Graser Architekten AG

Description

The two apartment houses pitch their sheer physical presence against the heterogeneous environment surround-ing an iconic residential highrise by Alvar Aalto. As four slender longitudinal bodies arranged around staircases glazed on two sides, they generate a graciousness that is unexpected in rental apartments. The longitudinal transparency allows for sweeping views through and out the windows – views that, thanks to the offset placement of the volumes, are not blocked by the neighbouring buildings. The balconies arranged around the periphery in conjunction with the horizontal ribbon windows reinforce the impression of lightweight floors floating above the natural hollow in which the complex is set. The apartments have reinforced concrete frameworks: the elevator cores and staircase walls carry the horizontal loads, the double row of columns the vertical forces. All columns are visible in the interior design. In the light they create a contrast between dark and bright that makes tangible the relationship between the two different scales represented by everyday use and architecture. In the facade, the serial look of industrially prefabricated concrete elements overlaps with the artisanal appeal of rough, hand-worked concrete surfaces.