Hotel Centar

Hotel Centar Gross external area: 4 364 m2 Hotel is located across the beginning of the main pedestrian zone in Novi Sad and across of the Serbian National Theatre, as a dominant point in space. It was conceived as a cubic form, and follows years of research on the topics: surface depth, layers of membranes. Location of the hotel is very exposed and has dominant role in the city boulevard. The desire to make a distinctive, but unobtrusive and simple form in space, led us to balance the gap in the area by providing counterpart and counterweight to the power of geometry of the Serbian National Theatre. Medium to achieve a unified form, or a single volume is the envelope buildings facade, both homogeneous and transparent. This ambivalence is achieved by finestructuring of material, in this case vertical metal strips with periodic interruptions, that lets the light inside and filters the outside surroundings. Maximum transparency is achieved by the membrane, but also the strenght of the compact cube. The user in the inner space has no sense of confinement or claustrophobia, as he essentially has a very clear view, while the passer from the outside perceives the object as a hermetic form, and peers into the privacy of the interior only in certain direct views. With its volume building shapes urban public space, and adjusts object to urban and investors high dencity requirements. It fits into the context, which was one of the goals of the authors. Height and composition of new structure is determined in relation to the form of the traditional urban core. Difference to conventional understanding of the urban block is treating it as a unity, without taking into account the traditional elements interpolation and the inner courtyard.