New country villa

The house is the town – the land is the house

The design combines the idea of a manor house and an urban courtyard, where living and working quarters are situated on the same site.

The courtyard is enclosed by the main building and the sculptor’s studio.

The artist’s courtyard emerges into a cosmos, providing a link between itself and the existing buildings within the village through the use of familiar materials, and at the same time conveying the impression of a small town through the juxtaposition of the two volumes. The garden and its elements complement the ensemble of buildings. Thus, the land and the house become one.

The spatial composition is based on the idea of joint living and working quarters. The living area is situated on the ground floor of the main building. The painting studio is one floor above, while the office space is spread out below in the basement. The separate studio house is a space solely devoted to sculpture.

The preeminent feature of the main house is the living area which is organised around a pillar that defines the room. Together with the dining table, the kitchen and the pool in the garden, they create a visual axis across the entire site.

The composition of the façade derives from the classical language of architecture. At times, the rhythm is discontinued, thereby mirroring the inner structure of the building, and nevertheless creating a harmonious composition on the outer shell.

The studio house and its tower act as a counterpart to the main building. As in the main building, the studio house, or moreover its exterior exhibition area, also follows the idea of the column as a defining element within a space. Architectural sculpture in all its subservience and the autonomous arts represent two sides of the same coin.

The masonry consists of two layers. The inner layer is made up of hollow clay blocks which meet the current energetic requirements, while reddish-orange bricks, occasionally interrupted by layers of handmoulded white-washed bricks, shape the outer appearance of the buildings.