Description

“Möbius House,” designed for a professional couple with children, derives its name from the mathematical model of the Möbius band. In analogy to the characteristics of the Möbius band an attempt is made to dissolve the differentiation between inside and outside, above and below, in favor of a dynamic spatial experience. All rooms are laid out along a loop through the house. The stairs and ramp pass through the common areas and through the family’s work and private areas on two levels before returning to the starting point.

The sequence of rooms is intended to follow the sequence of daily life. The seamless transitions between the spaces are conceived to allow for fluid use without proscribing a specific function. The principle of intertwining is also evidenced in the relationship between space and material as well as in the two materials that define the building: glass and concrete are constantly swapping place and reversing roles.

The result is a complex geometry with exciting sequences of very different rooms and visual references. The views of the landscape are thus framed and choreographed: one is always approaching a point with a panoramic vista. Life in this house is thus transformed into a walk in the environment.

---

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