The Beauty of Simplicity

architect Miroslav Geng
project Kindergarden "Vedri dani", Zagreb, Croatia
written by Toni Bešlić

 

Every building establishes a relationship with the surroundings from which it stems. Architect Miroslav Geng placed his kindergarten on the northern side of a big backyard enclosed by buildings, which were built between the two world wars. The kindergarten is placed parallel to the buildings that face the street, adjacent to the courtyard addition, leaving only a narrow alley between. In contrast to the massive hardness of the neighbouring buildings, the kindergarten has a light and airy quality. Its three-storey wing organised in a compact linear order contains: a basement, a ground and first floor. As the entrance to the building and the playrooms had to face south, the entrance was assigned an eccentric position. A steel barrier is placed diagonally in relation to the main building volume, but it also runs parallel to the street. The author treated it as a sculpture and added much engineering precision in order to stress the modernist approach.