Description

Two buildings on a lot, which enter into an inspired spatial dialog with one another. “Romeo” – a compact, tall apartment tower – occupies the eastern side of the shared lot. A central, naturally lit corridor provides access to six apartments on each floor.

“Julia,” the lower building, on the other hand, appears more open and dissolved in volume, with its ring-shaped fabric divided into irregular steps from 11 to 4 stories. Covered walkways provide access to the apartments in this building, and are connected to a central stairwell. Penthouse units, so-called “studio” apartments with large terraces and cantilevered roofs generate a roof landscape. The crystalline, fanned-out form, which provides panoramic views in all directions, is common to both buildings.

The projecting “teeth” in the building skin of House “Julia” increase the window surface in the individual rooms. Both buildings are strongly oriented toward the path of the sun: in “Romeo” all living rooms and balconies face south, while “Julia’s” circular plan is interrupted on the north side. Both buildings feature the same floor plan layout in principle, where a central hallway provides direct access to all rooms within a unit. There is always one room, which is additionally accessible from the living space, the separation of private and common area is rendered in a more flowing manner.

The organic disposition of the internal dividing walls, which is also expressed in the facade, and the spatial effect of the two large fabrics on their own and in relation to each other, transforms the “Romeo and Julia” complex into a differentiated housing experience. With this complex, Scharoun delivered proof in the postwar era that efficiency is not necessarily dependant on an orthogonal plan.

---

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