THE TWO PALACES MUSEUM, CITY OF ZADAR

IVA LETILOVIĆ AND IGOR PEDIŠIĆ

In their architectural practice, Iva Letilović and Igor Pedišić have not relied on safe, established methods or accepted professional knowledge. Quite the opposite – they have followed a harderpath of research, questioning and surprises, and they have done it without compromise. Concepts, created in such a way,are necessarily radical and unexpected, as in the projects Five Little Houses or the Permanent Display of the Classical Period in Zadar Archaeological Museum.The central area of the work of the Letilović-Pedišić duo is connected with the buildings in the historical centre of Zadar. Their interventions did not aim for conservation or reconstruction, but rather contemporary interventions in dialogue with the existing ones. Their work on the Two Palaces project, which has won many awards, was developed in the period of ten years during which the programmes changed, but the architects managed to preserve the original concept. The heart of the project – the multifunctional space enclosed by a translucent cover, which connects the Rector’s and Providur’s Palace, has become the new city piazza; with the palace façades as interior walls. The total hall area, whose height is equal to the height of the palaces,represents an important topic of the project – the flow of communications both at the town level and those which allow the joint operation of the two palaces in terms of meeting places and cultural events.The crown of the project – a transparent two-storey steel structure placed above the old roofs is the signature mark of the project, as well as a strong architectural expression of the author. It is not an arbitrary provocation, but a purposeful element, which allows the functioning of the entire project in the technological sense. In the Two Palaces project the simultaneity of the historical and the present was realized. An expressive sign of the new time will become the memory of the thousand-year-old town.

Written by Vera Grimmer

Oris award is given by: Vera Grimmer, Maroje Mrduljaš,Ante Nikša Bilić, Tadej Glažar, Andrija Rusan