K cultural center - Trieste

    location: via San Francesco, 20 - Trieste, Italy

    program: cultural center of the Slovenian community

    dates: project 2009

    data: total built area 800 m2

    architect: waltritsch a+u, Arch. Dimitri Waltritsch Trieste, Italy

    team: Dimitri Waltritsch with Leonardo De Marchi, Cecilia Morassi

    K stands for the Slovenian word Kultura – culture. The project provides a functional reorganization as well as a restyling of the existing building which on four levels houses at present several cultural institutions and a book store. The project basis is set upon the conviction that a contemporary cultural center refers to synergistically cooperation and mutual streaming of different activities. The success of the concept is based on a broader offer of cultural opportunities for the collectivity, under the motto: library + lifelong learning + cultural entertainment. Different activities as the specialized book store, the Slovenian library, and several associations, will not only coexist into one building, but they will literally flow one into each other. The small central courtyard will act as the new heart of the center. The book store on the street side will house a café inside, and through the book store you will be able to enter the newspaper reading room of the library, which will also serve as a small conference room for public talks and book presentations. The library will continue on the next two floors, while different cultural organizations will occupy the top of the building.

    Images and text © D. Waltritsch. Use only by permission