An interview with Gabriela Fukatschova from studio Modulor Architecture; Slovakia

What makes your winning project Family House BSM in Martin one of a kind?
The project in Martin is a nice first home for a family who decided to exchange living in an apartment for a new home in a house. The clients had very delicate taste and design sensibility, so we quickly connected on the solution and the design. I see the uniqueness of the project in the simplicity of the solution in blending the two masses of the structure and opening the house to the atrium. One wing of the house is ground floor and the other wing is double storey, which brings dynamism to the building. The cutoff roofs are a response to the mountainous environment of the site.

What did you learn from this project?
The project has provided insights into the design of buildings in the mountains, an understanding of the specific requirements for buildings in this environment, and most importantly I have met investors with a flair for architecture. Only when a good investor understands the architect’s proposal and follows it through to realisation without major changes and even tweaks and adds to it to make the original solution and design stand out, can something special be created. I think that quality architecture can be born even in smaller scale buildings, taste does not need big spec assignments.

To design with the heart, to tackle buildings as best as I can. Be honest, don’t look for shortcuts, there are no easy solutions.

What are you working on at the moment?
We are currently working on a few houses in the studio in Bratislava, Slovakia, in several parts of the city, both on the plains and on the hillsides outside the city. We are designing a new school for a district of Bratislava – for Ružinov, and we have been approached to prepare a presentation of our projects for an architecture exhibition in Venice, Italy, next year. So we are getting ready, we have a lot of work ahead of us to prepare, to take pictures, to make a selection of projects and to prepare a presentation of the work of our studio since 1998.

What is your driving force?
It is certainly a great investor who comes to us with a new project that appeals to us in the studio and captures our attention. We are delighted when we are approached by new people who bring new energy and are attuned to the same wave as we are in the studio. What they see, feel at the same time and are also able to embrace unconventional solutions and challenges.

Any ideas you think should be front and center in the minds of architects?
To design with the heart, to tackle buildings as best as I can. Be honest, don’t look for shortcuts, there are no easy solutions. When I love my work, it brings me joy, professional and personal fulfillment and then an architect enjoys life very much. This is subsequently visible in the results and in the designs.