Research University of Art and Architecture

This is a student settlement surrounded by sea. The idea was to create a utopian place for master’s and PhD students where science and art unite with each other and form new paradigms.  This remote location was chosen to allow students to focus on studying and interacting with each other to form communities, while also enjoying the sea, mountains and ancient landscapes.

A university complex consists of the Architectural Institute, the Institute of Applied Art and the Institute of Fine Arts. The student village has a main axis. It begins on the mountain where a small winery with vineyards is located and then the axis goes into a botanical garden of the science centre and biological laboratory. The science centre includes VR studios and a FabLab with 3D printers workshops and robotic arms. Then the workshop area begins – glass, ceramic, wood, sculpture, metal, painting and graphic workshops. Three main streets are located perpendicular to the main axis – two residential and a public one with an exhibition centre. There is also a lighthouse and a port. Artefacts – student’s artworks are placed on the whole territory. The project ends on the highest point of the cape. A Neolithic site was found here and now there is a church without a religion. The ensemble of the institute complex takes the form of an acropolis, which begins with an amphitheatre in the mountain where the role of temples is played by institutions connected by a common space of knowledge – the library, an important part of greek museion. This place is also constructed with smart-cities technologies and uses sun, wind and water energy. The resilience of the project is ensured by high technology, as well as unique architecture, which should delight and thereby leave itself a place in history and in the community that will invest in the preservation of this place (for example, wealthy graduates).

For each building, I chose a structure that corresponded to its image. Thus, the Institute of Applied Arts has a squat shape; special recesses and protrusions are made on the facade, which can be decorated with objects of applied art, for example, glazed tiles or paintings. The volume of the tower is divided by belts decorated with various patterns, which will be constantly updated in accordance with new tastes. The windows of the building are varied, but have a monotonous pattern on each individual floor, which reminds us of ancient works of applied art. The Institute of Fine Arts has a circular plan, whose ideal but impractical shape suggests a detachment from the earthly applied, which correlates well with what is studied here. At the same time, the outline of the building is designed in an “elegant” elongated proportion, and the long triangular windows of the first floor further lift the building into unearthly matter. The architectural tower has a more austere and massive appearance, like the craft being studied in it, while it also constantly decreases in area towards the top and ends with an asymmetrical elongated element, providing not only an interesting space for relaxation and contemplation, but also gives special dynamism and aspiration up the entire composition, which is also a symbol. The facade is designed in the form of a canvas on which various abstract forms are placed. The use of this technique is of an aesthetic nature, so it is possible to create various emotions, show the diversity of the world of forms and turn a building into a work of art. At the same time, it was important to design as many small, cozy spaces as possible that would refer to the most different sensations experienced from an architectural object, which is important for young architects. The scientific center and production laboratory are designed with a large glass area and minimal decoration, and the buildings themselves have no references to historical heritage or special high feelings. They are extremely modern, laconic and simple, and have a purely material scientific and production function. The workshop buildings do not have a single architectural design; each shows its own purpose. Thus, a metal workshop has a finishing made of sheets of different metals that have undergone various chemical treatments, and a ceramic workshop has smooth forms of clay products. Thus, I designed each building or group of buildings in different architectural styles in accordance with my ideas about their function and aesthetic content.