Silvia Gmür Reto Gmür Architekten

Description

The architectural system: the component and the whole, duality and complementarities, mathematics and harmony, rule and freedom. Through an exterior load-bearing structure, an open floor plan is achieved; this generates a column-free space that in turn allows free partitioning. Various dwelling types, from studio apartments to 3 ½ and 5-room apartments, to maisonettes, emerge from this configuration. The deep structural layer fronting the street creates a semi-private space, which defines the building as a dwelling. Facing the courtyard, each flat has a generous balcony. The concept of a dual architectural order comes from the observation of the horizon, which expresses the division between ground and sky. This resulting dichotomy could also be applied to the architectural system. Here, the horizon is expressed in the essentially structure-free middle level, a consequence of the five-storey building. A two-storey beam carries the upper floors to the cross walls on either side. The rhythm of the façade follows the musical theory of harmony; the ratio of the fifth and the complementary intervals of the fourth define the façade.