Bulgarian Graffiti / Architecture of the week: Karlovo Municipality
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
After a bit of a wait I am back and ready to dish the dirt on some interesting Bulgarian architecture.
Most of the structures, monuments and buildings we see in Bulgaria today, were constructed durring communist times or prior. These tend to introduce materials like stone, concrete and marble. This creates a very cold, unnatural, sometimes non modern and maybe even less inviting feeling. As a designer, I must say that the architecture follows the "form over function" approach.......meaning it was desigend to be seen rather then the form supporting the function of the structure or building.
Wouldnt you know, Karlovo has the perfect example of this same idea. The Municipality of Karlovo is a beautiful building with mosaic artwork on the front outside wall, large windows and an opportunity to break your hip at every turn. The entrance to the building is a bit of a law suit ready to happen...............wait this is Bulgaria, Ok its just a death trap. The entrance is created by two inclines up to a large platform above the sidewalk. This platform stretches the length of the entry area and then meets another incline that leads to the front door. Sounds Nice.........Oh you think so?
What is the problem with this you may ask............
Problem # 1: The Inclines and platform are made out of white smooth marble. This looks very nice and fancy but imagine a rainy or snowy day with ice on the ground, and then imagine the type of shoes women wear in this country. Walking up an incline made of smooth marble in inclament weather in spike heals or any for that matter says "I'd like one broken neck please." Thankfully during the winter the Municipality put down a mat for us to walk on but it didnt keep everyone from biting the dust (or marble in this case) a few times this year.
Problem # 2: The platform is about 3 feet above the sidewalk without a railing.....Meaning you could just walk right off a three foot drop. Lets add a broken leg and or arm to this equation. When Valya from the COD program staff came to visit me last month I turned around just before she started to step off the ledge. It was a close one. I motioned her to the incline of death to get down from the platform.
The Municipality building in Karlovo is no exception to structural misshapps that are typical with Communist architecture.
Suggested Signage
Posted byCindy Lou at 9:33 PM
