Alteration of the Chateau Hillock in Litomyšl

jantar4
concept2007
realization 2014-2019
authors ŠÉPKA architects 2014–2016, Petr Hájek, Tomáš Hradečný, Jan Šépka, HŠH architects 2007–2014
collaborationJan Kolář, Vítězslav Kůstka, Helena Línová, Radka Šimková, Lucie Vogelová

The chateau along with the system of historic buildings and adjacent parks has formed an entirely singular complex for centuries. Our design builds on a conception of the rooms which are defined by the individual buildings of the chateau hillock. To support this idea, we would like to utilise a greater separation of this area, and therefore we shall complement the existing configuration of buildings with two new structures. The first is a newly placed bench between the entry courtyard and the economic courtyard. The second, between the carriage house and the chateau, will provide a children’s programme. It would be a summer pavilion – a tent assembled of triangular segments of a light steel construction, with lining comprised of translucent cloth. The tent is inspired by a kite, which has descended in the chateau gardens and demarcated the economic buildings from the English park. Our deliberations have produced yet another version, inspired by the sgraffito decoration of the chateau. It would be an easy-to-assemble pavilion of triangular laminate pieces one metre in size. With the other resolved buildings, the most significant transformation would be implemented in the interior of the building of the riding hall, which would serve as a universal space. Here we have chosen the concept of an inserted, sliding structure, which can divide the riding hall and thus allow a quick alteration of the functions and acoustics. The final resolved area is the English park, where the main emphasis is placed on the element of water. The water duct leads where the distance between the trees is the greatest and is generated by means of the Voronoi diagram geometry. Since the English park is being disturbed today by the large monumental scene from the 1950s, we propose its removal and replacement with a mobile alternative, which will make it possible to build a scene form the elements of a mobile. All of the new elements are designed from a combination of steel and translucent composite material.