Pascal Flammer Builds a House

What is special about this building project?

The building is located in a scenic and remote landscape. This project is about finding a harmonious balance between isolation and opening up of the inhabitant in relation to the landscape.

What or who inspired your design?

Richter, Polke, Shinohara, Rocha, Buddha, Maria.

How did the site influence your design?

The building has three floors and principal relationships to its surroundings: on the floor above the ground level, one sees the surroundings at a distance, like an image. On the floor that is recessed into the ground by 75 cm, one is physically confronted with the surroundings. On the floor below the ground level, there is no relationship to the surroundings, and you find yourself nowhere and everywhere, mentally.

How did the client or future users influence your design?

The mixture of the requirements of the contractor – a limited budget, the request for a simple and well usable typology, and the use of wood as a building material – and a simultaneous openness to ideas led to the opportunity to state a few basic ideas and build them as uncomporomisingly as possible. The influence of the client on the design was strong, clear and logical. This gave me the freedom to propose spatial ideas within the requirements.

How does this project fit in with other projects built by your office?

This is the first house built by my office. I try to develop buildings with a life proposal. An agnostic proposal enriching the relationship between the user and their surroundings which can only be understood fragmentarily.


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