- Competitive Dialogue2nd place
The emblematic character of the Breda Department Store is emphasized by activating the plinth and the cornice. Inspired by the historical images of the former shopping centre designed by Leopold Bauer, we propose a contemporary reinterpretation of the awnings missing today. A vitrine made of a light metallic structure that opens up to the new public square. For the roof, we imagine a simple light structure, a pergola that could give a signal to the city and draw people to go up through the building to discover a new view of Opava. In another scale, the site is also a crossroad between the former shopping centre and the new mall built behind afterwards. Nowadays, the connection between those two entities is very weak or even nil. We consider that a new circulation across the Old and New Breda is a key point of the project and both buildings could benefit of the new synergies created through a stronger connection. The Cupola designed by Bauer in 1930 represents for us a clear opportunity to articulate a public circulation around its particular geometry. In this way, the public promenade is enhanced by a semi-exterior ramp that accompanies the visitor on all floors of the two buildings up to the new roofs. By giving to the Cupola space this new function, it becomes the heart of the project as it was when the building was a shopping mall (Christmas tree under the Cupola). “It’s about never demolishing, subtracting or replacing things, but always adding, transforming and using them” (Lacaton Vassal). Our project pursues this attitude based on the most precise diagnosis possible following the analysis of the reports (SHP) and our on-site visit in order to reveal the qualities and use of what is already there, instead of replace or redo. We understand the Breda Department Store in an archaeological way, thus the accumulations of structures that can become a living testimony of the development of the building. Our proposition is another layer added that coexist with all the others. By deepening our research about the Bauer archives in the Albertina Museum in Vienna and the Opava archive, we discovered very inspiring documents of Leopold Bauer’s original drawings with few unbuilt architectural intentions. The project organically reshapes some parts of the existing building according to those previous ideas by reinterpreting them. For example, the implementation of the glass ceiling in the first basement, the semi-circular back façade around the Cupola, the diagonal axis thought the ground floor, the vitrines as partitions and showing device. With a limited and precise interventions, the project takes advantage of the existing qualities and the general organization of the site as starting points for our pro-grammatical reflection. Based on these qualities, it strives to respond to the following challenges: translate the program into a multiple and practical organization, provide a clear orientation for all users, create a pleasant and sustainable environment and increase opportunities for exchange and meeting.
