The master's thesis addresses the impact of overtourism on the decline of historic city centers in Istria. Using the example
of Pula, the largest Istrian city, I will demonstrate that with thoughtful selection of hybrid programs and flexible spatial design, the old town center can serve both locals and tourists. The chosen program is the Pula School of Arts, which is currently located in an unsuitable location on the outskirts of the city. The school, located in an old Austro-Hungarian villa, was
founded by the Pula-based artist Ivan Obrovac in the 1990s. For a diverse curriculum, which includes sculpture, painting,
graphic, and textile design, the existing spatial capacities are inadequate and insufficient. Consequently, the opening of
new departments, such as ceramics, glass, metalwork, photography, and scenography, is hindered. The aim is to show
that this program belongs in the city center, as it has the potential to become much more than just a school. Pula suffers
from a chronic lack of suitable exhibition spaces, with most art exhibitions being held in improvised galleries. A similar
problem is faced by various design workshops, which find it very difficult to access affordable studios or ateliers.The new
School of Arts complex will be designed to be used year-round and throughout the entire day, not just during school hours.
The area of the Old Market in Pula is degraded, having lost its identity after being bombed in World War
II; today, it serves only as a parking lot. The demolition of the entire city block that once stood at this location destroyed the ancient city structure and took away the significance of the cardo-decumanus street grid, which is
clearly laid out in the case of Pula. The purpose of the conceptual design is to re-emphasize the erased street
and thus heal the wound in the urban fabric. In this thesis, I also ask how we should build in a Mediterranean climate. The project draws on the knowledge of vernacular architecture, attempting to design a building as a climatic machine that can coexist with the hot Mediterranean climate and the challenges posed by climate change
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