Portfolio - Vilius Balčiūnas

Architecture and Urban design PORTFOLIO

VILIUS BALČIŪNAS vilius.balciunas@gmail.com 0037063060280

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACADEMIC PROJECTS Single family house

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Apartment building complex

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Balsiai kindergarten

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Development project of birštonas city pt.1

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Development project of birštonas city pt.2

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SERIES OF ACADEMIC PROJECTS IN FREDERICIA, DENMARK Fredericia’s urban analysis

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Regeneration project of urban residential structures

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Community garden in an oil tank

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Fredericia’s new waterfront

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COMPETITION 12X12

Build your container city. Fredericia, Denmark 2017

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2nd SEMESTER, 2014

SINGLE FAMILY HOUSE Grigiškės, Lithuania

VILIUS BALČIŪNAS PORTFOLIO

ACADEMIC PROJECTS

Tutor: Leonidas Pranas Ziberkas Email: -

Grigiškės is an eldership in the outskirts of Vilnius municipality. Due to cultural significance in Lithuania of having your own house, Grikiškės, as well as other elderships surrounding Vilnius city centre, are seeing a lot of suburbs development. The assignment specified a newly planned suburb in the northern part of the eldership, which located in a forest on the bank of river Neris. The task was to design a single family house in a selected plot.

The selected plot stood out, because of the protected patch of old pine trees.

This unique feature fostered a concept of close connection with nature.

Proposed house is situated in the back of the plot with pine trees separating it from the street, to create a sense of privacy. The design is based on an archetypical form of a house which is deformed to fit the site. The mass is also segmented into three distinctive volumes based on the functional structure of the house: common zones, parents personal area and children area. The latter areas are situated on the second floor of the house and connected by a monolithic staircase.

Window openings are the main feature connecting the interior spaces with the path of pines. They are formed by creating vertical slits in the facade hinting the tall shapes of the pine trees.

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4th SEMESTER, 2015

APARTMENT BUILDING COMPLEX Vilnius, Lithuania Tutor: Sigitas Kuncevičius Email: sigitas.kuncevicius@vgtu.lt

The selected plot is located in the city centre of Vilnius, in the west bordered by a sylvan hillside, and in the east connected to V. Kudirkos street which joins the lower and upper parts of the city. The most notable aspect of the site is its differences in elevation of more than 10 meters. Due to this feature, the goal to exploit the terrain was set.

apartment

block

houses

16

apartments varying from studios to 4 bedroom flats. For residents of the complex, there is a common “living room” designed on the sunken ground floor, apart from that, other spaces are intended for commercial use to create attraction points within the new route for pedestrians.

VILIUS BALČIŪNAS PORTFOLIO

In the proposed design commercial and public spaces are sunken into the terrain forming a passage in the middle, which connect Aludarių and V. Kudirkos streets, creating an alternative route for pedestrians going from the lower to the upper part of the city and vice versa. An underground parking is designed below the public / commercial level and three volumes containing apartments are designed above. The shape of the volumes is influenced by the directionality of the surrounding buildings.

Each

ACADEMIC PROJECTS

The assignment for the project was to design a multistorey apartment building with public and/or commercial spaces in one of the given plots in Vilnius.

Apart from architectural design, the task was to design a compound project with constructional and technical parts including plumbing and ventilation.

VILIUS BALČIŪNAS PORTFOLIO

ACADEMIC PROJECTS PAGE: 6

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ACADEMIC PROJECTS VILIUS BALČIŪNAS PORTFOLIO

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5th SEMESTER, 2015

BALSIAI KINDERGARTEN Vilnius, Lithuania Tutor: Sigitas Kuncevičius Email: sigitas.kuncevicius@vgtu.lt

VILIUS BALČIŪNAS PORTFOLIO

ACADEMIC PROJECTS

The assignment was to design a kindergarten in Balsiai suburb in the northern part of Vilnius. The plot for this task is located in the centre of Balsiai and is mostly surrounded by individual homes. To the north of the lot is a green park with a theme of Baltic mythology. The park has organic path design, which was influential in designing the proposal for the kindergarten.

The idea for the shape of the building is based on the combination of the organic nature of the paths in the park and monotonic and strict silhouette of the adjacent streets. The building forms an inner organically shaped courtyard with an opening in the south to create a connection with an empty lot where a community centre is planned to be built. The courtyard is surrounded by vast common space where children can play and stay active inside on rainy days. The outer perimeter of the building is formed by blocks of groups rooms, cafeteria and administration block nursery block and other facilities. The main feature of the second floor is a huge terrace for kids to play and run around. It is accessible from the inner courtyard or from the common space. All blocks that form the outer perimeter of the building have second floors. Group rooms are

designed so that more passive activities could take place in them, separate from the common space. Each group room has a staircase that leads to a sleeping area on the second floor. Group room blocks are arranged on the western and southern sides, eastern side has two nurseries, nurse room, and technical rooms, with spaces for extracurricular activities on the second floor. Facades are designed to shield the group rooms from excessive direct sunlight while still letting enough light through, o the other hand the facade surrounding the inner courtyard is open to blending it with the common space.

Volumes

ar

formed based on surroundings.

immediate

Organic shapes are design in a fashion of the organic paths in the park.

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ACADEMIC PROJECTS VILIUS BALČIŪNAS PORTFOLIO

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6th SEMESTER, 2016

DEVELOPMENT PROJECT OF BIRŠTONAS CITY pt.1 Birštonas, Lithuania

Concept sheme for public spaces.

Group project with: Martyna Kildaitė, Laura Gaižutytė, Rūta Žeromskaitė, Vytautė Gineikaitė.

Tutors: Agnė Vėtė, Inesa Alistrovaitė, Matas Cirtautas.

VILIUS BALČIŪNAS PORTFOLIO

ACADEMIC PROJECTS

Email: agne.vete@vgtu.lt; inesa.alistratovaite@vgtu.lt; matas.cirtautas@vgtu.lt Concept sheme for built environment.

Small town development project is a two-part assignment in the department of urban design. First part is a group work of analysis and planning concept proposals, while the second part is individual work of designing a development proposal for a selected region of the town.

Our group selected the city of Birstonas.

It is a small resort city in southern Lithuania situated on the bank of river Nemunas. The city’s history reaches 14th century, although its mineral water resources only started being actively used in the 19th century. The historic part of the city was damaged when a rapid extensive development ensued in Soviet occupation times with disregard to the scale of existing urban structure. Because of that Birstonas lacks a coherent volumetric urban structure.

Group analysis of the city consisted of historical analysis, evaluation of

the current public spaces structure, existing built environment assessment, and concluded with a determination of possibilities for the city’s urban structure.

Based on the analysis three development models monocentric, polycentric and mixed, were designed.

Of which the monocentric model was chosen for the development concept as it best reflects the current tendency of shrinking population in small cities in Lithuania and creates an opportunity to work with the existing structure of the city centre.

Groupwork concluded with a design proposal of a development concept. In the proposal, the main attention is given to developing city’s urban structure in a way that lessens the contrast of sparse modernist rapid development and city centres dense small-scale structure. That is achieved by planning smaller city’s blocks and reinforcing

their edges. We also propose a more coherent public spaces structure that connects main landmarks, attraction points and areas.

Personal contributions to the project are - on site mapping, mixed development model, historical analysis research, although most of the project was done by working together on all aspects.

Monocentric model

Polycentric model

Mixed model

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6th SEMESTER, 2016

DEVELOPMENT PROJECT OF BIRŠTONAS CITY pt.2 Birštonas, Lithuania Individual part.

Tutor: Agnė Vėtė Email: agne.vete@vgtu.lt;

Current urban structure of the region is sparse, consisting of large-scale resort sanatoriums, mineral water factory and historic small-scale buildings, which do not form a coherent public space.

VILIUS BALČIŪNAS PORTFOLIO

The proposed design is developed by forming more distinctive city blocks which in turn helps to define the edges of the street’s public space. Large masses of buildings are surrounded by smaller scale volumes to make it closer to human scale and historic urban structure’s scale. By differentiating the width of the street’s space it becomes more dynamic. Proposed blocks also accentuate the intersection of urban public space with the green wedge running through the city. The historic path of an old spring is restored to better define the character and directionality

of the green public space. At the end of the street, a new dominant building is proposed where once stood a resort hotel called “grand villa”. By creating a new attraction point at the end of the street a more defined connection with the river bank and the historic parc is formed. The axis of the street culminates with a footbridge that creates a new point of view to observe city’s skyline and acts as an urban anchor point.

ACADEMIC PROJECTS

The assignment of the second part of the project was to select a region of the city and propose a more detailed design. The chosen region is in the southern part of the city’s centre, it is a segment of B. Sruoga street with its surroundings including a historic park and access to the waterfront.

PAGE: 12 ACADEMIC PROJECTS VILIUS BALČIŪNAS PORTFOLIO

Retrospective sheme

Formation of city blocks

Public space structure

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FREDERICIA Series of projects

VILIUS BALČIŪNAS PORTFOLIO

The final year of bachelors studies was carried out in the Department of Urban Design in Vilnius Gediminas Technical University’s Faculty of Architecture. For this year I chose Fredericia as a site for my bachelor’s thesis and final project. The site was chosen intentionally, to throw myself into an unknown territory and away from sentimental subjective values of sites in my home country.

ACADEMIC PROJECTS

4th YEAR

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7th SEMESTER, 2016

FREDERICIA’S URBAN ANALYSIS Fredericia, Denmark Tutors: Dalia Dijokienė, Saulius Motieka

VILIUS BALČIŪNAS PORTFOLIO

ACADEMIC PROJECTS

Email: dalia.dijokiene@vgtu.lt; saulius. motieka@vgtu.lt

Infrastructure and central areaes

The first assignment of the final year, was an extensive urban analysis for the bachelor’s thesis. Analysis examines Fredericia’s inner city - old town.

Analysis process started with a site visit in October 2016. It coincided with European Architecture Students Assembly’s International Tutors Meeting. It gave an opportunity to meet with local community and officials from the municipality. Talks and discussions gave an insight into a local way of life, perceptions and expectations.

Thoughts of locals about Fredericia’s industrial context were very influential in the thesis.

A large part of the analysis was conducted off-site. A crucial part of the analysis was the collision between historical and industrial contexts.

The analysis was carried out in separate aspects with an outcome of conclusion scheme which shows the most important parts of the analysis possibilities for the future project.

Main aspects are public space structure, City’s grid structure, industrial zones, destroyed southern part of the bastion, possible and missing connections.

Cunclusion scheme

Urban public spaces

Green areas

Compositional structure

Landmarks and visual connections

Retrospective scheme

Different typologies

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7th SEMESTER, 2016

REGENERATION PROJECT OF URBAN RESIDENTIAL STRUCTURES Fredericia, Denmark Tutors: Dalia Dijokienė, Saulius Motieka Email: dalia.dijokiene@vgtu.lt; saulius. motieka@vgtu.lt

The proposed design was inspired by the shipping container yards near

Continuation of dynamic silhouette

Pre-fabricated wall, floor and roof segments join into blocks of which different size apartments are designed.

For the ground floor segments, a common form of street windows in the historic streets of Fredericia is chosen to conceptually connect industrial and historical contexts.

Interpretation of a traditional perimeter block

Project was given “GERAS“ award from Dean of Faculty of Architure.

Commecial block

Single residential segment

Studio

Single bedroom

Double bedroom

Tripple bedroom

VILIUS BALČIŪNAS PORTFOLIO

For this project, a narrow plot was chosen in the industrial region of the inner city of Fredericia. Proposed design interprets a relation of a traditional perimeter block with private and public spaces. Design of the residential structure challenges the divide between private outdoor space and a public space by creating visual connections between them and adding an intermediary community’s space on the terraces. Nevertheless, private space is not completely abolished, exposed gridded constructive structure creates mental boundaries between different segments.

the site. It prompted a concept of prefabricated modular segments. Different types of apartments and commercial / public spaces are formed by stacking aforementioned modular segments, because of that, a familiar silhouette is created that mimics the silhouette of the historic city’s blocks.

ACADEMIC PROJECTS

Alongside analysing the site, an assignment was given to design a residential building or complex.

Assignment’s objective was to develop an understanding of typologies of the built environment and to interpret them.

VILIUS BALČIŪNAS PORTFOLIO

ACADEMIC PROJECTS PAGE: 16

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ACADEMIC PROJECTS VILIUS BALČIŪNAS PORTFOLIO

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8th SEMESTER, 2017

COMMUNITY GARDEN IN AN OIL TANK Fredericia, Denmark Tutor: Martynas Valevičius Email: martynas.valevicius@vgtu.lt

For interior design course, an assignment was given to design a space

VILIUS BALČIŪNAS PORTFOLIO

ACADEMIC PROJECTS

in a chosen object. For this project, an oil tank was chosen in a south-east corner of Fredericia’s inner city.

The proposed design plays on the topic of nature taking over its destructor, in this case, oil. An indoor community garden is designed for the locals.

The design is comprised of modular elements which create different levels in the oil tank. Tanks outer wall is perforated in different densities in accordance to the cardinal directions.

Large dome is designed to let in natural light for the plants and for the people.

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8th SEMESTER, 2017

FREDERICIA’S NEW WATERFRONT Fredericia, Denmark Bachelors thesis. Official title: “Design proposals for the detailed plan of the surroundings of Oldernborggade street in the southern part of Old town of Fredericia“ Tutor: Dalia Dijokienė Email: dalia.dijokiene@vgtu.lt

ACADEMIC PROJECTS

changing economic climate of the city.

New proposed urban structure is based on the city’s grid, expanding it to the edge of a destroyed southern bastion.

In the design proposal for a detailed segment of the analysed territory multifunctional complex is proposed, which extends beyond the bastion and quite literally anchor itself into the waterfront, forming a connection.

Multifunctional complex plays a role of a connecting historical and industrial contexts. For its primary volume a pitched roof warehouse-like shape is chosen as an intermediary between a small scale archetypical house and large industrial warehouse complex, then it is deconstructed in accordance with pathways, roads and public spaces. Key attraction points in the multifunctional complex are distinguished by large contrasting volumes which create a homage to the industrial volumes that stood in this area before. Urban memory of the site is a key aspect of the thesis.

New public space struccture

Extending streets

Extending bikepaths

Territory beyon the bastion for complexes

Extended city block stucture

Functional zones residential, mixed, public, commercial

VILIUS BALČIŪNAS PORTFOLIO

This thesis examines Fredericia’s inner city - old town. The aim of this thesis is to propose solutions for abandoned industrial territory in the southern part of the inner city, which are based on the urban analysis. Analysed territory Denmark’s city’s Fredericia’s southern part of old-town. This area went through drastic historical changes. It marks the collision between historical and industrial contexts.

During industrialization southern part of old-town was damaged due to expanding harbour. Nevertheless, this territory is currently abandoned and has lost its identity. The urban analysis highlights main issues in the mentioned territory - lack of a coherent system of public spaces, separate public spaces lack connections, the identity of the analysed territory is lost. Design proposals of Fredericia’s southern part create a coherent and integrated system of public spaces, proposed various functional zones creates a lively infrastructure for the

VILIUS BALČIŪNAS PORTFOLIO

ACADEMIC PROJECTS PAGE: 20

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Primary volume

Reacting to historing context

ACADEMIC PROJECTS

Reacting to public spaces

Creating a connection

Accenting volumes

VILIUS BALČIŪNAS PORTFOLIO

Creating vertical connections

VILIUS BALČIŪNAS PORTFOLIO

ACADEMIC PROJECTS PAGE: 22

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ACADEMIC PROJECTS VILIUS BALČIŪNAS PORTFOLIO

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24 HOURS COMPETITION August 2017

12X12 BUILD YOUR CONTAINER CITY Fredericia, Denmark 2nd place Contest organised by Fredericia municipality as part of 2017 European Architecture Students Assembly.

Group contest entry with: Alexandra Mokuzova, Michail Železniak

C-Byen is a good start in breathing a new life into harbour area of Fredericia, but it still has room for improvement.

Our team engaged with the container city’s community and highlighted the main problem being disorganisation and clutter.

Personal contributions to the proposal: development of the concept together with teammates, axonometric schemes.

VILIUS BALČIŪNAS PORTFOLIO

To make C-Byen more structured we took inspiration from existing urban structure of Fredericia. We proposed 12 basic container layouts to fit in a 12x12 m grid, achieving variety and flexibility. The grid is inserted between the extensions of existing streets.

Proposed C-Byen design is divided into two main areas - commercial and community zone. Commercial zone

goes along the channel and connects to the main pedestrian paths. 12x12 grid offers a potential and flexibility for future extension of the C-Byen, as it is applicable for all of the harbour area. In our vision the main direction of growth should be horizontal, with an option to make individual cells in the grid rise higher, thus making them work as local landmarks.

COMPETITION

During European Architecture Students Assembly in Fredericia in the summer of 2017, a 24-hour competition was organised for conceptual design proposals to improve a temporary container city called C-Byen in Fredericia harbour.

Vilnius, Lithuania 2018