Aesch House

The property is located in an area of single-family homes, which arose in the 1970s and has hardly changed since then. Tall Thuja hedges surround the neighbourhood’s private gardens, protecting them from outside view. Anonymity defines the quarter’s atmosphere. The client, accustomed to an urban way of life, envisions a building structure that is open and at the same time, seemingly intimate. 

A two-story, glass cube with rounded corners is placed on the gravelled plot. Two core areas articulate the house’s outline and support the continuous succession of spaces within its meandering form. Like a hollowed log, they grow into sleeping level and disband in two atrium spaces, which house diverse functions and serve as areas for retreat. The space of the open ground level ends at a bamboo forest, which surrounds the property and becomes a natural, protective element. The open sleeping level on the contrary, has a curved, perforated iron cloak placed before it. The structural materials are left largely unfinished and consciously exposed to the influences of weather and corrosion. Over time, oak facade, metal cloak, and perforations will take on new colours and forms. The iron cloak can be interpreted as a mask reflecting the roles of observer and observed.

In its simplicity, the basic structure of panels, supports, and panes recalls Le Corbusier’s Domino House. The building’s corners remain free of static elements through a nearly central placement of facade supports in the sides. The glass facade is braced in an untreated oak frame, whose craftsmanship makes it comparable to a furniture piece. A sliding door is arranged on each side of the house. This functional simplicity supports the volume’s abstract expression. The bathroom, as the most intimate space, has an outside bathtub under an open sky. The gradually rusting cloak draws a red outline in the gravelled ground.