Elderly Home

The site is located on the field of Cozia monastery, a defensive monastic complex built in the XIVth century, with byzantine influences. Calimanesti has been for centuries a health resort known for its mineral and sulphurous springs. It lays in the Carpathian Mountains, along an important national road, the first one to connect the capital with Transylvania. Observing the evolution and the structure of the place I discovered the existence of “enclosures” that were not necessarily boarded by a physical limit. They were sometimes determined by a surface covered with the same crop or in yards with particular characteristics (old relics of rooms, now inhabited by trees). All of these enclosures together capture the place’s personality and contain its essence. Using the same pattern and including different daily activities, the project focuses on creating a productive and active environment for the elderly. Using the local resources they learn to make bread and how to use a water mill, they harvest their crops and make their own pottery, while constantly interacting with the outside space. The brick building, inspired by the monastic cloisters, has five open courtyards and four greenhouses, which provide short covered connections to the center area of the assembly. Thus the closed space is always in relation with the outside. All floor area is divided in smaller parts by different floor tiles, and each holds a different function. The rooms for the elderly are arranged towards the exterior, and have direct access from the outside, through a small garden. The workshop and the library are placed in the center, opening to the main courtyard. The assembly contains a water mill that is placed on the Olt River. The alternation of halls and courtyards lead to different choices of traversing the facility.