bell tower above the Square

Sometimes, Less Is Enough.

The little bell tower in Vidče is probably the oldest landmark in the village. Its firmly rooted place in the identity of the local community is reflected quite literally in the children’s drawings we noticed in the cultural centre — the bell tower is almost always there. It originally stood on a hill between Vidče and Zubří and used to be the destination of funeral processions. During the former regime, however, it was moved into the village and subsequently placed between a shop and the church. All the magic of the procession towards it, its relationship with the landscape and its sense of exceptionality were undignifiedly erased.

The brief, however, was not a reflection on the bell tower. The whole idea emerged during a spring workshop in Vidče, which launched our upcoming university studio led by architects from M2AU, and which sought answers to the question of what could be done with the “little square” in the centre of the village.

We had a flat open space, bordered on one side by the main road and on the other by a several-metre-high change in level, beyond which fields continue out into the landscape. As an open space in the middle of the village, it was used for various events. The problem arose whenever nothing was happening there — the intention was therefore to find a form that could serve the community throughout the year.

We thus had a large space looking for a purpose, and next to it an important bell tower that was missing a place of its own. The solution was therefore quite obvious. The change in level seemed to call for something important to be placed there, so relocating the bell tower became the main idea, while everything else was kept deliberately simple.

We insert a modest stone staircase into the change in level and pave a small seating area around the bell tower. The square itself remains open, complemented only by a subtle detail: grooves are cut into the existing asphalt, which is already being reclaimed by vegetation along its edges, allowing the grass to gradually spread further across the square. In a few years, Vidče could gain a pleasant village place with its own identity.

This project was realised by M2AU. More about the realisation: m2au.cz/project/vidce