Freestanding Houses This book is also available in a German language edition. (ISBN 978-3-0346-0072-9) Graphic Design and Drawings: Sebastian Schaal, Martin Trefon Translation from German: Julian Reisenberger, Weimar Library of Congress Control Number: 2009933147 Bibliographic information published by the German National Library The German National Library lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available on the Internet at http://dnb.ddb.de This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, re-use of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in other ways, and storage in data banks. For any kind of use, permission of the copyright owner must be obtained. © 2010 Birkhäuser Verlag AG Basel · Boston · Berlin P.O.Box 133, CH-4010 Basel, Switzerland Part of Springer Science+Business Media Printed on acid-free paper produced from chlorine-free pulp. TCF ' Printed in Germany ISBN 978-3-0346-0073-6 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 www.birkhauser.ch Günter Pfeifer and Per Brauneck Freestanding Houses A Housing Typology Birkhäuser Basel · Boston · Berlin Contents Preface 6 The typology of the freestanding house 8 Floor plan types 18 Semi-detached Parvilla I, Tham & Videgård Hansson Arkitekter 20 House W, Bayer & Strobel Architekten 22 Patchwork house, Pfeifer Roser Kuhn Architekten 24 House of the present, Allmann Sattler Wappner Architekten 26 House C, Per Brauneck 28 Vogelsang farmhouse, AmreinHerzig Architekten 30 Three family house "In der Hub", Morger & Degelo Architekten 32 Hadersdorf model housing estate 3, Hans Kollhoff Architekten 34 Hadersdorf model housing estate 4, Steidle Architekten 36 Villa Overgooi, Next Architects 38 KBWW house, MVRDV 42 Two houses, Gigon/Guyer Architekten 44 Home for architects and artists, Fuhrimann Hächler Architekten 46 Student project, Christian Weyell 48 Communal staircase access Apartment houses, Susenbergstrasse, Gigon/Guyer Architekten 50 Rottmannsboden house, Morger & Degelo Architekten 52 Hagenbuchrain housing development, Bünzli & Courvoisier Architekten 54 Hegianwandweg housing, EM2N Architekten 56 Lohbach residences, Baumschlager & Eberle 58 BDZ housing development, pool Architekten 60 "Malzturm", Hürlimann Areal, Thomas Schregenberger 62 Student project, Björn Schmidt 66 Student project, Angèle Tersluisen 68 Student project, Björn Schmidt 70 Student project, Sebastian Schaal 72 Courtyard access Java Island housing, Diener & Diener Architekten 74 Werdwies housing development, Adrian Streich Architekten 76 Student project, Philippa Glaser 78 Student project, Johannes Lahme 80 Hybrid Esplanade housing, Steidle Architekten 82 Student project, Sebastian Schaal 86 Student project, Daniel Dolder 88 Diploma project, Tobias Katz 90 High-rise Chassé Park apartments, Xaveer de Geyter 92 Silverline tower, Claus en Kaan Architecten 94 Star House 3, Steidle Architekten 98 De Rokade residential building, Arons en Gelauff Architecten 100 "PopMoma" residential tower, Baumschlager & Eberle 102 "Moma" residential tower, Baumschlager & Eberle 104 KNSM apartment tower, Wiel Arets Architects 106 Kanchanjunga tower, Charles Correa Associates 108 Wienerberg apartment high-rise, Delugan Meissl Architects 112 Torre Cuajimalpa residential tower, Meir Lobaton and Kristjan Donaldson 114 Bibliography 118 Illustration credits 120 Preface The freestanding house is not, strictly speaking, a typological category of housing. While in the previous volumes in the series – row houses, courtyard houses and town houses – the focus lay on typological floor plan arrange- ments, here the term "freestanding" refers to an urban typological category. This marks a first fundamental difference to the other volumes in the series. Freestanding houses can be categorised according to their type of access, orientation and spatial organisation, but as these categories reoccur in new formations, they cannot be regarded as true typological characteristics. An examination of freestanding houses, therefore, refers less to typological floor plan characteristics, focusing instead on the issue of structural integra- tion at an urban level. But here we are faced with a seemingly irresolvable conflict: urban spaces cannot be formed with freestanding houses alone. The freestanding house wants to be as independent as possible, will not fall into line and resists typological classification. This explains, perhaps, why the freestanding house is still viewed by many as an ideal way of living. Standing on its own, it embodies the desire for maximum possible freedom and independence. Although we have long been aware that the promise of autonomy is more illusion than reality, from a psychological point of view, the feeling of individ- ualism is perhaps a decisive factor for the popularity of the "freestanding house". The freestanding house represents the last in the series of volumes on housing typologies – after courtyard houses, row houses and town houses – and is also the most complex. In the context of the argumentation followed in the previous volumes, which proposes the cybernetic networking of individual elements in complex structures, this volume assumes a special status. At first sight, the inherent contradiction between "individual", "freestanding" and "independent", and "networked", "structural" and "cybernetic" seems ir- reconcilable. But, given that demand for this type of housing remains undi- minished and that it also gives rise to economic and ecological problems, it is vital that we resolve this contradiction. This volume shows a selection of built and unbuilt projects which, in the aut- hors’ opinion, exhibit particularly compelling typological floor plan arrange- ments that are nevertheless flexible enough to anticipate future require- ments. As this book is the product of ongoing research at the Department of 6 Architecture at the University of Darmstadt, projects by established architects stand alongside designs by students which, in the spirit of research work, rep- resent the current state of academic exploration, which strives for a holistic and forward-looking consideration of housing. The authors aim to show which possibilities can lead to high-density, com- plex spatial structures. The study begins by considering relatively straightfor- ward, small freestanding residential buildings in complex urban, communal, ecological and spatial contexts. Accordingly, the examples illustrate elements that relate intelligently to aspects such as sunshine, orientation, spatial struc- ture and adjacent outdoor areas. As the examples become more complex, the number of elements that relate to one another within the freestanding houses increases, each fulfilling important functions such as external and internal circulation, lighting, views in and out, private outdoor areas and energy supply. With the exception of especially complex projects, the projects are present- ed in a uniform layout and scale. The projects are presented mostly in the form of floor plans supplemented by sections or isometric drawings where necessary to explain the project. Typical floor plans in some examples have been coloured to make building structures easier to discern and are denoted in shades of grey in the individual storeys. Furnishings are represented abstractly to aid legibility. While information concerning the construction, economics or technical details has been omitted, ecological advantages resulting from particular typological arrangements of floor plans are noted in the accompanying description. Photos of the individual projects illustrate characteristic elements of each project. In this last volume in the series on housing typologies, we particularly want- ed to demonstrate the advantages and fascinating potential of spatial vari- ety and networked structural approaches. We wish to encourage all those actively involved in creating and designing housing options to explore new directions, drawing on the examples presented here as a basis for their own investigations. 7 The typology of the freestanding house There are few more compelling examples of a freestanding house than the Black Forest farmhouse.1 First and foremost, it epitomises a sense of "home" and autonomy, craftsmanship and solidity. It is a hybrid building serving sev- eral uses, and its basic structure is ecological and cybernetic, two aspects that one could write about in detail. The Black Forest farmhouse is "free- standing" in the true sense of the word: it is a single building standing in the midst of open landscape; it is adapted to fit its environment; and its spatial structure as well as its building materials are drawn from its direct surround- ings. These represent in essence the principal qualities of an ecological and sustainable architectonic structure for freestanding buildings. Schniderli farmhouse, 1593, Wolf Schneller The other image which we commonly associate with "freestanding houses" are estates of detached, single family houses that increasingly fill the ever expanding peripheries of our cities,2 the most drastic examples of which can be seen in the sprawling suburbs of Los Angeles. In this perverted form of the freestanding house, it is hard to find any qualities that remotely compare to those of the Black Forest farmhouse. While the first example exemplifies the qualities of the freestanding house, the second illustrates dramatically the problems associated with this housing typology. These two images mark