Museum of Civilization, Bratislava, Slovakia
Lenka Petrakova, Studio Project at Simkovic Studio, Faculty of Architecture, Slovak University of Technology
A redevelopment proposal for the former Mičurin site on Búdková Street, Bratislava, this project restores the area’s mid 20th-century character while revealing an overlooked layer of local history. The design is anchored in the hypothesis of a concealed military camp situated behind a children’s camp, using this tension between the visible and the hidden as the conceptual driver for a new Museum of Civilisation.
Set at the foot of Muránska výšina and closely connected to Horský Park, the site’s contradictory past becomes an architectural narrative. The museum is conceived as a sequence of spaces and atmospheres that guide visitors through discovery rather than presenting a single authoritative storyline. Interpretation remains open, allowing each visitor to construct meaning through personal context and experience.
Beyond heritage and storytelling, the project questions the societal value of highly desirable urban land in Bratislava’s Old Town. It argues for safeguarding cultural and public benefit in places where market pressure risks erasing memory, access, and collective significance.
