Description

The architects were trying to create a place in an overdeveloped residential area when they designed the Ulmer House. The anonymous, ‘spaceless’ area required a reaction that at least created clearly delineated fields within the bounds of the particular plot. So a figure was designed that takes account of the various features of the corner plot: public roads on two sides and neighbours’ plots behind. Two right angles divide the site into two zones, the access area and the garden area. The building’s sharp edges create a clearly intelligible space, with identifiable courtyards on an appropriate and pleasant scale. The reticently designed cubic sections of the building in carefully finished exposed masonry are stepped back twice according to functions, thus demonstrating a response in terms of urban–or rather village–development.

Access is via the two-storey section of the building, containing the garage, main entrance and a communicating hallway, then the kitchen and dining area. The upper floor accommodates the bedrooms and bathroom. The centrally placed living room with a study area in the central, single-storey section opens up generously on to the garden and features a partially roofed terrace with adjacent ancillary rooms. This long, low wing can be seen from the living room and is important for the arrangement of space in the rear as a link between the living and green areas. Ultimately, the wing determines the significance of the design.

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Originally published in: Klaus-Peter Gast, Living Plans: New Concepts for Advanced Housing, Birkhäuser, 2005.