At the initiative of the investor Dairy Queen, who has a fast food restaurant on the corner of Cankarjeva Street and Slovenska Street, in order to check the possibility of arranging a winter garden on Cankarjeva Street, we made a proposal, the basic guideline of which was to introduce only an element into the high-quality space of the intersection of the city promenade and the central city highway that would represent artistic and programmatic enrichment in all respects. If this is not possible, the status quo should remain. At first, the investor's wish also seemed unfeasible to us, since in our minds we consider the ambiences between Rotovž and Tivoli Castle to be finished, and therefore they lack nothing.
Upon a more thorough analysis of the promenade, we began to change our opinion. If we go up the promenade, a sequence of dominants is felt. They appear at every break or intersection of the axis with another important axis. If Robb's Fountain represents the beginning of the axis, we can take the entire Prešeren Square complex with dominant facades and the Prešeren Monument in the axis of Čopova Street as the next dominant. At the transition from Čopova to Cankarjeva Street, despite the bend and the impassable Cankarjeva Street, nothing happens. Further on, the street environments expand and narrow (extensions in front of the Opera, the National and Modern Galleries). This is followed by an unfortunate underpass and further on, a view of Tivoli Castle fixed by a colonnade of lamps.
As Cankarjeva Street ends at Slovensko Cesta, something could happen without further ado, but we must take into account a few constants:
- the view from Cankarjeva Street of the bell towers and dome of the cathedral
- the monumentality of the facades of the Bank of Slovenia, Name, Post Office and Hotel Slon, which cannot withstand any extensions
- the functioning of Cankarjeva Street as a pedestrian zone, which is becoming increasingly interesting for public programs on the ground floor.
Taking into account all factors, the fact emerged that "that something" must be an island in the axis of Čopova and Cankarjeva, not too big, so as not to suffocate the streets and views, but also not too small, otherwise there would be no point in doing so.
We designed a boat that sails along the street, and with its presence excludes dialogue with any of the surrounding facades. It establishes similar spatial relationships as the pyramid in the Louvre courtyard. In the view from Cankarjeva Street, it represents a dome under the dome and the bell towers of the cathedral.
And about the program. It is clear that it is difficult to associate the atmosphere designed in this way with a fast food restaurant, which is also practically impossible from a technological point of view.
The potential investor - Dairy Queen - has developed a different programmatic orientation. The dome should smell of French croissants and coffee from the morning, and dessert wines and juices would be served ......
When thinking about this project, the need for a more thorough redefinition of the atmosphere of Cankarjeva Street arose on its own. To begin with, at least the segment between Slovenska cesta and Beethovnova ulica should be given a new makeover of the floor surface with a less boring material than asphalt and provide quality street equipment.
Despite our initial skepticism, we now believe that we have succeeded in satisfying the initial condition - we believe that the "boat" would truly be an artistic and program enrichment of the area.