Hasta La Ideas

This house in the Bavarian countryside by local office SoHo Architektur has a kinked facade that provides different views from the living spaces and a pitched roof that references vernacular farm buildings (+ slideshow).

SoHo Architektur designed the family home for a sloping site on the edge of the small village of Landsberg and arranged the rooms so the living spaces have the best views, while a basement buried into the hill houses the entrance and a study.

“The main idea with this house was to manage the site to make the most of the views,” architect Alexander Nägele told Dezeen. “We organised the levels so from the living room you can see the Bavarian Alps in the south and the Lech river in the north.”

The building’s irregular facade features folds in the front and back, with windows looking out at difference aspects of the surrounding countryside.

When viewed from the access road at the end of the driveway the house appears to have a simple section with a pitched roof, which is intended to resemble typical local barns.

“We didn’t make many design decisions with this facade,” explained Nägele. “There are a lot of farm houses here that have the same facade and we just altered the size.”

The exterior is clad in vertical wooden planks that have been painted black to match the colour of the vernacular buildings nearby.

By burying the basement floor in the side of the hill, the architects were able to make the most of the building’s footprint while complying with local height regulations.

A pathway leads past the garage at basement level to a sheltered courtyard and the house’s main entrance.

A short staircase ascends from the courtyard to the garden which surrounds the building and can also be accessed from the ground floor at the rear of the property.

Concrete walls at the basement level continue up the stairs that lead to the large open plan kitchen, dining and living space, which features a fireplace built into an angular concrete wall.

The first floor contains the bedrooms and features warmer materials, including wooden boards lining the staircase and covering the floors.

Photography is by Zooey Braun.

The architects sent us this brief project description:

s_DenK

Being located at the hillside in a small Bavarian village the lot opens to the Alps in the South and the valley of the river Lech. By placing garage and house on different height levels it was possible to keep the original composition with a huge garden nearly untouched.

The access path bridges the height levels alongside the garage and opens up to a sheltered courtyard with gravel flooring. Entrances to house and office are located on this base level.

Some steps form a short cut to the garden. The next level houses the living area with huge South facing windows, featuring the view to the village and further on to the Alps, and an even opening to the garden in the North.

Narrow wooden stairs lead to the private rooms under the roof. The typical coloured and textured facade is a harmonious reference to the local context of the building.

The post s_DenK house by SoHo Architektur
has a kinked facade appeared first on Dezeen.

The new Museum Luthers Sterbehaus by Stuttgart architects Von M is a grey-brick extension to the house where Martin Luther died – but it turns out the Christian reformer “actually died in another building around the corner” (+ slideshow + photos by Zooey Braun).

The “death house” museum extends a late-Gothic house in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the town of Eisleben, Germany, that centres around the life of Luther, a key protagonist in the reform of Christianity in the sixteenth century.

Until recently the house was believed to be the place of Luther’s death, so Von M was commissioned to restore the house to its sixteenth-century appearance as part of a larger project to convert the site into a museum dedicated to the life of the man and the history of the reformation.

“Today we know it isn’t the building where Martin Luther died; it was a mistake and he actually died in another building around the corner that doesn’t exist any more,” Von M’s Dennis Mueller told Dezeen.

“As it was the building for thinking of Martin Luther, it is still seen as the Luther Sterbehaus [Luther’s Death House],” he added. “We still see the old building as not only a space for exhibitions, but as one of the most important parts of the exhibition. It’s an exhibit itself.”

The two-storey extension is located behind the old house and is constructed from pale grey bricks that were cut using jets of water to create an uneven texture.

“The colour of the bricks was especially chosen for the project so that the facade chimes together with the materials of the old building,” said Mueller.

The main entrance can be found at the rear of the site, leading visitors through to exhibition galleries and events rooms with exposed concrete walls and ceilings.

A ramped corridor slopes down to meet the slightly lower level of the old house, which has been completely restored.

Photography is by Zooey Braun.

Here’s some extra information from Von M:

Museum Luthers Sterbehaus

The building which is one of the UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites was extensively renovated and extended by a new building into a museum complex showing a permanent exhibition as well as exhibitions presenting diverse and specific aspects and topics.

The basic principle for the restoration of the building were the historically documented reconstructions by Friedrich August Ritter in 1868 and Friedrich Wanderer in 1894.

The relocation of the main entrance and all other important functional rooms into the new building made it possible to largely preserve the existing basic structure of the old building.

Because of its clear cubature and structure, the new building that is connected to the existing one expresses itself in a self-conscious and contemporary speech, still it subordinates itself under the existing and its environment conditioned by the materiality of its facade as well as the differentiation of the single parts of the building in dimension and height.

Because of the mutual integration of the new and the existing building a significant and impressing round tour through the museum rooms has been developed – a tour that confronts the visitor with a diversity of aspects and themes of the permanent exhibition “Luthers letzter Weg”.

The post Martin Luther “death house” museum
by Von M built at wrong address appeared first on Dezeen.

A square window protrudes from the gabled facade of this house in Germany by Stuttgart architects (se)arch (+ slideshow + photographs by Zooey Braun)

The three-storey-high residence completes the edge of a medieval market square in Metzingen where all new buildings are required to have a steep pitched roof.

“The ‘Kelterplatz’ is a very special part of the city,” (se)arch architect Stephan Eberding told Dezeen. “It’s a square with seven old ‘Keltern’, which are a kind of traditional wood-frame construction with a roof to make wine. We tried to play with that.”

The roof of Haus E17 slopes up at a steep angle that matches its neighbours and is clad with brown tiles. “We were not allowed to use metal, even the colors of the tiles had to be dark red or brown, so we tried to create a very simple, sharply cut shape,” said Eberding.

The walls are clad with beige-coloured stucco and the windows are framed with bronze-aluminium. “We tried to keep the colour palette in a small spectrum, to make the shape stronger,” added Eberding.

Living rooms and kitchen areas are located on the ground and basement floors, while bedrooms occupy two split levels on the top storeys of the building.

The projecting window can be found on the uppermost floor and faces out over the square. Eberding explained: “From upstairs you have a far view to the ‘Schwaebische Alb’, a mountain chain south of Stuttgart.”

Other buildings by German architects (se)arch include a house clad with cedar shingles near Aalen.

Some other German houses to complete recently include a residence with an inclined profile by UNStudio and a Bavarian townhouse by SoHo Architektur. See more German houses on Dezeen.

See more photography by Zooey Braun on Dezeen, or on his website.

Here’s some more information from (se)arch architekten:

The prominent location of the house is on the edge of the historical Kelternplatz. The Kelternplatz is a market square with seven medieval winepress buildings, which are are declared as historical monuments. The site was previously used as a parking lot. The historic square gets now with the new building the completion of its northern edge.

The house, clearly outlined in its outer form, is based on a parallelogram floor plan. This is the result of the geometry of the site and other building conditions. The house is developed as a “living space sculpture”. The inside is determined by a composition of free arranged floor levels which transmit a spatial impression. Specific views through the windows of the historic environment are freezed into images. Those are placed in contrast to the flow of the internal space.

The house measures 11.5 meters x 6.5 meters and arises over 4 1/2 levels. All service rooms, storage areas and the stairs are concentrated in a 2 meter wide “function zone”. This succeeds to keep the remaining volume free and to focus on the space. Vistas and exposures to light are in a balanced tension and continually provide unexpected spatial situations.

Above: ground floor plan

Above: first floor plan

Above: second floor plan

Above: third floor plan

Above: cross section

Above: long section

The post Haus E17 in Metzingen
by (se)arch appeared first on Dezeen.

Slideshow: our second project this week by Stuttgart architects Werner Sobek Design is a huge cantilevered altar that was temporarily constructed in Freiberg, Germany, for the pope’s visit last year (photographs by Zooey Braun).

The 20-metre-long solid canopy sheltered the leader of the Catholic church during an open-air mass, while the supporting structure behind housed a sacristy and other rooms.

Elements of the steel frame were bolted and clamped together rather than welded so that the structure could be easily disassembled.

Some chairs used to furnish the altar were reused from the pope’s previous visit, while any new furniture was relocated to nearby churches after the event.

See this week’s other story about Werner Sobek here.

The text below is from the architects:

Altar for the Papal visit 2011 in Freiburg/Germany

On the occasion of his third visit to Germany, Pope Benedict XVI celebrated an open-air Mass on 25th September 2011.

The Mass was held on a green space at the airfield in Freiburg. As already done for the Papal visit in Munich 2006, Werner Sobek was asked to design a weather protective Altar roof.

The Altar consisted of a sacristy for the Holy Father and various other adjoining rooms for ministrants, etc.

A translucent roof floating 15 m above the Altar protected the area against all weather conditions.

Most parts of the construction material could be reused or recycled after the Mass. During the design phase the focus was put on the materials which do not have to be welded or glued. Joints were only made of bolted, rotating, or clamp joints.

This not only enabled a quick mounting but also served for the quick dismantling and a clear separation of the used materials. Furnishing was also carried out according to reusability.

Most parts of the furniture were made for the Altar for the Papal visit in 2006. Newly designed furniture could be reused in churches.

Click above for larger image

The supporting structure of the Altar was a steel framework covered with laminar wood. The rear wall and the roof were made of a structural steelwork which was covered with fabric panels, each of them sized 3.6 x 2m and made of PVC polyester and especially in the roof area of PTFE-coated glass fibre fabric.

Click above for larger image

The roof construction did not need a special structure even though it cantilevered 20m. It could be solved with a standardized support system usually carried out on temporary bridges.

Architects: Werner Sobek, Stuttgart/Germany
Planning time: 2011
Construction time: 2011
Services rendered by Werner Sobek: design and overall planning
Client: Erzbischöflisches Ordinariat Freiburg

Circular mirrors, glowing acrylic rods and large yellows discs adorn the ceiling of this canteen for German magazine Der Spiegel (photos by Zooey Braun).

Designed by Ippolito Fleitz Group Identity Architects, the dining room is located on the ground floor of the company’s headquarters in the Hafencity development of southern Hamburg.

Over 4000 of the satin-polished aluminium panels cover the ceiling, concealing electrical wiring and fittings behind.

Round lamps hang like upside-down mushrooms above each table and can be individually brightened or dimmed by diners.

The suspended acrylic rods are arranged into curved rows to separate clusters of tables and are illuminated from above.

Painted blacks lines indent the white terrazzo floor to define walkways and discourage encroaching chairs.

Hafencity is a large development beside Hamburg’s Elbe River – other recent projects in the area include a concert hall by Herzog & de Meuron and a curvy apartment block.

Here’s some more information from the architects:

In October 2011 the SPIEGEL Group, whose stable includes Germany’s most important news magazine Der SPIEGEL, moved into its new publishing house in Hamburg’s HafenCity development. This impressive structure on the Eriscusspitze, lapped by the waters of the River Elbe, was designed by Danish architect Henning Larsen.

Ippolito Fleitz Group was commissioned to create a new employees’ canteen for the building. The legacy building’s famous canteen was designed in 1969 by Verner Panton and has since been placed under heritage protection. This inheritance represented a particular challenge.

Verner Panton’s canteen

Our deliberations began with a question: could we integrate Verner Panton’s iconic facility into a new concept? After careful consideration we decided against adopting the facility. One factor which spoke against redeployment was the polygonal format of the new building, where Panton’s square-based modular concept would inevitably lead to virtually uncontrollable spatial remnants.

Furthermore, the new building offers little in the way of large, continuous walls which are crucial to the Panton concept. The old building had three separate, compact spaces which Panton enlivened with the dynamic forms and colours of his ceiling topography. The new space, however, covers a large area and gives a strong horizontal impression. But above all it seemed logical to us to complement the new architecture of the building with contemporary, future-oriented interior design – exactly what Panton’s facility once was for the previous building.

Starting point

The employees’ canteen was and is a calling card of the SPIEGEL Group, reflecting its journalistic philosophy as much as its culture of dialogue – not least because of its prominent position in the building and its high visibility from the exterior. Nonetheless it is a space which looks inward, only accessible to SPIEGEL employees and their guests.

That means it isn’t a “brand space” as such. The starting point for our deliberations was the characteristics of the space and of the building. The building distinguishes itself through its exposed position on the water and its modern architecture, expressed in the vertical interior space of the 14-storey atrium. The floor plan of the canteen defines a large, polygonal space whose strong horizontal emphasis is further highlighted by the uninterrupted row of windows on two sides.

Ceiling and light

Because the space had to be flexible, it was soon clear that the ceiling design would be the distinguishing moment of the canteen. Reflecting both this fact and the harbour location, we developed a matt shimmering ceiling which reflects light in much the same manner as water. It is formed of 4,230 circles made of micro-perforated satin-polished aluminium, laminated onto noise-absorbing supporting material and set at slight angles to each other. This means that the canteen’s natural light ambience reacts to its surroundings.

During the day the ceiling is enlivened by water and light effects from the surrounding area. The matt shimmering “plates” absorb daylight and turn the roof into a lively, gently reflective complement to the water surface of the Ericusgraben canal. Large-scale light dishes use intense colour to divide the space into zones. This colour generates a positive atmosphere in the space, even on grey days. Dimmable lamps suspended directly above tables ensure that light levels are infinitely variable.

In the evening the dishes are transformed into indirectly-lit light objects. The overall mood in the canteen is determined by the warm, white “ambient light” shed by the suspended lamps. Indirect light in selected suspended lamps discreetly illuminates the ceiling discs.Focussed downlights, hidden in the ceiling, complement the nuanced sophistication of the overall mood with light accents.Wallwashers integrated into the ceiling cast an even light on wall surfaces. They create a balance between horizontal and vertical illumination and optimise the sense of space by night, partly through reflections in glass surfaces.

The ceiling also has functional advantages: the area above the ceiling plates is painted black, along with the mandatory technical fittings, rendering them invisible. Ceiling diffusers and sprinklers effectively disappear. In addition, the upper ceiling was configured to be noise-absorbent, complementing the acoustic properties of the micro-perforated plates.

The space and its divisions

Despite the size of the space the visitor should never have an impression of monotonous, interchangeable, production-line construction. Rather the goal is to illustrate, in a dining context, the culture of dialogue which has flourished over the decades at SPIEGEL.

The employees’ canteen is a meeting place, a place of culture and informal exchange of opinions. At the same time it should fulfil functional obligations such as accessibility and spatial clarity.

The round, communicative tables are made from black coated steel frames which seem to grow from the floor in a graceful motion. Granite plates serve as table tops, their lasered surfaces working with the ceiling lights to create glare-free, brilliant light. The tables are placed within the space in three large groups in loose arrangements and so provide an organic counterpoint to the polygonal floor plan. Movement zones are thus clearly delineated.

Three lines are set into the smooth, white terrazzo floor: they ensure tables don’t encroach on walkways. Along these lines four areas are arranged with removable, lightweight spatial filters composed of white, hanging rods. Large yellow light dishes support the zoning of the space just as the hanging lamps locate tables within the space.

Wood panelling lends a sense of depth to structural hubs. The whitewashed, varnished surfaces appear even deeper thanks to a vertical, wavy relief which gives a textile-like effect.

Through a zigzagging glass façade a separate area can be formed at one end for discrete events or for use of the canteen late at night. A shoal of bright, hanging Plexiglas rods creates glare-free illumination and an intimate setting. The glass façade between this area and the canteen is formed of doubly reflective glass. So at times when both areas are in use, the separation is almost immaterial. However when the canteen is closed and thus darker, the façade appears half-mirrored, half-transparent.

The employees’ canteen in the SPIEGEL Group’s new headquarters is a space that meets all functional demands while creating a strong visual impact to form a truly distinguishing space. In so doing it supports the mature culture of communication within the company and in a grand gesture transmits these values to the outside world.