A House for Five in Nature Story
Written by Matej Gašperič
Architect
HIŠE (Houses) magazine - Slovene oldest popular architecture magazine - this year celebrated a quarter of the century of its existence. To properly celebrate the anniversary, the annual festival BIG Architecture 2023 also featured a comprehensive exhibition of published works.
I feel honoured and proud, that one of our projects - A House for Five in Nature - was also recognised as one of the highlights and selected to be part of the exhibition
At that occasion, I was asked to give a lecture at the event and present its story.
Which I did.
It was well received by the audience at the festival. And since I find it interesting and one of a kind, I decided to share it here with you as well.
So here it goes...
The beginnings
The story of A House for Five in Nature is a story about a young family that dared to dream. And it is also a story of patience, perseverance, and determination.
It all began shortly after I returned from Glenn's architectural masterclass in Australia and started a new chapter in my life. Anita and David were the first clients to contact me without us knowing each other before. They had just bought a piece of land in a beautiful location on Jelični Vrh.
We quickly realized that we were meant to work together. Since at that time, there was far less work compared to today, so I immediately started and fully dedicated myself to an intensive design process.
In the true manner of my Australian mentors, I began "reading the land" - from low-tech analysis with a pencil on paper...
...to high-tech investigations of the land from the air...
and it's underground.
Many pleasant hours spent together in conversations and discussions about their desired lifestyle brought forth numerous different variations...
…which ultimately culminated in the chosen solution...
...that represented the ultimate answer to everything we aimed for.
At that time, I was young and naive, and I actually applied with such a proposal to the local authorities. And - believe it or not - I even obtained the necessary permits. Twice! - due to some late changes. This experience proved to be very beneficial for me in subsequent projects, as I discovered that with perseverance and arguments, many bureaucratic "NOs" can be turned into "YES."
Troubles on the horizon
However, just as we were about to start construction, complications arose regarding the cnstruction. Due to a mistake made by the geomechanics, it turned out that the planned foundation would not be sufficient. And the proper foundation turned out to be significantly more expensive. In fact to expensive for our budget. In an effort to find a solution, I turned heaven and earth and through the process got to know everybody wh is anybody in the geomechanics scene in Slovenia. One of the students at the Faculty of Civil Engineering even graduated on my problem. But regardless all the efforts, unfortunately, we were not able to find a suitable solution.
So, I had no choice but to start the dance all over again.
Starting all over again
Long story short... A year later, after a slight adjustment in the position of the building, which completely changed its orientation and topology, leading to a completely new design…
… a new building permit (of course in the mean time, the Municipality managed to change its spatial plan that lead to new design conditions) and new detailed construction plans…
…we were finally ready to begin construction.
Throughout the process, the fact that the family had increased by +1 member - the one that wasn't even on their minds at the beginning of the project - served as a constant reminder of how much time had already passed.
Construction
Fortunately, things went smoother from there on. The construction workers completed the stonework foundation…
… and the underground part of the house...
After that the chosen wooden construction contractor Ekoart waved their magical wand...
… and the house stood there in an instant.
Finalization followed - both outside and inside; in sun, rain, and snow...
… where the clients themselves even did a huge amount of DIY finalisation works by themselves...
... until we finally reached the long-awaited moment - the family's house opening party :)
Reflections
When I visit the family today, I am delighted to see that all the effort was not in vain. On the contrary! The house is alive and by fully supporting the family's desired lifestyle it enriches their life. Which was the initial intention and ultimate goal all along.
Perhaps because they were among my first clients. Perhaps because they are close to me as a family. Or perhaps because we traveled a long and challenging road to reach our goal.
Whatever the reason may be... among the multitude of houses we designed and built later, the House for Five in Nature is still one of my favorites.
And, just like the family living in it, it will forever hold a special place in my heart.
Thank you!
Photographies:
Miran Kambič
Davič Česnik
Matej Gašperič (Biro Gašperič Ltd. archive)
