The design that Arches proposed organizes the living space in a single floor. On the entrance side, a copper cladding hides the views of the house towards passers-by, and emulates the texture of the pine trunk through its bas-reliefs.
The rhythm of the fragmented blind walls towards the outside contrasts with an open and fully glazed interior façade, which makes the courtyard space an integral part of the interior.
Description of project by Arches
What is the most important while building a house of a small area? The search for a solution has come to the following goals this time: one floor, functionality, aesthetics - its integrity, humane scale, contextuality, combination of internal and external spaces, compatibility between openness and privacy, physical and emotional comfort, spatial and volumetric alterations (dinamics).
The aim. To find a solution of a compact house (156m²) for a family of two. Limited size plot (7.2 are).
Is there a place for architecture in this case? Is it necessary? Not just necessary – it is a must!
And then, how does it appear? How can it be described? What are these - feelings? Maybe I'm glad because .... everything is very rational and smart? Or is it sad that everything is just rational and "smart"!? Obviously, if no feelings remain in the architecture, even a "smart house" does not prevent from sadness. Therefore, in this case, the aim was the "telling architecture", sensitive, contextual, just humane. That's how the alteration between spaces and volumes appeared, their motion and the architectural story - "Moving Cubes".
The corridor like a spine connects spaces of different functions (cubes). The inter-mini spaces - courtyards are created as the different cubes pass through each other. The interior spaces open up to the others - the private courtyard spaces. Thanks to the large showcases, the interior opens up, interacts with the outside, creates a sense of an openness and spaciousness. It hides from the eyes of the passers-by with the blind walls.
The rhythm of fragmented, blind walls at the entrance side is contradicted by an open, fully glazed inner facade. The spaces connect. The yard space becomes an integral part of the interior space. The yard's wooden terrace visually extends the room space. The bas-relief of the copper facades interpret the pine tree trunk verticals visible through the windows.
These are the dinamic compositions of vertical planes that resemble the texture of a cone. These emotions are even strengthened by the rain drops in the rain. With the age smooth copper becomes even more "emotional and real”. This "story" moves into the interior space. Just the copper-plated walls inside are a bit "calmer, softer and brighter".
The interior spaces are filled with daylight, each has its own "picture" – windows opening to the outside. Thanks to the fine volumes and their low heights (one floor), the chamber feeling of the inner spaces, the feeling of coziness and security are created. The dark, horizontal window frames, break and hide the mass of the roof planes. Large bright showcase panels create a counterweight to the volumes of the blind walls. All the solutions and details complement each other and create the whole.
