The project is part of the four-day Design District Zagreb Festival which aims to promote the area around Martićeva St. into a centre of urban design.
An unusual sight greeted the visitors on the roof of the iconic “Wooden Skyscraper” at Ibler Square, where IKEA Croatia presented its first urban garden in the centre of Zagreb, reports Jutarnji List on June 14, 2016.
The project of IKEA urban garden is based on the idea of creating a green oasis in the heart of a bustling city, and the goal is to encourage citizens to grow plants in their homes. According to the Life at Home study, which IKEA carries out each year, 84% of citizens of Zagreb have a terrace, balcony or a loggia, and 70% of them cultivate plants in their homes.
IKEA’s urban garden will provide visitors with inspiration and ideas that will help them to turn their own gardens, balconies and terraces in a refuge from everyday stress. The location of the first IKEA urban garden in Zagreb has been carefully selected, and it is the oldest Zagreb skyscraper, the most famous project of acclaimed architect Drago Ibler, known as “Wooden Skyscraper”. The roof was conceived as a place to relax and socialize, and this project has returned its original purpose to the roof area.
“The post-war architecture promoted the concept of quality of life in a city and that is the reason why the Wooden Skyscraper was designed with a common living area for all the residents on the roof. The current project follows the aforementioned idea and uses modular boxes for planting herbs to form niches surrounded by green walls for a more intimate atmosphere. In addition to restoring the social function of the roof, the project has contributed to the improvement of thermal properties of the roof surface, which allows for a more comfortable living of residents who live directly below the roof”, explained Saša Košuta, Tanja Herr and Maja Subotić who participated in the implementation of the project.
This project is part of the four-day Design District Zagreb Festival, which aims to turn the area around Martićeva St. into a centre of urban design.
