Cromaris hatchery and nursery in Nin are situated in an extremely sensitive location, virtually right next to the very ramparts of Nin and, at the same time, on the verge of an impressive artificial landscape created by the Nin saltworks. In the ingoing and the outgoing vista the plant becomes a plant in a picturesque town on the one side and a plant in the luxuriant landscape of the saltworks on the other.
For that very reason, this architectural assignment carried extra weight which surpassed the mere modelling of an industrial hall volume and front. Due to that we decided to employ mimicry in order to disguise the hall’s appearance and turn it into a line, a shimmering silhouette on the horizon.
Stacks of galvanized tubes function as the outer shell of the hall, giving an anonymous concrete hall an entirely new look. This industrial volume is dematerialized by a stylized, artificial tubular wicker and it is transformed into a dynamic mobile put into motion by the sun travelling from east to west. Wind, not breeze, moves the high ends of the tubes, thus creating a sense of a shimmering front which blends with the swampy landscape of the saltworks.