Description
Seven family members needed enough space to be able to live individually and undisturbed in open, natural surroundings. The plot permitted composition on a spacious scale, with the different functions of a complex dwelling programme illustrated on the exterior. Independent sections, essentially cubes fitted together horizontally and vertically, allow living to expand into an exciting experience of differentiated volumes with holistic internal and external spaces. In understanding this building composition it is important to note that each function zone is illustrated as an individual body. The totality of the unit is to the fore here, giving each space its identity and power. Thus walking through the areas as they alternate with external terraces becomes a ‘discovery of space’, always dependent on daylight or a particular mood.
Access via a large driveway is along one wing of the building by car into the garage, or directly into the area outside the main living room on the ground floor of the centre of the complex. Anchored through a fireplace block on the long axis, this living and dining space with attached kitchen forms the heart of the building. Large glazed areas with wooden louvre screens open up its borders to the natural surroundings. A separate, generous bedroom and bathroom area is adjacent to the living area as a single-storey, independent wing, and an access section leads into the upper storey above the main living room into a coherent family sleeping area.
The single-storey wings have roof terraces. Two point tower structures run counter to the expressive horizontality of this long building. They are attached to the garage and free-standing, and accommodate attractive guest apartments on the periphery, with air spaces and galleries. An open study area with a view over the treetops provides a climax for the staircase section by the bedroom area, as a third vertical accent. Each clearly demarcated area within this family of spaces and building sections thus acquires a character of its own; the occupants’ intensive family life is thus reflected in their accommodation.
Drawings
Site plan
Axonometric diagram wit disposition of the group of buildings with central living area
Ground floor with access courtyard, central living area with cooking/dining, separate bedroom section, garage wing with courtyards and terrace, and two separate guest apartments
Second floor with sleeping section above the living area, upper rooms in the separate guest apartments (towers) and roof terraces
Third floor with apartment in the third tower
Cross section through the entrance and living area on the ground floor and bedroom area on the top
Photos
Exterior view from the east
Interior view of living area with fireplace and screens on the window
Originally published in: Klaus-Peter Gast, Living Plans: New Concepts for Advanced Housing, Birkhäuser, 2005.