This house has got so much going for it that I love; the steeply pitched roof and overhanging eaves, the black cladding, large round and rectangular windows and the visible criss-crossing timber braces that support the building. The house is located in northern Switzerland and was designed by local architect Pascal Flammer. Sitting between a wheat field and a thicket of woodland, the place has a definite physical connection with the world outside of its continuous windows. Once the building is softened with some well-loved furniture, rugs and the messiness of everyday life, I think it will look beautiful. Talking of everyday life, we've been making a few changes around here lately. Obviously nothing on the scale of this house - in fact it's quite ridiculous of me to even write of them in the same space. Still, I may post a few pictures soon, if I ever get around to taking any...
Gingerbread House
This building was winner of the AJ Small Projects Awards 2013 and looks like an industrial gingerbread house! It has pretty rounded shingles and sits behind the reconstructed wall of a former Victorian box factory with mismatched brickwork. Architect Laura Dewe Mathews designed the house for herself and was keen to show that contemporary architecture can be friendly instead of severe and alienating. I love the contrast of the curved cedar scales, thick galvanised steel window surrounds and patched brick wall. Inside the house is just as delightful, with a double-height kitchen and dining room, timber-clad walls and a beautiful resin floor, it really is the stuff of modern-day fairytales.
House Inspiration: Glass Farm
I always say that I like to see traditional techniques used in contemporary ways, and this building pushes that idea to its limits. This shop and office complex designed by Dutch architects MVRDV is disguised as an old farmhouse, but its walls and roof are actually made from glass. The building, called Glass House, is in the market square of Schijndel, a small Dutch town where MVRDV partner Winy Maas grew up. The town suffered damage during World War II, and Maas has been campaigning since the 1980s to replace a destroyed structure in the center of the square. Thirty years and six failed proposals later, he has has finally realised his dream by creating a glass structure printed with images of traditional local farmhouses. Using a fritting technique the architects were able to print the images straight onto the glass, creating the illusion of brick walls and a thatched roof. The actual windows and doors don't line up with the printed images, so entrances look like they pass through brick walls and windows appear as semi-transparent blobs. The building is also out of scale with the original farmhouses, so it appears to be two storeys high rather than three."When adults interact with the building, they can experience toddler size again," say the architects, "possibly adding an element of nostalgic remembrance to their reception of the building." What do you think? Do you like the building? It is certainly a unique way of overcoming the many planning restrictions in rural conservation areas.