Piranesi Mention 2022: MM House

When the archaic becomes radical, or why the MM House has become an example and herald of a new age

There is nothing ordinary with the MM House, every step required good will on all sides. Transitioning into the third stage of their lives, the clients decided to replace their (too) large family house and business premises. The architects proposed a renovation of an old anonymous house that stood on the edge of the plot. And with these premises it instantly became an example of the recognition and renovation of a particular kind of heritage. Why?

Domžale is situated on a gravel plain along the Kamniška Bistrica River, which has been inhabited since ancient times. Archaeological finds testify to the continuity of settlement from prehistoric times, through the Romans, the Middle Ages and into the modern era. The advantage is of course the location at the crossroads of transport routes (river, road, later the railway), so the economy is based on the movement of people and goods. The virtually unintentional installation of the Ljubljana-Kamnik railway line through the area of today’s Domžale (Mengeš, a more logical choice, was bypassed due to opposition from landowners) at the end of the 19th century led to a marked process of industrialization, especially for the famous straw-hat industry. Domžale became a single settlement almost a hundred years ago, and a town in the 1950s, when several villages were merged into an economic and social centre. Wood, metal, chemical, leather and textile factories were established in the former villages. After World War II, the town retained its industrial character, while the housing construction completed its urbanization, as housing estates were built to meet the needs of the workers who migrated for employment. With the decline of industry towards the end of the 20th century, however, the town turned into a kind of commuter estate, as the boom in urbanization left it without a real architectural and urban centre – an attempt to create one in the 1980s with the multifunctional megablock SPB-1, which the architect went on to disown in court and which remains the largest building in Slovenia, was unsuccessful – as well as without any significant historical buildings. The renovation of the MM House fits into this context as an example of preserving, remembering and emphasizing local identity.