Atelje Ostan Pavlin
(Aleksander Ostan, Nataša Pavlin and collaborators) is architectural firm, active within broader field of living cultures that include planning, building, leading workshops, teaching, lecturing, researching, writing etc. The core of our interest lies within the concepts of responsible, sustainable living, planning and building paradigm in urban, rural and natural environments. We research diverse regional traditions of the world (anonymous architecture) on one hand and new, inventive, participative architecture on the other hand. We love to work in naturally and culturally diverse and sensible environments, being aware of the complex and critical situation the world is being in. We are reading the complex, multilayered context of each situation, trying to respond to the task in a complex, but simple way. We try to ponder into meaning and philosophical foundations of archi-culture on one hand, but are also challenged with problems of climate change, social (in)justice, energy consumption. We don't look for superficial »cosmetic beauty«, but try to understand the deeper estethic values (old greek aisthesys as experience) of the world around us, connecting the spiritual and the bodyly realm of architecture within one coherent whole. We believe good, wholistic architecture helps to heal the wounds of our civilisation. We still use hand drawings (thinking/feeling hand) as initial means of translating fine seismology vibrations of the creative process through intuition towards the final design (and then elaborate them with digital means).
We prefer smaller to larger projects since we want to keep in a close touch with them: an open human contact to the clients and their community, local builders and materials, endangered environment. We try to touch the earth in a sensible way, taking care of the delicate, dynamic balance that a new intervention is creating within natural and cultural realm/context. Our recent activities go towards transformation of existing buildings (adaptive reuse) - where possible and meaningful - rather than building new ones.