mateo.zonta

Loron Interpretation Center

Authors: Mina Hiršman, Uroš Rustja, Primož Žitnik, Mateo Zonta

Recognizing the need to expand the city's cultural offerings and interpret archaeological sites as an opportunity to rearticulate the relationship between two integral layers of the Loron Peninsula's spatial framework, archaeology and tourism, the new project's ambition becomes twofold. On one hand, it supports sustainable tourism practices through emphasizing the cultural and historical qualities of the space while establishing a platform for year-round cultural exchange. On the other hand, it leverages critical mass and tourist interest as catalysts for future research, knowledge exchange, and promotion of heritage within both local and regional contexts.

scattered roman archeological sites

first adriatic tourist settlement Červar-Porat

thematic path connecting the sites with the city

Utilizing the potential of these areas to reestablish balance between regulated and natural space, the intervention is strategically located in an area of unauthorized construction among presumed archaeological remains. The intervention connects to the broader context through a thematicpath that links all four archaeological sites on the peninsula to each other and to the public spaces of Červar-Porat. The future Loron Interpretation Center becomes one of the architectural typologies distributed along the coastal line, joining the Roman architectural remains and the Červar-Porat settlement, thereby responding to the site's architectural context by respecting the spatial logic of the peninsula as a whole.

existing building foundations are retained, the rest of the structure is removed

service volumes are placed on top, which also support the rest of the object

through volume rotation, a circular path is formed, leading visitors around the atrium

the building adopts an active facade for shading and a viewing point

The new Center features a regular square floor plan and functions as a 'floating' atrium pavilion suspended above potential archaeological remains, touching the ground only within the footprint of the existing building's foundations. The volume of this new architectural typology is rotated 12° relative to the previous structure, oriented along a north-south axis to evoke the strong typological characteristics and orthogonal grids associated with Roman urbanism and architecture.

The spaces created through this rotation adopt conical floor plans, conceptually designed to guide visitors sequentially from room to room around the central atrium. This circulation pattern gradually introduces visitors to the Loron archaeological site and ceramic production processes, culminating at an observation tower offering panoramic views of the entire peninsula and individual archaeological sites.

Through its materiality and formal expression, the building defers to its contextual setting, integrating into the landscape while serving as an educational medium for the site's cultural and historical heritage and ceramic production processes. The architectural intervention presents itself as transparent, lightweight, and elemental, completely reversible intervention that respects the archaeological sensitivity of the site.

Year: 2022
Type: Public
Program: Educational
Location: Červar-Porat, Croatia
Authors: Uroš Rustja, Primož Žitnik, Mina Hiršman, Mateo Zonta

View Complete Archeological Park Loron Project