rationalist architecture

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"The composition of the facades are the same on the front and back of the houses; six openings of the same width covering three levels – aligning vertically and horizontally. The functions of the openings vary – window, garage doors, terrace – and the simple form gets a varied programming. Everyday life turns the rational specific."

Cadix Harbour Building, Antwerp, Belgium, 2021.

Haus Jax, Trier, Germany, 2007

Internally the rooms are organised around a central staircase with a rooflight above - a device intended to make the spaces adaptable over time.

This suburban house is at the same scale as its neighbours but establishes a rigorous order on its elevations, although front and rear respond differently to their outlooks. The open internal space is divided up by the service core, this method of dividing up a singular space into more discrete areas is similar to that seen in modernist houses such as Meis van der Rohe's Farnsworth house - although in this case the centrality of the core reinforces the overall order that is so fundamental to this project.

New Build House, Potsdam, Germany, 2013

Haus W, Munich, Germany, 2005

“OM Ungers was an architect who, unlike many of his contemporaries, never saw the need to disconnect himself from the past. He referred, however, to the history of ideas, not to the history of styles. Looking for the basis of his thoughts and creativity in classical sources, he did not repeat certain forms, figures, and rigid functional schemes. Still, he focused on the issue of order within architecture.”

On the top storey the rythym of the regular windows is dirsupted by a larger opening to a corner balcony.

Hard and Soft, Hans Ibelings, an essay in ‘Claus en Kaan, Building, NAi Publishers,.’

This village house, along with an outbuilding and carport forms a small ensemble focused on a central courtyard. This space is analogous to an informal village square and the design of the house addresses it in a direct and appropriate way. Through its symmetry, articulation and relief the facade is forming as much a facade to the courtyard as to the house. The abstracted columns and lintel mark the transition between inside and out and suggest an almost civic relationship between exterior and interior.

Barnabas Calder (in conversation with Daniel A Barber), Limit and Licence, Architecture Today

In contrast to the massive stone construction of the french project the walls in this case consist of two layers of stone with insulation in the cavity for thermal comfort. The stark interiors are a product of the budget but they also remind us of the sustainability and elemental nature of the construction.