Description

Ten identical multifamily buildings along a private path in an area not yet urbanized at the time of the design. The architects created a self-sufficient, even fenced-in complex. The result is exclusive in two senses: to the outside it is cold and rejecting while the inside is lavish and cared for. The identification of residents with their building is aided by its form: it is staggered, with no two floors alike. One room of the preceding apartment serves as a – partially covered – terrace for the unit above. The roof terrace is for shared use.

An apartment is situated in each building corner, with rooms arranged along a corridor. Each unit has a foyer leading to the corridor; the bathrooms and kitchen are lined up along the interior, the bedrooms on the exterior. The living room is straight ahead. Both kitchen and living room open onto the terrace. In the 4-room apartments in the back, the living room is located directly off the foyer space. The corridor is transformed into a private space.

The ground floor apartments enjoy a private garden with terrace; a tree-lined boulevard between the rows serves as a communal greenspace. Despite the repetition of the symmetrical housing type, the complex still appears varied and open, thanks to the staggered building ends. These form a gap, which – according to the architects – “could also be understood as having originated the design.”

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Originally published in: Oliver Heckmann, Friederike Schneider (eds.), Floor Plan Manual Housing, fourth revised and expanded edition, Birkhäuser, 2011.