Kaptol is the origin of Zagreb’s urban characteristics and the central place in the mental image of the city. Its original identity is devalued by non-proportional and aggressive traffic of all kinds, by insufficient connection with neighbouring city entities, fragmented solutions of public areas, and unplanned and low quality construction within the historical matrix.
The project conceives Kaptol as a city-planning unit with preserved and recognizable identity and complex content structure in which the sacred and the secular, the traditional and the contemporary overlap. The Kaptol Square becomes articulated public space again.
The mentioned aspects should be realized through several points:
- Discontinuation of car traffic and reaffirmation of the medieval funnel-shaped square.
- Networking – introduction of a system of pedestrian paths in the east-west direction, with the aim of program overlapping and better connection with Gradec and the Ribnjak Park
- Re-establishing of the historical urban matrix by removing low quality structures with the stress on reserved and restored gardens within the parcels
- Three major structures (the Diocesan Museum, the Treasury of the Zagreb Cathedral, and the Archives of the Zagreb Metropolitan Chapter) as three complex units – clusters, consisting of protected historical buildings and the new proposed linking structures. The low-rise, contemporary construction is not in competition with Kaptol’s diocesan buildings.
- Radical and invisible intervention – proposes to place the Treasury beneath the central plateau of the square in front of the Cathedral, along the line of the former Kaptol wall. This would open the possibility of presenting the remnants of Kaptol wall foundations – in situ.
Authors: mikelić vreš arhitekti / Marin Mikelić, Tomislav Vreš, Josip Jerković
Collaborators: Ana Aščić, Luka Jonjić, Hrvoje Vidović
Location: Zagreb
Status: project
Design year: 2008.
Client: City of Zagreb
Site area: 240000 m2
Footprint: 240000 m2