Even though Podgorica’s Natural History Museum has a vast collection of showpieces, due to a lack of exhibition space and research areas it cannot reach its full potential and it became merely a formal institution.
By connecting the Natural History Museum, the Institute of Biology and the Botanical Gardens, these three entities with similar programs that are based on the same fundamental elements create a space that is available to all citizens, and that enables the development of science and education in Montenegro.
The location that was chosen for this complex is the space of former flower beds beneath the Gorice hill, in close proximity to the town center of Podgorica. Although extremely attractive, this location is in ruins, as are the cultural-recreational objects that are surrounding it.
The building is placed inside the outdoor Botanical garden that serves as an extension of the Gorica park and the location’s historical legacy. In contrast with the current trend of enclosing parks in Podgorica, this project should be open and available to all, during the entire day. The botanical garden has flower beds with different kinds of herbs that are transected by walking paths, and enriched with spots for resting, barbecuing, sports, open air cinema, exhibitions – culture is as much on the inside as it is on the outside of the building. At the core itself, the building is cut through by an arch or a passage, and with this gesture, the form of the building enables a free path from the KIC Budo Tomović to the Stadium for sports that don’t require large spaces. The garden has a number of small intimate places for resting and a couple of glass cubicles where the plants that require special care in Podgorica are situated. During night hours these cubicles light up and create mystical lighting in the garden.
At the very beginning of the exhibition, whilst ascending to the first floor, the visitors have a view of the atrium where the installation “Tree in section” is. This sculpture, along with the atrium and the light passes through the entire building, from the basement to the roof, from the roots to the top of the treetop.
On the first floor there is a line of the permanent set-up. Passing through it, the visitors exit outside into the steel part of the building, or the suspended gardens. The gardens represent a three-dimensional green square. Thin steel wires are entwined into the bearing construction and serve as guidelines for the climber plants. Each wire carries a different kind of climber plant and this gives them volume and color. The vegetation itself builds the walls in this structure. The suspended garden is multi-functional, open to the public and can be used as a park, a place for the summer open air cinema, for exhibitions, etc. The visitors descend around a display of Montenegrin rocks from different parts of the country.
At the ground floor, from the gardens, the visitors enter the room dedicated to plants, where different species of plants are displayed on the walls, the ceiling and the floor. Adjacent to this room is a large space where the mammals and the birds are exhibited.
The basement situates the Institute of Biology with divided departments. The Institute is where the research is being done, where the storage is, and where preparation, preservation and education is being held. It is used by professors, scientists, students and other employees. Students from the Biological Faculty also have access, and thus can use the library, herbarium and the classrooms.
The spaces are lit through atriums that also serve as fire escapes. Inside there are plants whose treetops continue to the Botanical Garden overhead.
The roof can be seen from the Gorica hill, which is why it is walk-on and green, and can be accessed through the suspended garden. It is supposed to be used as an extension for the botanical garden on the ground floor.
The complex is an oasis near the city center, beneath the hill our city has gotten its name from, and that will give joy to all of its visitors’ senses: audio (the sounds of the birds), visual (lights and colors), sense of smell (the smell of the garden) and will contribute to the cultural offer of the capital city of Montenegro.
Author: Tanja Radovanović, final specialization thesis
Biography:
Tanja Radovanović finished her Specialization studies at the Faculty of Architecture in Podgorica, after which she enrolled into a project based Master program, and worked on projects from faculties in Portugal, Israel, Estonia, Austria and Slovenia, as well as in the Bauhaus Foundation. She wrote her Magistrate thesis under the mentorship of Francisca Aires Mateuse, with the tittle “Gentrification, student housing and participative design in Lisbon”.
