Lukáš Foltýn↓

About the work

Balabenka

For a challenging site with several disconnected factors, Lukáš Foltýn designed a set of buildings for a petrol station, a cargo depot, logistics spaces, and housing. The design responds to the current purely traffic-oriented character of the locality, which has been negatively impacted by the construction of a highway viaduct. It works with the assumption that the site can be reintegrated into the city’s life after the loss of its original function. Sustainability: do not demolish!

The petrol station beneath the viaduct is a kind of model for how to adapt problematic areas around transportation infrastructure and embodies the hope that even such spaces can be inhabited – either spontaneously or through serious interventions. The buildings in the design don’t just stand next to the viaduct, they touch it – stand on it, even. They absorb it. The bridge deck itself becomes a hanging park, a cycle path. A place where we want to spend time.

Foltýn’s graduation work is the embodiment of an egalitarian approach to the city in which the demands of vehicle traffic do not reduce the city’s livability, and vice versa. Foltýn views urban logistics as an important element but not as the sole factor that should define the urban space.

Lukáš Foltýn see his role in the serious and responsible – but also joyful – exploration of the world. Not through an analysis of data, but through humility, empiricism, observation, and the creation of collages from familiar places. The result is his vision for Balabenka.