{"id":371,"date":"2018-12-07T20:35:53","date_gmt":"2018-12-07T20:35:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ninakozin.com\/brajkovici\/?p=371"},"modified":"2018-12-07T20:35:57","modified_gmt":"2018-12-07T20:35:57","slug":"doors-and-windows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/ninakozin.com\/brajkovici\/doors-and-windows\/","title":{"rendered":"Doors and windows"},"content":{"rendered":"

Winter is knocking on our doors again. It\u2019s time to put down the trowel, reflect on the year gone by and share all the steps\u00a0we managed to make on our path of\u00a0the stone house renovation.<\/p>\n

Last year we managed to brush off the marks of time off\u00a0the stone walls and protect them with a roof. Before the next stages of refurbishment took place and we started with the renovation of the interior, the outer shell needed to be waterproof.\u00a0We filled up the smaller holes with mortar. What belongs\u00a0in the bigger remaining openings? Doors and windows \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I do have to confess I still get confused with the Istrian time warp; it takes me by surprise again and again. The perfect example is the story about how the doors and windows came into existence.<\/p>\n

The first time I met (the third) carpenter on site was on 16th<\/sup> February. We went through all the plans, looked at every technicality, measured every possible dimension and agreed on every detail. 1 big door, 2 smaller windows and a big glass wall were to be made and installed in 3 months. Far from cheap but the quality would be worth it. It sounded fabulous and we shook hands on it.<\/p>\n

The first complication was the steel frame on the east wall. It needed to be installed before the final measurements for the glass wall could be completed. After a year of searching for anyone that would be willing to make a non-corroding steel frame and talking\u00a0to all the uninterested companies in the vicinity I gave up the search for local production and ordered it in Ljubljana. After I waited quite some time for the order to be made, it was done exactly as we agreed upon (thank you Klemen!). Then some more waiting for the zinc plant in Austria to accomplish its anti-corroding magic, some more waiting for the painting of the frame to take place and I could finally transport it to the coast.\u00a0The steel frame was installed on 10th<\/sup> July.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\"\"\u00a0\u00a0<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Now everything was ready and since we agreed on the schedule with the carpenter there will be no more waiting for the manufacturing of the doors, right?<\/p>\n

As it turned out, the carpenter did not order the wood yet so there was no appropriate material to manufacture the elements yet. So we waited for the ordered wood to make its appearance.<\/p>\n

After the wood came there was no suitable steel track for the glass window. Why? The manufacturer stopped delivering the product to Croatia and soon I was looking everywhere, including all the neighbouring countries to import the part myself. Since it was the beginning of August already everyone was off for vacation.<\/p>\n

After some remarkable stunts we managed to get the steel track. There were the wood and the track, but there was no suitable varnish. Then the varnish came and the weather was not right for the application. What else could we have possibly still been waiting for? Oh yeah, I forgot the yearly vacation the carpenter\u2019s company takes in August that they forgot to mention to me\u2026<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The doors and windows were finally installed on the 31th<\/sup> August. Even though it took almost 4 months longer that agreed upon, I was happy with the accomplishment. They looked beautiful and for the first week I couldn’t stop folding the glass wall\u2026<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\"\"<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\"\"<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What were\u00a0the reflections\u00a0behind the\u00a0outer appearance of the house?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is always hard to find the right balance between preserving the old and implementing the new. How do you specify the parameters that make out the right balance?<\/p>\n

Vitruvius put it neatly: firmitas, utilitas, venustas.<\/p>\n

Firmitas (strength)<\/p>\n

It was highly important that the majority of the old stone volume was preserved, but looking at the house from the structural stability perspective, the strength of the east wall was questionable. The original chimney was too heavy and unstable for the wood structure of the roof. The bulky\u00a0thing broke the supporting structure and leaned its entire weight on the corner of the east wall making a crack in the wall about 10 cm wide.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Utilitas (functionality)<\/p>\n

Times change, people\u2019s lives change and the use of buildings with it. Do we want to smother potential and life with the rigidity of the past? I don\u2019t believe absolute preservation is the right approach. This house has seen many glorious moments when\u00a0people enjoyed their time with each other on its premises. I find this to be one of the key elements of this renovation: to give the people as many options as we can provide them with so they can enjoy the true beauty of the moment in this magical setting. Some people look for tranquillity, some look for nature, some for companionship. Be what it may, cutting an opening in the only wall where we were allowed to do that – in order to connect the inside of the house with the outside space – seemed like the right choice.<\/p>\n

I am aware it is not a traditional feature by any stretch of the imagination. But do I want to relish the outside while cooking under the pergola and at the same time have the option to share my time with someone inside the house? Yes. So that\u2019s why I yielded to making a big opening in the east wall, a folding glass surface 3.7 m wide and 2.3\u00a0m high.<\/p>\n

For the times they are a changin’ (B.D.1964).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Venustas (beauty)<\/p>\n

I’ve come to cherish the simplicity of form, the usage of the materials in the close proximity of the building and the durability of technically well executed details. Beauty? I will let everyone judge that for themselves.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Winter is knocking on our doors again. It\u2019s time to put down the trowel, reflect on the year gone by and share all the steps\u00a0we managed to make on our path of\u00a0the stone house renovation. Last year we managed to brush off the marks of time off\u00a0the stone walls and protect them with a roof….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/ninakozin.com\/brajkovici\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/ninakozin.com\/brajkovici\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/ninakozin.com\/brajkovici\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ninakozin.com\/brajkovici\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ninakozin.com\/brajkovici\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=371"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"http:\/\/ninakozin.com\/brajkovici\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":400,"href":"http:\/\/ninakozin.com\/brajkovici\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371\/revisions\/400"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/ninakozin.com\/brajkovici\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ninakozin.com\/brajkovici\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=371"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ninakozin.com\/brajkovici\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}