10/ Svetice, Radman Vrbanek © MMVI Competition 2nd prize

Handball Dome, Svetice

In its original version by architect Vladimir Turina, the neighbouring football stadium of the local team Dinamo was a masterpiece of tectonics. It was oriented towards Maksimir Park, the Zagreb version of Hyde Park or Bois de Boulogne. For the price of one ticket, the visitor could enjoy both the event and the environment, as in Max Peintner’s 1971 painting ‘The Unbearable Attraction of Nature’.
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The stadium has in the meantime been marred by the subsequently added north tribune, which disconnected it from the natural backdrop. It underwent a metamorphosis from an amphitheatre into a more common typology – that of an arena. The Roman arena, in contrast to its Greek counterpart, is self-contained, introvert and simply more lucrative (for it does not ‘lack the fourth side’).
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In homage to Turina’s project, we decided that the Dome should be an amphitheatre. However, given that the site was further away from the park we had to elevate the main court by stacking it onto training courts. The proposed scheme works both from within (Maksimir Park becomes a backdrop to sporting and other events) and without (as a giant display from the busy road on the edge of the park), adopting the naïveté of a dolls’ house.