Silesian University of Technology students’ concepts were appreciated in an architecture competition in Portugal

Julia Giżewska and Jakub Jopek, fourth-year students of the Faculty of Architecture of the Silesian University of Technology, received an honourable mention in the international ARKxSITE competition. The topic was to design a bathhouse in the ruins of the historic Milreu Fortress in Ericeira, Portugal.

The fortress is picturesquely situated - directly adjacent to cliffs and the vastness of the Atlantic Ocean - and it was these two main themes that became the axis of the authors' conceptual design.

"Water, stone, and light are the three pillars of the conceptual design of the bath, hidden inside the cliff - in the understated middle zone. The distribution of functions emphasises the natural feature of the historic fort - separation from the places full of noise and stimuli. The layout is created on five main levels, starting with the highest one: sun zone (+1), earth zone (0), cold cave (-1), warm cave (-2), and hot cave (-3)" explained Julia Giżewska.

The students worked under the scientific supervision of professor Jerzy Wojewódka.

The ARKxSITE International Competition is addressed to architecture professionals and students. Among the ten awarded works were eight professional teams and only two student teams, including one from the Silesian University of Technology. An international jury consisting of architects from the young generation judged the competition.