Complexity as Quality – Individual Family Houses

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Holger Reiners / Authorship with the publisher

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Living in and with nature is more than a wish; it is the maxim that connects almost all clients with the design and construction of their future home. The latter is often attained after the coherent, expressive architecture, but few dare to venture into the formal field of the unfamiliar - even a few architects. This house is one such example, which on one hand on the experience of landscaping and on the other is what architecture should always be: a structural shell with symbolic effect, an image of its functionality and the living / lifestyle. The image also of the philosophical and formal, yes, artistic understanding of the client and the architect - after all, this understanding of building has led to outstanding solutions in the past. Courtyards, U-shape and "column arrangement" evoke associations of the grandeur of earlier building traditions.But none of this is here resort to the quote, the entirety and its parts are rather convincing functionalism, which, the form does not simply follow, but formatively interprets - architecture in the best sense. It starts with the room concept and ends with the construction time, which was cost-conscious and lasted less than eight months. In between was the realization of a plan whose architectural effect is best understood when one goes through this house mentally and tries to get a feeling for the spatial impression, height differences - the gesture of the staircase! – as a first impression that presents itself to the individual, and then in the idea of ​​the constant life and use of the house. Although the entrance area is indeed a conventional vestibule and a foyer, guest toilet, study, and residential wing, however, beyond this, the space build up of this area, its design and routing, also offers a staged moment that captivates with old functionality through the gestures:Turning away from the outside world, responding to the interior, the architecture is a concept that seems to allude to ancient Chinese life and construction experiences. But more importantly, out of all planning considerations - and next to the entrance area, all the other spaces can be similarly decoded and interpreted - a complex concept speaks, which always seeks the correct path between tradition, experience, and wisdom of life, as well as the contrasting innovation of the present time and discoveries. Here, you can feel the harmony that nature and architecture can create, when built-in subtleties adapt to complex natural events, and do not just defy them. Such an attitude towards planning must connect all the components of the building: the building form, the energy supply, the use of materials, and always to pay attention to how functional performance and design condition in everything is while complementing and stimulating the shape.In short: clear southern orientation of the building, the east and west orientation according to the spatial functions, an extremely rational, as a system applied wood construction with a clear separation of the columns from the readable expansion through panels, glass and sliding doors, a highly insulated wall and roof structure with k Values of 0.12-0.16 W/m2 K, with cost-saving glazing without window and door frames and very simple opening windows, which consist only of glazing panes attached to hinges - and nevertheless well sealed. The building material from the basement ceiling is treated spruce and larch wood, the insulation is made of recycled paper, the floors are made of solid acacia wood. The rooms are heated with a low-temperature wall heating - a house whose complexity astonishes, a plan whose conscientiousness demonstrates technical competence and artistic fascination.