Prompted by the appalling comments made by private developers on one of the iconic brutalist buildings in Slovakia, Istropolis, when they acquired it making it clear that they have no appreciation for architecture, culture or history and that they only acquired a free site, Andrea has written an article published in Kapital newspaper called “Would be Istropolis demolished in Stockholm?”
Drawing parallels between Istropolis and Kulturhuset in Stockholm that just went through an expensive complex technical renovation, recognised by Kasper Salin prize (the most important prize for architecture in Sweden). Looking at both the architecture, but also cultural and historical background and pondering the differences between the two societies. Later she collaborated with Docomomo Slovakia on a petition to save the Istropolis, which became one of the most successful petitions to save a building in Slovakia's history.
She authored several more articles on this and related topics, targeted at both professionals and laymen.
2022 “What will the new wave of schools in Slovakia look like?” Suhlas, 2022/03
Guliver is probably the first project of a newly built (private) school in Slovakia in the last 20 years, financed by a private investor. It is nominated for CE ZA AR, the most important architectural prize in Slovakia. It is heavily inspired by Scandinavian school design, but does it work? And how can municipalities get inspired by the Swedish way of not only building but managing and leading the process of designing a new school or a preschool?
2022 “Lets breath in new life to old buildings” Suhlas, 2022/02
Gathering successful examples of bottom-up renovations of abandoned buildings through creating community centres and co-working spaces in Slovakia. How does it look like and how can the municipality support non-profit organisations and in doing so find a way to save its cultural heritage?
2021 “Recycling of brutalism - East” - Archinfo
Looking at examples of renovated, adapted brutalist buildings in central and eastern Europe. Is it justifiable to demolish a functional building mainly because it was “designed to serve an authoritarian regime”? Would anything be left of our old European cities with such an approach?
2021 “Recycling of brutalism - West” - Archinfo
Looking at examples of renovated, adapted brutalist buildings in western Europe, and comparing tendencies of the “developed” world with the Slovakian approach. Should our subjective assessment of a building being ‘ugly’ influence its survival?
2021 “Would Istropolis get demolished in Stockholm?” Kapital 2021/02
Drawing parallels between Istropolis and Kulturhuset in Stockholm that just went through expensive complex technical renovation, rewarded by theKasper Salin prize (most important prize for architecture in Sweden). Looking at both architectural, but also cultural and historical background and pondering the differences between the two societies.