Gradual Renovation of the Castle Grad

The renovation of castle Grad is a long term process. It started ten years before our studio got involved and used many diverse approaches to save and stabilize the ruined structure. Our small interventions punctualy refresh the existing space and generate new functions. The existing castle structure in encircling the double leveled courtyard and surrounding it by a vaulted corridor. In the second floor the corridor runs all around and bind the existing and newly renovated spaces into a whole. Along the semi-renovated arcade hallway there are some abandoned spaces, temporarly used for exhibitions, new reconstructed spaces with no function and some recently renovated rooms with sleeping facilities, wedding hall, salon and small museum spaces. The exhibition is dedicated to nature and cultural landscape of the Landscape park Goričko to which castle belongs to. A year ago also the chapel was renovated, in front of it there is a small exhibition space presenting the castle history. Chapel is a beautiful existing space, it was left almost untouched, frescoes that were discovered are marking the sacred role of the space. The space is used for concerts and other events.

Because of the finacial problems the idea to revitalize the whole structure seems more and more unreal. But it became obvious through the use of the spaces it is possible to keep it alive also in all the diverse spaces. So the wholestructure today works as a collage of different renovation approaches and show us also all the stages of its ruined condition. Through that the castle is a showcase of time passing through architecture and proves that live does not need much for events to happen.

The construction was mostly stabilized and done before us. All recent construction interventions were planned to stabilize the existing structure further to enable new function in the renovated rooms. The existing structure presents different layers of time and is an interesting palimpsest from gothic to recent past. New materiality follows the existing one but still tries to distinguish in slight differentiation. Kalk pflaster, sandstone and oat wood are the essential materials of the new. With the existing cromatic of brick, ruined pflaster walls and ceramic they mix into a livable structure of old and new.