O:TVORENO

site context:

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The abandoned space and devastated infrastructure of the once active auto camp Breza, with area of 1.6 ha and the capacity of 30 camping trailers, two bungalows, cafe-bar and football-basketball court, is located 15 minutes walk from the center of Divčibare.

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The relationship between the ruined built environment and the pleasant mountain ambient, as well as the immediate proximity of the children's resort and hiking trails connecting it to this location, transform the identified problem into potential in the form of spatial-program intervention - places of gathering, rest and recreation.​

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The (re)use of the site and its content for the needs of the festival program is proving to be a good example of reactivation of abandoned space, and the intervention in it, in the form of creating a new place - the watchtower (observation post), represents the act of materializing this intention and prolonging the life of the camp itself.

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[location 1]

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Crni Vrh (Black Peak), as the highest point of this part of Maljen Mountain, is originally conceived as the starting point for a spatial upgrade in the form of a new observation post as a new mountain peak. Moving to this location, O:TVORENO WATCHTOWER as a place, fulfills its contextual and conceptual discourse on two levels: initially (as a contemporary tendency in architecture) by activating the abandoned space of the auto camp, and now (in the form of archaic reminiscence) as an intervention in / on the mountain.

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[location 2]

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workshop program:

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Participants of the educational and practical workshop actively participate in creative work at a specific location in creating their own space of vacation, recreation and dwelling. Through the active action at the cognitive level, this method influences, develops and encourages the awareness of young people about the quality of their own work products and advocacy for the community in order to develop their own environment. The program consists of five parts:

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1) Preparatory (constructive) - AΔA group and volunteers perform earthworks and foundation of the base strips and lay the wooden supporting structure of the watchtower with the assistance and help of professional carpenters.

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2) Theoretical (constructive) - Participants are educated and familiarized with the way and process of watchtower construction, following the gradual steps on a cognitive - interactive map which shows the required sets of tools and the existing spatial and program elements related to the practical part.

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3) Practical (constructive) - Participants take part in the finalization of the watchtower construction and the establishment of spatial and program elements, following instructions from cognitive-interactive maps, guided by the authors (coordinators) of the workshop.

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4) Designer (drawing) - Participants explore the potential of a specific public space - an ambience through their own ideas and suggestions of intervention, using cognitive - interactive sheets.

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5) Supplementary (ornithological) - An additional program, based on the scientific discipline which studies birds, aims to extend the way in which participants can think about design and architecture, thematically linking the design domain of a multi-purpose watchtower with a specific field of knowledge in biology as they learn about the species and characteristics of the birds that inhabit the spatial framework in which they are located, using educational cards.

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spatial concept:

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O:TVORENO WATCHTOWER is conceived as a juxtaposition of two circular projections of two spatial elements: multifunctional watchtower and campfire. It is anticipated as a nexus of the place, ie, the axis of the gravitational field of the camp, which activates the abandoned space and offers content to the visitors. It is positioned in the middle of a spatial triangle formed by three dried birch (breza) trees, as the last three witnesses of the camp of the same name. By this act, at the symbolic and semantic level, the watchtower represents the reminiscence of this place, extending its spirit.

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The formal-functional concept of the watchtower is inspired by the surrounding conifers, as well as the geography and contents of the mountain and its potentials. The pyramidal form is intended to fit into the existing mountain context at the cognitive level, complementing the mountain itself as an intervention in / on it. In this way, the observation post becomes the organic completion of the mountain, or its artificial peak.

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The watchtower, as an object, consists of three vertically layered spatial-program levels, equally intended for plants, animals and humans:

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Level 1 - on the ground floor, it is conceived as the ambience of a vertical garden (with integrated ladders leading to the second level), filled with forest and meadow climbing plants that make green membrane inside which the resting elements - logs and bench and playground element - swing*, as the light-motive of the O:TVORENO concept, which direction is in the axis of the fire*, are placed. The flute detail inside the swing seat is set up as a personification of autochthonous music of mountain pastures, synthesizing swinging and playing activities.

Level 2 - free space intended for observation of the surrounding environment - mountain flora and fauna, night sky, as well as enjoyment in view from mountain heights.
 

Level 3 - the steep roof of the watchtower is the shelter and feeding place for the birds - the inhabitants of this ambient, also the additional thematic unit of the workshop.

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In the artistic - aesthetic view, the observation post is conceived as a combination of natural wood used in the construction of the watchtower (pillars, beams, struts, rafters, binders) and white elements that form, unify and accentuate the program 's components or contents of the place: the plateau on the ground floor and camp fireplace of white stone; metal ladders and vertical garden made of alpinist ropes as a support for climbing plants, with integrated car tires as gardeners; observation space wooden railing; roof - bird house.

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process chronicle:

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That summer, the mountain interweaved under their skin and became their physical and metaphysical determinant. Its air entered their bloodstream, and its spirit encouraged thoughts and creative processes. Returning from Rtanj, on the way to Čačak, they stopped in Grza to rest and agreed to visit the top of Kablar in the coming days, as the influence of the Šiljak (The Peak) in them was still present.​

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While they were moving among the mountain peaks, the news of their altruistic work under the Bridge of Youth was traveling among the cities. While Stefan, Luka, Ana and Vladica joined the conquered peaks on the topographical relief plate at the top of Kablar, hoping for a creative endeavor on the next mountain, the mountain came to them. The call from Valjevo followed, at the moment when Artan sent its signal through Ovčar-Kablar gorge to Crni Vrh, the peak of Maljen Mountain, as well as to Divčibare.​

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Through good news from good people - common friends - Lazar Stanojčić and Marko Kovač, pleasantly surprised by the O:TVORENO PLAYGROUND action, the organizers of the first Mountain Music Fest (MMF), led by Andrija Marjanović, invite the AΔA group to participate in the program of the new emerging festival, while the spirit of the pyramid of Rtanj calls for intervention in the mountain.

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AΔA accepts the call and in the coming days Stefan and Luka, preparing for a meeting with the organizers from Valjevo, see a watchtower as an intuitive and logical response to the topic of the mountain workshop. On the way to Valjevo, the duo stops at Divčibare, in fact, comes to the former Breza Camp, the location of the upcoming venture.

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The meeting is being held at the Research Community "Vladimir Mandić - Manda" in Valjevo, where the concept of the project O:TVORENO WATCHTOWER is presented to the organizers of the festival who unanimously accepted the idea.

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Returning to Čačak, Luka and Stefan are starting work on the project and program of the workshop. A month before the beginning of the festival, a team from the MMF receives a specification of the required material and the first 3D visualization of the preliminary watchtower design.

After the revision of the preliminary design and reduction of the material in the vertical garden segment (replacement of the wooden planking gardeners with a mountain rope as a support for the climbing plants), final constructive details are drawn in combination with cognitive-interactive maps / sheets and educational cards for the participants in the workshop and program is defined. Following the example of the Playground, whose design is intended for people, birds and plants, the Observation Post also shares the same character. As the previous workshop  is focused on the micro-urban approach in architectural design and the setting of the mobilier, this time the multinational Watchtower represents the backbone of architectural design, while the concept of additional educational content steps into the field of ornithology.

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The hot summer days and the freshness of the mountain air in mid-August are the perfect time to stay and work outdoors. The complexity and scope of the creative undertaking that the watchtower carries, requires at least a week of preparatory work, which includes digging the ground and casting the foundation strips in a terrain of unpredictable composition. Nine days before the start of the one-day festival, Stefan, Luka, Ana and Vladica pack the tools and equipment for camping and hit the Divčibare road.

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Day I   [Arrival]

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The four-member team arrives on the mountain on Friday afternoon and explores the openings among the conifers at Breza Camp, looking for a meaningful position for the O:TVORENO WATCHTOWER. During a debate between two potential sites, Luka finds a third - an ideal position among the three remaining dried birch trees. The team agrees that this is the best possible place on the site for the watchtower construction, mentioning that O:TVORENO PLAYGROUND under the Bridge of Youth is located among the birch trees. ​As the archae-geometers of the ancient pyramids, AΔA sets the plan for the watchtower base. After measuring the terrain and setting the sticks and ropes for the positions of the foundation strips, the quartet members go to dinner after which they set the resting camp with a campfire.

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Day II   [Earthwork]

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The first morning on the mountain, the hosts of the festival meet the AΔA team with a group of domestic and foreign volunteers who are placed in a cottage next to the camp, whose daily tasks were clearing and arranging the site of the upcoming event. After breakfast, they all go together to Breza, each to their part of the job. By coming to the site, the four get the keys from the abandoned bungalow in which the tools and construction materials are located. Nikola aka Djidja, from a group of volunteers, joins the team. ​On that day, while digging channels for the four base strips and breaking the rocky ground, the team manages to prepare the ground for tomorrow's concrete foundations cast.

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Day III   [Foundations]

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During the morning, the team places a broken stone drainage layer and reinforcement for the base strips. In the mean time, a truck from the Construction Company "Kej" arrives on the site, carrying the gravel and cement needed for the foundations. ​Late in the afternoon,  festival organization members join the works, with whose help the concrete is mixed and cast. By setting metal supporters for the wooden structure, the final procedure of that day is carried out. Satisfied with the base cast and excited because of tomorrow's  watchtower construction build-up, the enthusiastic group of AΔA goes to local cuisine dinner.

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Day IV   [Core Construction]

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The team measures and cuts timbering for pillars and beams, while waiting the Key carpenters to come. By the arrival of the workers, the construction of the central core of the supporting structure begins. ​After setting up the struts as a constructive support for ladders and vertical garden, the work is completed. The carpenters leave and the children of Divčibare, interested in the event in Breza, join the friends from Čačak. In a mutual conversation, the team notices that the kids are carrying "Politikin Zabavnik", so the end of a working day is celebrated with a mutual photo that will eventually be published in the journal of their childhood.

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Day V   [Roof Construction]

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The day before, by raising the construction for the levels I and II, a larger part of the work is completed, but the physically demanding rafters setting remains. While Vladica and Ana clear the terrain, removing humus and forming a circle under the observation post, Stefan and Luka introduce carpenters into all details and finesses of the constructive assembly, but also learn from them how this design is applied in practice. ​Almost as in a surgical procedure, the team manages to fit the angles and assemble the rafters of slanted gable roof. Ending with level III, the constructive structure for O:TVORENO WATCHTOWER is set up and ready for a festival workshop. Satisfied with the effect, the team completes the preparatory part of the program, expecting the fine finishing and socializing with the participants.

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Day VI   [Intermezzo - village]

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By setting the basis for the upcoming part of the program, the group returns to Čačak to make a little three-days break and prepare the missing elements of the observation post. On the first day of the break, Stefan goes to his uncle Radoslav Stojić, previously in charge of welding of the Playground elements, with whose help he makes the metal ladders for the Watchtower.

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Day VII   [Intermezzo - flea market]

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On the second day of the break, Luka and Stefan spend for collecting tires for gardeners, going to the flea market and buying everything that is missing - screws and chain, paint and varnish, roof tin ridge and MDF for the frontal faces of bird houses. After the purchase, the afternoon ends with cutting and painting two isosceles triangles of roof gables.

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Day VIII   [Intermezzo - frontyard]

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The day before going back to the mountain, at the festival, Luka drives to Belgrade to pick other team members up, while Stefan and Ana spend in his frontyard, preparing the program elements of the watchtower mobilier: painting the tires for a vertical garden and creating an "native musical detail" of the swing.

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Day IX   [Workshop]

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By the arrival of Stefan, Ana, Vladica and Jovana from Čačak and Luka, Gera, Mihajlo and Neda Knežević from Belgrade, the workshop starts in the morning, gathering the AΔA group. Before the official start exactly at noon, the team prepares the tools and the material, and the bulldozer brings the  white stone, as the flooring of the Observation Post. The team is joined by friends from Čačak, Stefan Marjanović and Djordje Grbović. ​By joining of the first participants, the "creative critical mass" is growing and the team is divided into sections where: Gera and Mihailo shoot the film material; Jovana, Neda and Marjanović lead the drawing, theoretical and additional part of the program (2,4 i 5) intended for children; Vladica and Ana complete the preparation of the terrain groundwork and groundfloor elements; Luka (on the level I) and Stefan (on level II) lead the youth - friends and guests from Spain in the practical operation of the program (3), coordinating the overall activity of the workshop (1-5). ​O:TVORENO WATCHTOWER, surrounded by forest, ambient concert music, domestic spices, Sherwood arrows and bodies in yoga positions, abounds with a full-day, continuous mix of events and experiences, both in the program of the festival and in the contents of the workshop itself, which their intensity can only be seen from the bird's eye, high above the mountain peak. The creativity of whole day program goes beyond the duration of the festival day, going deep into the night. With the creation of a new place in the abandoned camp, the AΔA group thrives in its mission. That evening, the team is splits till the next endeavor, leaving the creative authors to wait for tomorrow's dawn above their deed.

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Day X   [Departure]

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On the last day of this creative travelogue, Stefan, the guests from Spain and the volunteers led by Marina Tarrús paint the wooden surfaces of the watchtower and embed a support for the vertical garden, which is planned for the spring. With this act, the job is finalized, the impressionss are summarized of and new acquaintanceships and new interpersonal contacts are made, which will bring news about this work to the north in days to come.

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Waiting for the fertile part of the next year, when the plan is to complete vertical garden segment of the observation post (the rope tying and the vegetation planting), while O:TVORENO is in the new places of its constant travel through time and space, the WATCHTOWER is removed from the location of Breza Camp, and placed on Crni Vrh (Black Peak). With this unexpected act, the work that AΔA anticipated continues to live its own life in an original, logically and intuitively imagined spatial ambience, as a recreated mountain peak.

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In sublime places, Homo Sapiens built his sanctuary, his watchtower, his observatory to justify his aspirations and understand his dreams and the infinite obscurity of the Universe. Homo Spiritus (Movens) found the ultimate outcome of his work in himself, in Little Prince, who has always been.

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Before the morning of the return from Divčibare, to another place on Earth and in the Universe, watching the night sky from the newly built O:pen Watchtower, Luka and Stefan, in self-awareness instead of a wish, noticed the shooting star that was traveling from the Artan peak, which later it turned out to be the asteroid B-612...

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location coordinates:  44°05'46.0"N 19°59'53.6"E