First prize in the amount of HRK 14,000 _ 1.900 € Architectural heritage and globalization are the themes of the entry 60+2 Istanbul which reconsiders the views and relations in one of the most fascinating cities of the world – Istanbul.

Authors. Inci Sahin Olgun, Ahmetcan Alpan, Bahar Aksel Ensici
Project. 60+2 Istanbul
Istanbul . Turska

Globalization changed our perception in every field, but the sharpest change occurred in the field of architecture. Cities become Metropolitan areas with the load of population, buildings, cars and highway networks. Metropolitan areas are now the symbols of power and show off, which adds new loads to urban areas, but this time it is not only the physical load; image, meaning and aesthetics are the indispensable super powers of the century. All metropolises use these contemporary tools to stress their importance and create new physical icons to show the power and technology they have.
After all these transformations it is crucial to examine and define the public realm and ethics, especially in the case of historical cities like Istanbul. Istanbul is a city that has a unique cityscape, important historical buildings and a developing business and financial centre in its area. There are two main subjects of the agenda: 1- allowing new developments to attract investments and creating a modern CBD and service facilities; 2- preserving the historical heritage and natural identity.
Where is ethic in terms of city scale? From the architectural point of view contemporary skyscrapers, modern high-rise buildings could be very aesthetic, highly functional and technological in the single building scale. Ethic should be questioned at the confrontation of single buildings and the city: old/new, figure/ground, physical load/public realm etc.
The aim of the project is to question the panorama of Istanbul by visually comparing old and new structures that are symbolizing power in their ages. Two different Istanbul perceptions show the changes of architectural styles as well as their meaning. On urban scale, the key for ethic is the BALANCE between historical/contemporary, needs/tradition, public/private.

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Second prize in the amount of HRK 6,000 _ 850 € The video is a critical commentary on the treatment of vacant roof terraces located on top of Zagreb’s skyscrapers, which offer unforgettable views. The author insists on their de-privatization.

Author. Srećko Horvat
Project. "Shouldn't architecture care?" | A project of ethical reconceptualization of Zagreb's skyscrapers' functions
Bacači sjenki . multy-media art organization . Zagreb . Croatia

Skyscrapers are not just parts of the city that are first noticed. Because of their characteristic of occupying space and of often being the symbols of a particular city, the question of ethics and the architecture of skyscrapers is of extreme importance. It is enough to mention 9/11 as an obvious example of the interweaving of ethics and skyscrapers.
Following the building of the Cibona Tower, at least a decade passed in which no new business towers were built in Zagreb. The construction of the HOTO-Tower was the start of a new era ruled by the apotheosis of towers and commercial skyscrapers: Eurotower, Zagrebtower, Almeria…, are just some of the new skyscrapers that now form Zagreb’s new skyline. As a result of this building trend, it is necessary to pose the question of ethics and to ask to what measure these skyscrapers are accessible to the wider public. Even though these are commercial buildings, they represent the highest points in a city and as such should be open to the city’s inhabitants. Throughout the world, entry into skyscrapers is made possible to all interested, and lookout points at the top are a normal thing (Montparnasse, Empire State Building). Moreover, the “open house” (London) trend – where a certain skyscraper opens its doors to the public one day a month – is quite widespread in Anglo-Saxon countries, while Harenberg City Center in Dortmund, for example, is the attestation of a skyscraper designed almost in its entirety for cultural and similar contents. As the infrastructure of Zagreb’s skyscrapers is almost incompatible with being “open” to a wider public, the main intent of this project is to take the first step in creating the possibility for a lookout point in at least one skyscraper. Within the framework of a survey taken among students of art history, more than 90% of the students responded that they had never visited any commercial tower in Zagreb, but that they would certainly do so “if it were possible”. A similar percentage in replies was obtained at the “Booksa” literary club in May. All this data confirms the existence of the need to “open up” commercial towers to the wider public, and not just for the select few. A lookout point is the first but necessary step towards this opening.

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Third prize in the amount of HRK 4,000 _ 550 € The 3D Purificator is a somewhat nostalgic architectural machine which would function as a purifier of the everyday, which people would leave unburdened of the dregs of experience and ready for new victories.

Author. Kristina Careva
Co-authors. Margareta Luša, Marko Subašić
Project. Prostorni purifikator | The 3D purificator
Zagreb. Croatia

The word ethics comes from the Ancient Greek “ethikos”, which means “arising from habit”. Ethics covers the analysis and employment of concepts such as right, wrong, good, evil and responsibility (from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia).

The idea of this research is based on the purification of a person’s senses with a view to the ethics of their judgement immediately following the “purification”. By passing through numerous spatial squares with the rotation of visual sensations of colour, a person’s mind is placed in a neutral position, upon which their judgement is freed of the dregs of everyday life. The square’s volume is selected as an archetype of the man-made interior in which the 90-degrees between the surfaces is a universally acceptable, unobtrusive and calming angle while the colours are used to stimulate various types of cells in an eye with various force and to gradually activate the entire visual apparatus. It is possible to imagine the manifestation of this architectural machine through many materials (fabric, paper, roughcast bricks, coloured concrete…), but for the Internet presentation it is demonstrated through the manifestation of the screen and divested of its three-dimensionality. The compactness of the progression of similar forms in the floor-plan quadrant is also a question of presentation and in reality the squares can be placed in a sequence which is differently determined by the floor-plan. 

In thinking through the ethical doctrine of altruism, the duty of an architect and of architecture as such is to help and serve the community, even in spite of being its own victim. In view of the fact that such examples are few and far between, this architectural exercise sets itself up in an entirely subordinate position not imposing itself with its own existence but rather creating a mental surface for the perception of reality.

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