Housing at the old city wall of Berlin by Sohrab Zafari

Descripción del proyecto por Sohrab Zafari

between
    Osaka and Cadiz
    Yazd and Santorini
    old Berlin and new Berlin
between
    lost and bygone
    existence and identity
    longing and hope
    present and future
between
    fragments and blocks
    simple and complex
    abstract and concrete
    open and closed
    inside and outside
between
    space and structure
    air and light
    light and shadow
    heaven and earth

... this house has been created. It tries to be understood primarily as a complex spatial structure and as a cultural fusion building, as a labyrinth of light, as a new, fresh wind that brushes gently over this place.
That greets, enriches and brings the new. That turns disadvantages into advantages. Atypical but nevertheless revitalizing and integrating.

Here in Berlin Mitte, in Waisenstrasse opposite the old city walls , where a few isolated medieval structures are still to be found, was the 520 square meter plot . Its development potential and light situation proved to be a particular challenge, not only because of the complicated plot geometry but also the six -to seven- story tall buildings that border it.

Additional challenges were given by building code requirements, the perceptions of the Landesdenkmalamt (landmark building commission) as well as the desire of the owner and investor for maximum utilization of space with high architectural and spatial quality .

How can the density and individuality, security, and naturally grown fragmentation of the medieval structure with courtyards and alleys, as they once were, be transformed into a different , contemporary language ?

At this place, where time left so many scars, shouldn’t there be a house that's been developed not only to fill voids but also to leave voids?

How can I, as a German architect with Persian roots, make a meaningful contribution?

How can you find architecture that is on one hand connected to the place, on the other hand, divorced from it? Which is foreign, yet familiar? Which can make you experience the place, but also look beyond it? - Into the world and into the future of a cosmopolitan city.

The result is an individually from the inside out developed building complex with a mountain village like structure whose parts individually stretch to the light, for air and into the space, yet withdraw into hidden privacy.

The interaction of introversion and extroversion, looking in and looking out, interior and exterior spaces, light and shadow play, create their own complex cosmos.

The construction leaves interstitial space and places that offer retreat and relaxation to the over stimulated big city life, as well as shelter or a meeting room, if you like.

The house lives with the light and changes due to the light at any given day time or season.

It is constructed with light in mind and that is always noticeable.

The white, fine-grained and seamlessly plastered walls (ETICS) abandon the boundaries between interior and exterior spaces and let the individual buildings seem basic, abstract and sculptural by the way of the sharp edges of the building corners (waterproof Sto boards as a cover).

They reinforce the effect of light and provide an ideal reflective surface.

Patios and terraces, pool and water surfaces change at any time of day or season specific areas of the house and thereby contribute significantly to the increase in living quality . This will not only allow joy and fun but also strengthen the awareness and the senses.

The six-storey front building houses a parking garage in the basement, above five apartments two of which are organized as maisonettes . Two town houses, five and three floors , designed as independent vertical units additionally accessed via a courtyard on the 1st floor. All apartments have been designed and customized individually. They differ fundamentally from each other yet form a unity.