Xtreme West

The capital of Croatia is a metropolitan area with a population of approximately 800,000 inhabitants. The city is spreading constantly; new suburbs are rapidly consuming new territory, but without appropriate infrastructure and facilities. Besides Medvednica Mountain in the North, most of the large-scale green and recreational areas are located in the East, near the Maksimir forest, and along the river Sava in the South. The West part of the town, covering an area of around 30 km2, is a sequence of large residential neighborhoods built in different periods and with various organizational concepts, but none of them with adequate sport/leisure/entertainment Centre.
Xtreme West is a project for a recreational area, located and designed to improve the quality of life in the city of Zagreb. The intention was to provide the city with another active green zone, as well as to add a new program and urban hot spot in extremely centralized city network.
The project features:
• Three irregularly-shaped tracks (for cycling, skating, running, etc.) on different levels and with different slopes/average speeds.
• Adjustment of the existing terrain to new “ground” levels imposed by the tracks (the space between the tracks and a new landscape adopts a series of attached programs).
• A velodrome, speed track, ice-skating ring, square, etc.
The main characteristics of the whole area are overlapping, simultaneity and intensity of events, 24/7.
Extreme West is more programmatic than architectural. The concept was to organize the site with one element that is large enough to maintain the urban scale, but still flexible enough to host many possible scenarios. The imposed built structure, incorporated in the landscape to keep the area accessible, should act as a stimulator for further development. Future users can adopt the space in numerous variations, but the purpose stays the same- to give the people a place to play in.