Apartment building Fragment

Originally industrial, Karlín is undergoing a long-term transformation that determines its role in the contemporary life of the wider centre of Prague. In terms of the demands of contemporary life, Karlín has become a sought-after district for housing, employment and leisure. For the Fragment apartment building we are creating a concept of visually strong, unmistakable architecture that responds to the context of the place with respect to its past and future. In addition to the formal and functional aspects, it is above all the organic connection to the public space that the Fragment house extends, further makes accessible and visually completes. An integral part of this programme is the sculptural work of the artist David Černý, which has been part of the author’s collaboration on the conception of the entire building since the beginning.
The gradual revitalisation of the area has enabled the preservation of the original scale of the old Karlín. The counterbalance to its classical block structure is the modern construction of solitary buildings of the Invalidovna housing estate. The Fragment building, standing on the border of both zones, responds to the contrasts in building history and strives to harmoniously complete the site. The chosen architectural form of two arms converging into one block responds to the trapezoidal shape of the site and the character of the surrounding buildings. The fragment embodies the transition, or rather the intersection of two worlds. The two masses of the house on one side evoke a block development, the one mass on the other a solitary development.