Steiermark, Austria
2007
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Anticipating Urbanity – Intensified Rurality
The Shed and the Grid – The scheme separates architecture from programme. An independent autonomous structural system, with reference to the rationality, scale, adaptability and constructional economy of the agricultural shed, establishes architectural spatial qualities that are catering for a multitude of spatial appropriation patterns. Housing, communal and commercial programmes are easily inserted into the very same structures, and in each case respectively, a new spatial logic and quality emerges.
The Compact Compound – The scheme defines a dense, articulated compound that negotiates the specificities and limitations of the site. The compound is not a ‘closed composition’ but an open system defined by the rhythmic linear repetition of a structural order and articulated as an ensemble of five structures and their interstices. The four structures, cater primarily for housing but also for communal and commercial programmes along the street sides. The fifth structure, structurally a twin to the rest, holds an urban, ‘anchoring’ position.
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Negotiating the Ground Surface – The ground of the ‘compound’, in response to the context, in reference to the agricultural shed and in appreciation of the subsoil condition, was intentionally lifted 1m above the present ±0 level, thus establishing a system of pedestrian pathways, platforms and open spaces in between the linear structures while on the level below, unveiling a pleasant world for cars.
From the Standard to the Ideal – The scheme offers the ‘shell’, the stairs and the walls while all the apartments will be fitted out by the future dwellers whether in the luxury or the social categories. By splitting the enclosures into structure and infill an array of typological options were revealed. Addressing affordable constructional technology was crucial in order to achieve generous spaces and pleasing building details within strict building budgets.
credits
| project description | multiple generation residential development competition entry |
| location | Gleisdorf-Steiermark, Austria |
| built area | 7.500 m² |
| design team | Stephan Buerger, Demetra Katsota, Tasos Govatsos, Anna Karagianni, Dora Felekou |
| consultants | Panagiotis Panagotopoulos (structural engineering), A P Kryfos AE (m/e engineering), SKAPE (landscape architects) |
| client | Europan Österreich |