13

WOODEN SKYSCRAPER

OBJECT ADDRESS
Trg Drage Iblera 7, Zagreb

OBJECT AUTHOR
Drago Ibler

YEAR OF COMPLETION
1958.

INVESTOR
State company Autocentar Merkur / ACM

The most famous work of architect Drago Ibler is the residential-business corner in Martićeva Street, completed in 1958. The residential part contains eight floors and 40 apartments of various sizes. The apartments are adorned with rich outdoor spaces – lodges on the south, or double-glazed lodges on the north side of the building, and the flat walkable roof was used as a terrace with a pergola. The adjective “wooden” came from wooden cladding/fillings and carpentry elements. The load-bearing structure is a reinforced concrete skeletal, with an axial span of 4.5m, allowing floor plan changes or an increase in the number of rooms. There are five apartments on the floor – four equally large, mirror-symmetric apartments, oriented across the corner and one studio, in the span of the staircase. The apartments are characterized by spaciousness and functionality. Service rooms are located in the depths of the building, noting that residential kitchens are in direct contact with the outdoor space of the apartment. As the building is included in the list of cultural goods, residents are allowed to use funds from the so-called monument rent, so the building has recently been thoroughly renovated.