K+N Residence / Valerio Olgiati

May 2010

Uploaded by Nico Saieh — Filed under: Houses ,Selected , Concrete, Switzerland, Valerio Olgiati

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Architect: Valerio Olgiati
Location: Zurich, Switzerland
Project Manager: Pascal Flammer
Construction Supervisor: Peter Diggelmann, Archobau AG, Chur
Structural Engineer: Patrick Gartmann, partner of Conzett, Bronzini, Gartmann AG, Chur
Project Area: 520 sqm
Project Year: 2003-2005
Photographs: Courtesy of Valerio Olgiati

ground floor plan

An unpretentious entrance, then a strangely self-contained, dimly lit, winding corridor that leads down a flight of steps as if we were descending into a cave. But then we open a door —and are left speechless. The square room that we now enter is spacious and light. Four large, rectangular windows, all of the same size, open onto views of four different “pictures” and transform the living room of the house into a kind of pavilion, open to all sides —an impression that is made all the stronger when, in fine weather, the windows are sunk into the ground and the four winds waft through the room.

But the living room does not consist solely of walls with large window openings. One corner of the square is occupied by an opaque volume, and the rectangular flight of steps is wrapped around another. Thus the walls do not make a fragile impression like surfaces folded into right angles; rather, the room seems to be part of an organism that constitutes the whole. It is this dimension that gives the building ist strength, its almost excessive impact, and it is from this that everything else ensues. The building is not put together, it is a spatial shell.

first floor plan

Each room, no matter how small, is complete in itself. All the reinforced concrete interior walls are of equal thickness. Furthermore, constructed of the same light-coloured, exposed concrete that gives the building its monochrome unity. The house definitely does not belong to the world of vertebrates, but to the realm of the crustaceans.

The volume and compactness of the building is impressive, as are the atmospheric contrast and lighting effects and the different characters of the main rooms. But the contrasts, far from leading to a fragmentation of the whole, reinforce it and give it the character of a real organism.

: © Courtesy of Valerio Olgiati

: © Courtesy of Valerio Olgiati

: © Courtesy of Valerio Olgiati

: © Courtesy of Valerio Olgiati

: © Courtesy of Valerio Olgiati

: © Courtesy of Valerio Olgiati

: ground floor plan

: first floor plan

: section

* Location to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.

Cite:
Saieh , Nico . "K+N Residence / Valerio Olgiati" 28 May 2010. ArchDaily. Accessed 09 Feb 2012. <http://www.archdaily.com/61790>

Comments (10)
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EPLE. says:

Nice, but if someone from ArchDaily made up the text for this article they should be shot. Including the ‘-isms’ and confusing oneself does not make the author more of a genius, it just serves to confuse the reader.

Olgiati’s calm and controlled design is great though.

# May 28, 2010 at 11:28

up_today_arch says:

But… what is this house from outside?… How it built in landscape?

# May 28, 2010 at 12:37

Anna says:

Can’t it be photographed from far away?

# May 28, 2010 at 12:38

dados says:

“unpretentious” is probably the most pretentious word I know of.

# May 28, 2010 at 13:09

Leonardo Ximenes says:

The guy who wrote this description is the one who “definitely does not belong to the world of vertebrates, but to the realm of the crustaceans”.

# May 28, 2010 at 13:39

P says:

Nice but sad space. Paint it and you spoil it.

# May 28, 2010 at 14:07

Rick S. says:

“Each room, no matter how small, is complete in itself.” Good, no half-rooms to worry about… I’m always afraid of those. And those vertebrate houses too. They give me the creeps.

# May 29, 2010 at 19:56

Bruce says:

Obviously English is not the first language, nor maybe the second, of the individual charged with writing the narrative, but I am not impressed with what little is shown of the building either. Some rooms are poorly proportioned, some simply waste too much space, some just don’t make sense.

# May 29, 2010 at 22:29

josephiklein.com says:

a poor man in a grand Castle . I LOVE IT. its wonderfully new well adjusted writer guy is flipping i should have just made a cat face out of font kinda of like this sword /==/=====>

# May 30, 2010 at 01:28

ivo says: