large conference room for 400 seats divided into smaller rooms if necessary .

Constructive solutions

Building underground is itself highly insulated thermally and acoustically, as the ground at a temperature roughly constant during the course of the year can guarantee protection from the cold in winter and heat in summer. The natural insulation would be exploited both for walls and coverage, of course, with the addition of layers of insulating materials able to reduce to a minimum the loss of the building. Also from the acoustic point of view this solution would be very powerful, since almost all the functions required to environments requiring a complete soundproofing. From the point of view of the plant is expected to the exploitation of geothermal energy through depth probes combined boilers heat pump. The heat distribution is via underfloor heating. It hypothesizes an air system for cooling of the atmosphere and the mechanical parts of the air.
The entire building is expected in reinforced concrete, in some parts left exposed, in other coated masonry and properly insulated or waterproofed. It is provided the use of plasterboard ceilings for housing the majority of the plants, since it is provided for a floor radiant panels. The local technicians and system are housed on the floors below the exhibition spaces.

Flexibility

The museum program has not yet been precisely defined by the administration. It is therefore necessary that a building can easily be adapted to changes both with regard to the functional organization of the spaces that and the size of the exhibition space. Our project provides these capabilities in two directions: vertically, using the basement currently used as storage (we can double the exposition area and more); horizontaly, exploiting the underside of the amphitheater (this will connect the two exhibition spaces) or by creating a body of underground connection between the two exhibition areas.

Urbanism

From the point of view of the urban planning, the project does not involve any changes. However, it provides interesting insights and potential for future modifications of the road network. An initial low impact on the roadway may result in termination of access to cars for the stretch of Kotorosinaya Nab that comes from the entrance of the square to the Church of Nikolas Rublenni and also for the section that borders the Church of Spasa na Gorodu. In this way, in addition to improving pedestrian connection between the square, the park and the churches, it exploits the presence of the churches themselves
Eventually we can go to the hypothesis in a future closure of the stretch of Podzelenye ui that separates the square from the Church of Spasa na Gorodu, in order to create a pedestrian area of extraordinary value for tourism and urban life.