Original scientific paper
Stubičke toplice — Architectural Structure of the Spa built by Maksimilijan Vrhovec
Viki Jakaša Borić
; Konzervatorski odjel Zagreb
Biserka Bilušić Dumbović
; Konzervatorski odjel Zagreb
Abstract
The spa building at Stubičke Toplice was designed by Father Christian Heinrich Vesteburg and built by Maksimilijan Vrhovec in 1811. Due to various intervention in the course of the 19 and the 20 century the baroque-classicist building would change its original structure, and would cease to act the dominant visual point of the complex.
The building is a complex one story geometric structure of a richly articulated plan expressing the baroque idea of a dominant central volume, and it also includes the park as an integral part of the whole. Vesteburg designed the building as three entities. The original plans were strictly followed only in the west U-shaped wing. The east wing was set within an L-shaped plan, whereas the central, containing the pool, is a rectangle the shorter, southern side of which forms the dominant central accent of the facade. This central, axially placed wing was linked by porches to the rest of the building accommodating auxiliary functions. The main facade was executed mostly along the original plans. It is a tripartite composition with an accent in the middle, based on the spatial structure of the complex. The three-axial projecting zone with a gable termination is flanked, on each side, at the ground level by two arcades topped by elliptical arches, and by rectangular windows above them. The side wings facades, originally conceived as identical units with five window axes each, in their execution and decor faithfully follow Vesteburg's conception. Due to minor modifications the east wing ended up with seven, and the west with six windows.
The central two-story hall contains the pool of octagonal plan and is covered by a domical vault. The back sections of this unit contain locker-rooms and a staircase. On the upper story level the central section which projected into the pool hall was flanked by a series of rooms on the east, and by one large room on the west. The porch to the west of the pool links this central unit with the western wing which represents a separate body within the U-shaped plan. This is a traditional spatial concept based on lining up rooms along the outer perimeter walls, whereas the building opens on the courtyards by arcaded corridors. The east L-shaped wing is composed of two lines of rooms divided by a narrow corridor and covered by Bohemian vaults.
Due to a need for increased capacity the first rebuilding followed after just ten years. This represents the second stage in the development of Maksimiljan's baths. The pool was extended to the east by a rectangular addition causing the closing of the inner arcade opening. At the same time or a little bitlater the western poreh was also redone in such a way that the inner arcade opening was closed, solving thus the issue of symmetry of the facades, and resulting in another widening of the pool area equivalent to that on the east, to be used, most probably, for locker-rooms.
Toward the end of the 19 century, and definitely before 1908, the central wing was expanded in the back by adding another volume at the ground floor level. It contained a series of rooms with bathtubs and accompanying elements.
The 19 century interventions did not aggressively encroach upon the spatial structure of the complex. The volume was almost completely preserved, with the exception of the raising of the roof in the meeting zone of the central and western wings. The articulation and treatment of the facade was left unchanged, except for the closing of the east and west arcade opening.
The 20 century intervention, however, radically changed the original outlook and harmony of the building. A two-story hall was added at the north in the thirties replacing a one-story 19 century structure, and new volumes were interpolated between the central and lateral wings. The back facade of the spa building totally lost its original shape having the central gable as it main accent. The added building takes over dominating by its size the structures from the Vrhovec times.
The main facade was debased at the same time by a new roof resulting from the above-mentioned modifications. The three-axial central zone disappeared and so also the power of the baroque accent. The latest major rearrangement occurred in the sixties when the old building was linked up to a new one, and the eastern wing lost its gable roof. The entire main facade decor was probably removed at the time leaving the building as we see it today.
The Vrhovec building is the earliest preserved example of spa architecture in Croatia built according to the contemporary western European criteria and standards. The spa building was built in the style of baroque classicism in the wake of the Central European mansion architecture tradition, with a central volume or space dominating the rest of the composition. The complex should also be valued in terms of urban design as it has played an extremely important role in the urban development of Stubičke Toplice and its identity.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
151887
URI
Publication date:
15.12.2004.
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