Pretpec

Written by Omar Dahabra

Location: Pelješac, Croatia
Year: 2025
Architects: Marko Gusić +  ​Dora Lončarić
Photography by: Simone Bossi​

The project is located in an isolated landscape on the Pelješac peninsula. The building was originally conceived as a summer kitchen (Pretpec), functioning as an auxiliary structure to the main house. Pretpec is a local term from Dubrovnik and its surroundings for a structure with an open hearth, originally with a floor of compacted clay, later paved with brick. The intervention is therefore limited to a reconstruction within the existing footprint, position, and volume, without the possibility of expansion or formal redefinition.

These constraints established the primary architectural framework. The small and fixed envelope required a highly controlled design process, in which spatial organisation, section, and built-in elements were developed simultaneously. Every dimension was considered in relation to use, movement, and inhabitation, allowing the limited volume to be fully activated. Rather than compensating for its reduced surface area, the project accepts scale as a given condition. It proposes that inhabitation along the coast does not depend on large floor areas or amplified architectural gestures. In doing so, it takes a critical position toward the ongoing overconstruction and spatial saturation of the Croatian coastline, where excess has increasingly replaced precision and restraint.

Formally, the intervention adheres to the original geometry of the structure. Subtle shifts in section were introduced to optimise the use of volume and to articulate the interior vertically. These minor adjustments enable a clearer spatial hierarchy without altering the external perception of the building. Spatial organisation is structured around a single, large built-in element that divides the interior into functional zones. This element integrates storage, kitchen functions, technical spaces, and vertical circulation, allowing the remaining space to remain legible and continuous. At the same time, spatial layout and section were conceived in direct response to the hot Mediterranean climate: a large opening at the gallery level enables cross ventilation, while adjustable shutters regulate solar exposure and overheating, allowing the interior to remain usable during the warmest months without reliance on mechanical systems.

The house is conceived as an interpretation of Mediterranean living, where daily life extends beyond the interior. A small garden and a series of terraces form an integral part of the project, with outdoor spaces designed as primary areas of use rather than residual zones. Most daytime activities take place outside, with architecture acting as a mediator between interior shelter and the surrounding landscape, reinforcing a mode of inhabitation shaped by climate, rhythm, and openness.

The architectural language is informed by the existing house and its broader context, particularly through material presence, surface texture, and modes of use. References to vernacular construction are indirect; continuity is established through tactility and proportion rather than imitation, while the spatial logic reflects contemporary patterns of living. Material choices were informed by the proximity of the sea and the long-term effects of salt and humidity. The remote location and limited availability of craftsmen resulted in minor material imperfections, accepted as a direct consequence of building under specific local conditions and reinforcing the project’s relationship to place, process, and constraint. Text description by the architects.

Source: www.argu.hr
Area: 34 m2

Omar Dahabra
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