138 New Architecture School, Siegen
2024 Competition 1st Prize, with Gustav Düsing
Siegen, DE
The New Architecture School is an innovative adaptive reuse proposal for a new type of central campus building in the city of Siegen. Developed through a multi staged participatory process with students, faculty staff and community members, NAS aims to be a new urban agent, merging academia, culture, and public space. The program ranges from an Architecture Museum on the ground floor – a seamless continuation of the near by city centre, a large studio spaces as the heart of the school and a grand open space on the top floor.
The organizational principle aims to connect NAS with its immediate neighborhood, the city and the region by being able to host day to day student activities as well as public lectures and large cultural events. The conversion and extension of the existing printing facility, a modular concrete structure from the nineteen seventies, was approached through a light weight strategy combining mass timber in the interior and a modular steel-timber hybrid structure including a large hanging timber roof on the top-floor. The climate concepts of low tech uses un-heated spaces as expansion zones for students which at the same time serve as a climatic buffer zone (Mid-Doors). The landscape strategy aims to unseal large parts of the immediate surrounding carparks and renaturalize the adjacent river. The new public square is open to the public and offers a natural access to the floating river.
in close collaboration with
Transsolar Klimaengineering (climate)
sbp (structure)
Bureau B+B (landscape)
and further collaboration with
Inside Outside / Petra Blaisse (curtain concept)
Assemble
Competition, 1st prize, 2024
Siegen, DE
FAKT + Gustav Düsing
138 New Architecture School, Siegen
2024 Competition 1st Prize, with Gustav Düsing
Siegen, DE
The New Architecture School is an innovative adaptive reuse proposal for a new type of central campus building in the city of Siegen. Developed through a multi staged participatory process with students, faculty staff and community members, NAS aims to be a new urban agent, merging academia, culture, and public space. The program ranges from an Architecture Museum on the ground floor – a seamless continuation of the near by city centre, a large studio spaces as the heart of the school and a grand open space on the top floor.
The organizational principle aims to connect NAS with its immediate neighborhood, the city and the region by being able to host day to day student activities as well as public lectures and large cultural events. The conversion and extension of the existing printing facility, a modular concrete structure from the nineteen seventies, was approached through a light weight strategy combining mass timber in the interior and a modular steel-timber hybrid structure including a large hanging timber roof on the top-floor. The climate concepts of low tech uses un-heated spaces as expansion zones for students which at the same time serve as a climatic buffer zone (Mid-Doors). The landscape strategy aims to unseal large parts of the immediate surrounding carparks and renaturalize the adjacent river. The new public square is open to the public and offers a natural access to the floating river.
in close collaboration with
Transsolar Klimaengineering (climate)
sbp (structure)
Bureau B+B (landscape)
and further collaboration with
Inside Outside / Petra Blaisse (curtain concept)
Assemble
Competition, 1st prize, 2024
Siegen, DE
FAKT + Gustav Düsing
130 Sportscampus Plauen
Competition, 2nd prize, 2022
A sports hall – half sunken in the ground – complements the campus with a light and transparent pavilion and allows for new views and connections on the school grounds. The pavilion-structure can be read as an independent and contemporary addition to the existing school building. As a transparent building, the hall allows both views and insights and puts the subject of sport in the perception of children’s eyes.
Competition, 2nd prize, 2022
Plauen, DE
FAKT
130 Sportscampus Plauen
Competition, 2nd prize, 2022
A sports hall – half sunken in the ground – complements the campus with a light and transparent pavilion and allows for new views and connections on the school grounds. The pavilion-structure can be read as an independent and contemporary addition to the existing school building. As a transparent building, the hall allows both views and insights and puts the subject of sport in the perception of children’s eyes.
Competition, 2nd prize, 2022
Plauen, DE
FAKT
118 Funeral Chapel
2021
The new cemetery chapel creates a contemporary place of silence in the center of the cemetery.
The cubature of the new building is created by shifting the monopitch roof and base. This creates a dignified and at the same time atmospheric mourning space with a green courtyard and a covered outdoor area along the path. To the east, in front of the chapel, a paved forecourt opens up for use by mourners before and after the funeral service.
Königs Wusterhausen, 2021
FAKT
118 Funeral Chapel
2021
The new cemetery chapel creates a contemporary place of silence in the center of the cemetery.
The cubature of the new building is created by shifting the monopitch roof and base. This creates a dignified and at the same time atmospheric mourning space with a green courtyard and a covered outdoor area along the path. To the east, in front of the chapel, a paved forecourt opens up for use by mourners before and after the funeral service.
Königs Wusterhausen, 2021
FAKT
116 Prototype Neuhardenberg
installation, 2021
The prototype formulates an interaction of a precisely crafted aluminum installation together with the changing flora of the island „am Wehr“ in „Schlosspark Neuhardenberg“. A lightweight structure floats seemingly weightless above the ground. Plants grow underneath it, against it, and through it. A field test – and a new kind of structure as a minimally invasive abode in the midst of dense nature. Neither clearly manifested architecture nor untouched plant life: as a 1:1 prototype, the deck plays with questions of a different kind of architecture, a delicate superimposition, that allows for a simultaneity, that both programs and harnesses space, yet does not completely overwrite it. A different, attentive and thoughtful approach to what is there, preserving natural resources and perpetuating the qualities found as a new spatial experience. The installation can be found in the park which was designed by Lenné and is initially intended for a one-year installation period.
all photos by Simon Menges, 2021
Aluminium, 5,0 x 5,0 x 0,2m
Neuhardenberg, DE
FAKT
116 Prototype Neuhardenberg
installation, 2021
The prototype formulates an interaction of a precisely crafted aluminum installation together with the changing flora of the island „am Wehr“ in „Schlosspark Neuhardenberg“. A lightweight structure floats seemingly weightless above the ground. Plants grow underneath it, against it, and through it. A field test – and a new kind of structure as a minimally invasive abode in the midst of dense nature. Neither clearly manifested architecture nor untouched plant life: as a 1:1 prototype, the deck plays with questions of a different kind of architecture, a delicate superimposition, that allows for a simultaneity, that both programs and harnesses space, yet does not completely overwrite it. A different, attentive and thoughtful approach to what is there, preserving natural resources and perpetuating the qualities found as a new spatial experience. The installation can be found in the park which was designed by Lenné and is initially intended for a one-year installation period.
all photos by Simon Menges, 2021
Aluminium, 5,0 x 5,0 x 0,2m
Neuhardenberg, DE
FAKT
115 City-dialoque Ulap-Quartier
Competition, 2021 with Bureau B+B
The Ulap-Quartier is an ambitious urban project, designed to enrich its surroundings and become a model for contemporary, mixed-used development of a sustainable Berlin. Central location, together with the ambitious program makes it possible to create a qualitative transition between the project and so diverse surroundings on very different levels. The sides of the district are clearly defined and defined differently but offer through-ways. Our proposal creates an open(inviting), dense (urban), and lively(quality) quarter with new inner qualities, that allow flora and fauna to flourish alongside people.
Competition, 2021
Berlin, DE
FAKT
115 City-dialoque Ulap-Quartier
Competition, 2021 with Bureau B+B
The Ulap-Quartier is an ambitious urban project, designed to enrich its surroundings and become a model for contemporary, mixed-used development of a sustainable Berlin. Central location, together with the ambitious program makes it possible to create a qualitative transition between the project and so diverse surroundings on very different levels. The sides of the district are clearly defined and defined differently but offer through-ways. Our proposal creates an open(inviting), dense (urban), and lively(quality) quarter with new inner qualities, that allow flora and fauna to flourish alongside people.
Competition, 2021
Berlin, DE
FAKT
094 house with 6 stairs
private commission, 2020
The project in the north of Berlin responds to the requirement to allow simultaneous occupancy by different user groups in addition to its use as a single-family house. This task is solved within the basic structure of the house. A surplus of circulation allows several accesses from the outside and thus offers different possible divisions of the house. By means of two vertical stair sculptures, both a separate section on first floor (mini apartment/office) and the basement (e.g. as a workshop) can be used independently.
The two characteristic stair sculptures become the space-defining element of the house, even continuing as a seating and lookout structure on the accessible roof terrace.
While the first floor opens up in all directions of the garden and is only characterized by the few diagonal stair figures, clearly ordered rooms arise as a tangible contrast to this in the basement and the upper floor. The design of the house is done with floor-to-ceiling glazing for the slightly elevated first floor, the basement is still perceptible from the outside as a concrete base, while the condensed upper floor is planned with a ceramic facade (mosaic).
private client, 2020 Brandenburg / DE
photos by FAKT
FAKT
094 house with 6 stairs
private commission, 2020
The project in the north of Berlin responds to the requirement to allow simultaneous occupancy by different user groups in addition to its use as a single-family house. This task is solved within the basic structure of the house. A surplus of circulation allows several accesses from the outside and thus offers different possible divisions of the house. By means of two vertical stair sculptures, both a separate section on first floor (mini apartment/office) and the basement (e.g. as a workshop) can be used independently.
The two characteristic stair sculptures become the space-defining element of the house, even continuing as a seating and lookout structure on the accessible roof terrace.
While the first floor opens up in all directions of the garden and is only characterized by the few diagonal stair figures, clearly ordered rooms arise as a tangible contrast to this in the basement and the upper floor. The design of the house is done with floor-to-ceiling glazing for the slightly elevated first floor, the basement is still perceptible from the outside as a concrete base, while the condensed upper floor is planned with a ceramic facade (mosaic).
private client, 2020 Brandenburg / DE
photos by FAKT
FAKT
084 BDA Gallery Berlin
built Installation, 2019
A sloping, walk-on level is the space-forming element of the intervention in the BDA Gallery Berlin. The platform is placed at a subtle slope of five percent in the gallery’s public spaces and extends from the street-side show window to the smaller courtyard window. The three existing spatial zones – previously separated by steps – are unified as one space, creating new possibilities in use and interpretation. Perspective and scale, interior and exterior space, private and public spaces are redefined.
At the same time, two extremely different spatial states arise: a dematerialized space bordered by homogeneous white areas above the oblique plane and a constructive lower space.
Moving through the new gallery shifts balance and dimensions, space gains in complexity and evokes new ways of perception. The perspective changes, street becomes a stage and vice versa. In the back of the gallery, a circular cutout with a diameter of about two and a half meters defines a place for discourse and debates.
direct commission, photos by Fabian Pfitzinger + FAKT
exhibition Title: Ich Bin Raum, curated by Anca Timofticiuc.
built Installation, 2019 Berlin, DE
FAKT
084 BDA Gallery Berlin
built Installation, 2019
A sloping, walk-on level is the space-forming element of the intervention in the BDA Gallery Berlin. The platform is placed at a subtle slope of five percent in the gallery’s public spaces and extends from the street-side show window to the smaller courtyard window. The three existing spatial zones – previously separated by steps – are unified as one space, creating new possibilities in use and interpretation. Perspective and scale, interior and exterior space, private and public spaces are redefined.
At the same time, two extremely different spatial states arise: a dematerialized space bordered by homogeneous white areas above the oblique plane and a constructive lower space.
Moving through the new gallery shifts balance and dimensions, space gains in complexity and evokes new ways of perception. The perspective changes, street becomes a stage and vice versa. In the back of the gallery, a circular cutout with a diameter of about two and a half meters defines a place for discourse and debates.
direct commission, photos by Fabian Pfitzinger + FAKT
exhibition Title: Ich Bin Raum, curated by Anca Timofticiuc.
built Installation, 2019 Berlin, DE
FAKT
077 Forecast Forum III, HKW Berlin
built Installation, 2018
The spatial concept interprets the ‘Haus der Kulturen der Welt’ (Hugh Stubbins) as a pillar and stages. In particular the imaginary spaces around the pillars as well as the pillars themselves are defined as a space of action for 18 invited artists. The adjusted body, multi- layer membranes of corrugated plastic are to be read as negative spaces. The defined elliptical spaces are created around the columns. The spaces are perceived individually as well as in relation to each other or as an open field.
competition, photos by Simon Menges + FAKT
built Installation, 2018 Berlin, DE
FAKT
077 Forecast Forum III, HKW Berlin
built Installation, 2018
The spatial concept interprets the ‘Haus der Kulturen der Welt’ (Hugh Stubbins) as a pillar and stages. In particular the imaginary spaces around the pillars as well as the pillars themselves are defined as a space of action for 18 invited artists. The adjusted body, multi- layer membranes of corrugated plastic are to be read as negative spaces. The defined elliptical spaces are created around the columns. The spaces are perceived individually as well as in relation to each other or as an open field.
competition, photos by Simon Menges + FAKT
built Installation, 2018 Berlin, DE
FAKT
070 Space with 8 walls
private commission, 2017 – 2020
An extension of the living space with flowing rooms, the idea of wall panels as a formative element is the starting point of the design. Eight walls serve as a supporting structure, but also continue inside as room-forming elements. In a small space, different spatial situations are created with simple means.
Three spaces made legible, which are connected in an open relationship to each other and to the garden. The roof is encircling the eight wall panels.
private commission, 2017-2020, Berlin, DE
all photos by Simon Menges
FAKT
070 space with 8 walls
private commission, 2017 – 2020
An extension of the living space with flowing rooms, the idea of wall panels as a formative element is the starting point of the design. Eight walls serve as a supporting structure, but also continue inside as room-forming elements. In a small space, different spatial situations are created with simple means.
Three spaces made legible, which are connected in an open relationship to each other and to the garden. The roof is encircling the eight wall panels.
private commission, 2017-2020, Berlin, DE
all photos by Simon Menges
FAKT
067 House above a wall
private commission, 2017 – 2019
For this project a house was to be designed on a small plot in second row. This plot was bought by the client to combine it with the plot next to it, which they already possessed. Through this special situation many different actors came into play: the Berlin building code, neighbors, the right to use a plot nearby for piping and passage, a garage and a wall that could not be demolished and more. Standard solutions would not work here, this context required an architecture that perfectly responds to these legal and spacial challenges. The solution was, to design a new typology: two intertwined units, partly hovering above the property line and the existing garage. Both units are of equal quality and act as small houses in this semi-urban neighborhood. They have a garage and an open kitchen with access to a small garden in the ground floor and a bright big open space with lots of light in the upper floor. Each unit gets light from every direction and the upper floor can be divided into smaller rooms if necessary.
private commission, 2017
Berlin, DE
FAKT
067 House above a wall
private commission, 2017 – 2019
For this project a house was to be designed on a small plot in second row. This plot was bought by the client to combine it with the plot next to it, which they already possessed. Through this special situation many different actors came into play: the Berlin building code, neighbors, the right to use a plot nearby for piping and passage, a garage and a wall that could not be demolished and more. Standard solutions would not work here, this context required an architecture that perfectly responds to these legal and spacial challenges. The solution was, to design a new typology: two intertwined units, partly hovering above the property line and the existing garage. Both units are of equal quality and act as small houses in this semi-urban neighborhood. They have a garage and an open kitchen with access to a small garden in the ground floor and a bright big open space with lots of light in the upper floor. Each unit gets light from every direction and the upper floor can be divided into smaller rooms if necessary.
private commission, 2017
Berlin, DE
FAKT
competition, honorable mention, 2016
The Climate Tower as a life-cycle – a precise mapping of all existing heat losses is initial to the project and the beginning of a vertical garden. The careful analysis of all the heat emissions of the tower leads to an understanding of the very particular all-season microclimate that allows for a fascinating colorful world of exotic plants. The surrounding ramp articulates an eventful path to the top of the tower which stands in itself for the energy revolution and brings energy cycles to life – becoming a symbol for renewable energies. The climate tower of Heidelberg embodies an inseparable conjunction of nature, technology, and surrounding landscape. By this it stands for a renewed understanding of our relation to nature and high technology – a visible icon of a responsible but inventive usage of our resources.Honorable Mention / Anerkennung, 2016
Realisierungswettbewerb Energie- und Zukunftsspeicher Heidelberg, DE
FAKT + Lohrengel Landschaft
060 Climate Tower, IBA Heidelberg
competition, honorable mention, 2016
The Climate Tower as a life-cycle – a precise mapping of all existing heat losses is initial to the project and the beginning of a vertical garden. The careful analysis of all the heat emissions of the tower leads to an understanding of the very particular all-season microclimate that allows for a fascinating colorful world of exotic plants. The surrounding ramp articulates an eventful path to the top of the tower which stands in itself for the energy revolution and brings energy cycles to life – becoming a symbol for renewable energies. The climate tower of Heidelberg embodies an inseparable conjunction of nature, technology, and surrounding landscape. By this it stands for a renewed understanding of our relation to nature and high technology – a visible icon of a responsible but inventive usage of our resources.Honorable Mention / Anerkennung, 2016
Realisierungswettbewerb Energie- und Zukunftsspeicher Heidelberg, DE
FAKT + Lohrengel Landschaft
competition, one 1st prize, 2016
The proposal for the Branderhof Areal in Aachen (DE) formulates an envisioned scenario of how to live in a future neighborhood. It responds to the two-fold requirements of the municipality of Aachen on one hand and the joined forces of Verein and Baugruppen of Branderhof on the other. The site of 1,3-hectare which includes the protected landmarks of Branderhof calls for a holistic approach to develop a visionary neighborhood.The project was accompanied by a continuous research for the suburban accumulation of privatized landscape dreams and miniature worlds. Aiming to incorporate this wish for individuality into an urban model that is more open and which offers diversity, spaces of social negotiation and community. Starting point for the project was the typological iteration to free the ground level of privatized areas by moving them into the houses. Thus, the ground floor becomes the basis for a lively and active neighborhood that is dense and diverse in uses, but open in atmosphere and movement. This idea translates into a porous spatial grid that is able to host both living and intimate green spaces, with a gradient from private (apartment and garden) to semi-private and finally Branderhof with its surrounding district.open competition, 2016
DE, NL, BEL
FAKT
058 Trinational IBA Parkstad
competition, one 1st prize, 2016
The proposal for the Branderhof Areal in Aachen (DE) formulates an envisioned scenario of how to live in a future neighborhood. It responds to the two-fold requirements of the municipality of Aachen on one hand and the joined forces of Verein and Baugruppen of Branderhof on the other. The site of 1,3-hectare which includes the protected landmarks of Branderhof calls for a holistic approach to develop a visionary neighborhood.
The project was accompanied by a continuous research for the suburban accumulation of privatized landscape dreams and miniature worlds. Aiming to incorporate this wish for individuality into an urban model that is more open and which offers diversity, spaces of social negotiation and community. Starting point for the project was the typological iteration to free the ground level of privatized areas by moving them into the houses. Thus, the ground floor becomes the basis for a lively and active neighborhood that is dense and diverse in uses, but open in atmosphere and movement. This idea translates into a porous spatial grid that is able to host both living and intimate green spaces, with a gradient from private (apartment and garden) to semi-private and finally Branderhof with its surrounding district.open competition, 2016
DE, NL, BEL
FAKT
057 House for 1 to 4 families
private commission, 2016 – 2020
The initial spatial system was developed in line with the programmatic requirements and to integrate the project with the site’s topography. The house for a private client is structurally and programmatically flexible for usages from a private villa type to a 4-unit house. The spatial system works as a cross-split configuration.
Rotating splits describe a systematic reinterpretation of spatial configurations such as Raumplan. Each floor plate is split into two levels, with the split of each respective above floor plate being rotated 90° horizontally. As a result, both floor and ceiling act spatially so that each story is defined by four spatial conditions.
private commission, 2016-2020, Berlin, DE
all photos by Simon Menges
FAKT
057 House for 1 to 4 families
private commission, 2016 – 2020
The initial spatial system was developed in line with the programmatic requirements and to integrate the project with the site’s topography. The house for a private client is structurally and programmatically flexible for usages from a private villa type to a 4-unit house. The spatial system works as a cross-split configuration.
Rotating splits describe a systematic reinterpretation of spatial configurations such as Raumplan. Each floor plate is split into two levels, with the split of each respective above floor plate being rotated 90° horizontally. As a result, both floor and ceiling act spatially so that each story is defined by four spatial conditions.
private commission, 2016-2020, Berlin, DE
all photos by Simon Menges
FAKT
private commission, 2016 – 2021
The two-story rooftop extension in Berlin searches for a volumetric integration to embed it into the neighboring roof landscape while still formulating an autonomous answer. The modular roof typology works with the given partitions of the existing house. The position of each shifting module is defining both the interior and exterior spaces at once.
As a roof addition to the 5-story house from the 1960s, the project structurally deals with specific requirements to be realized within the existing load bearing structure. A light-weight timber construction was developed for all eight modules, working with mainly prefabricated elements.
private commission, 2016-2021, Berlin, DE
exterior photos by Fabian Pfitzinger
interior photos by FAKT
FAKT
054 Setback Apartments
private commission, 2016 – 2021
The two-story rooftop extension in Berlin searches for a volumetric integration to embed it into the neighboring roof landscape while still formulating an autonomous answer. The modular roof typology works with the given partitions of the existing house. The position of each shifting module is defining both the interior and exterior spaces at once.
As a roof addition to the 5-story house from the 1960s, the project structurally deals with specific requirements to be realized within the existing load bearing structure. A light-weight timber construction was developed for all eight modules, working with mainly prefabricated elements.
private commission, 2016-2021, Berlin, DE
exterior photos by Fabian Pfitzinger
interior photos by FAKT
FAKT
competition, 2015
A rhizome-like structure and social model serve as the starting point of the building. The image of the rhizome stands for an interconnected Rosa Luxemburg Foundation which promotes exchange and communication – a house as a spatial network . The structure is offering five different spatial organizations of floor plans allowing for different uses: team work to individual work or mixed, a system with low hierarchy where different space types offer diverse working conditions and are adaptable in terms of structural flexibility. The architectural expression of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation corresponds with its structure and serves as the built symbol of the foundation.
open competition, 2015
Berlin, DE
FAKT
046 Rosa Luxemburg Foundation
competition, 2015
A rhizome-like structure and social model serve as the starting point of the building. The image of the rhizome stands for an interconnected Rosa Luxemburg Foundation which promotes exchange and communication – a house as a spatial network . The structure is offering five different spatial organizations of floor plans allowing for different uses: team work to individual work or mixed, a system with low hierarchy where different space types offer diverse working conditions and are adaptable in terms of structural flexibility. The architectural expression of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation corresponds with its structure and serves as the built symbol of the foundation.
open competition, 2015
Berlin, DE
FAKT
competition, 2015
The new M20 museum works with the as found landscape of the Kulturforum and transforms it subtly. A common and bright roof defines the below as an open forum and spans the large space. While the relation of the preserved soft topography to the geometrically precise roof enhances the awareness for the slight ground movements and translates them into a poetic space. The museum creates two levels with two very different spatial situations (monospace and cabinet) and with this derives a tense experience of different scales within the museum.
The concepts and alleged antagonists of Scharoun’s Stadtlandschaft vs Mies‘ modernist ideal type of the New National Gallery are included and interpreted in the project in their tense relationship. Strategically, the current situation is not ignored but recorded truthfully. It is accepted and further supplemented into the desired spatial qualities. By maintaining the topography of the ground, an inner landscape is created and provides the various required room heights of the program. From this parameter, the arrangement and the roof openings are deduced by the varying static moment of the buckling length of the supports.
The spatial identity of the terrain / landscaped floor and the floor of the exhibition are mutually interdependent. Visual and spatial connections of the two floors via the atria make the museum perceived only within its context and as a common experiential space.
open competition, 2015
Berlin, DE
FAKT
045 M20 Museum Berlin
competition, 2015
The new M20 museum works with the as found landscape of the Kulturforum and transforms it subtly. A common and bright roof defines the below as an open forum and spans the large space. While the relation of the preserved soft topography to the geometrically precise roof enhances the awareness for the slight ground movements and translates them into a poetic space. The museum creates two levels with two very different spatial situations (monospace and cabinet) and with this derives a tense experience of different scales within the museum.
The concepts and alleged antagonists of Scharoun’s Stadtlandschaft vs Mies‘ modernist ideal type of the New National Gallery are included and interpreted in the project in their tense relationship. Strategically, the current situation is not ignored but recorded truthfully. It is accepted and further supplemented into the desired spatial qualities. By maintaining the topography of the ground, an inner landscape is created and provides the various required room heights of the program. From this parameter, the arrangement and the roof openings are deduced by the varying static moment of the buckling length of the supports.
The spatial identity of the terrain / landscaped floor and the floor of the exhibition are mutually interdependent. Visual and spatial connections of the two floors via the atria make the museum perceived only within its context and as a common experiential space.
open competition, 2015
Berlin, DE
FAKT
competition, 2015
The Altona district school is understood as a new model of a vertical urban school. It forms the center of the district and acts as an inclusive school, connecting both scholar activities and life of the students. It adheres to the master plan, interprets its qualities and conducts them architecturally. Pedagogical spaces require no artificial learning world, but rather the updating and consolidation of the qualities of a heterogeneous urban structure. Public, semi-public and private spaces provide the students and teachers with choices of how and when.
The vertical school is experienced as one coherent space. An interior sequence of rooms runs through the building and all the stories are linked to allow the conjuring of the overall space, which still offers niches and separated rooms that are organized towards the outer facade. The primary structure is designed as a robust and economical reinforced concrete construction. The school is sustainable in the sense of its openness for adaptations and changes of learning concepts or spatial needs over time. In this way the school consciously refers to large-scale typologies or office buildings in its static structure and abstracts the qualities of these types in structural robustness, openness and flexibility.
The specific architecture develops the model of a vertical school house where levels and perforations create a deep inside world assembling and connecting all communal spaces. An intersection of structure and program – creating an integrative and communicative school as well as new synergies and possibilities of learning in an all inclusive school.
selected competition, 2015
Schule Neue Mitte Altona, Hamburg, DE
FAKT
042 Altona School Hamburg
competition, 2015
The Altona district school is understood as a new model of a vertical urban school. It forms the center of the district and acts as an inclusive school, connecting both scholar activities and life of the students. It adheres to the master plan, interprets its qualities and conducts them architecturally. Pedagogical spaces require no artificial learning world, but rather the updating and consolidation of the qualities of a heterogeneous urban structure. Public, semi-public and private spaces provide the students and teachers with choices of how and when.
The vertical school is experienced as one coherent space. An interior sequence of rooms runs through the building and all the stories are linked to allow the conjuring of the overall space, which still offers niches and separated rooms that are organized towards the outer facade. The primary structure is designed as a robust and economical reinforced concrete construction. The school is sustainable in the sense of its openness for adaptations and changes of learning concepts or spatial needs over time. In this way the school consciously refers to large-scale typologies or office buildings in its static structure and abstracts the qualities of these types in structural robustness, openness and flexibility.
The specific architecture develops the model of a vertical school house where levels and perforations create a deep inside world assembling and connecting all communal spaces. An intersection of structure and program – creating an integrative and communicative school as well as new synergies and possibilities of learning in an all inclusive school.
selected competition, 2015
Schule Neue Mitte Altona, Hamburg, DE
FAKT
competition, 2nd round, 2015
The Bauhaus Museum is a showcase in itself and within the city. As an open museum, it represents the everyday culture of the Bauhaus and displays the Bauhaus Foundation’s collection openly. The house locates itself boldly and communicatively in the city as well as in the network of Bauhaus buildings in Dessau. While the structure is understood as a serving infrastructure filled with objects and exhibits, the museum becomes an icon of all its programs and presents them to the outside world simultaneously.
As a visitor, a vertical experience of the city becomes possible parallell to the collection round. There are views at varying heights starting from the ground plaza, then looking at the park along with the City Hall (Ratsgasse); the counterpart of the historical post, as it glances into the expanse of the city and all the way up to the sculpture garden on the roof, in height of the tree tops.
The individual floors are located dependently to their neighboring floors and produce a variety of spatial situations. The offset and stacking of four display tubes creates an interplay of open and closed spaces. Consequently, the dialectic of these open and closed forms creates a spatial experience and expands the curatorial possibilities of this museum vastly. The interstices allow a fascinating interweaving with the city, visual connections of the active interior with exterior, and an engagement with the public spaces.
2nd round, open competition, 2015
Dessau, DE
FAKT + Vogt Landschaft
040 Bauhaus Museum Dessau
competition, 2nd round, 2015
The Bauhaus Museum is a showcase in itself and within the city. As an open museum, it represents the everyday culture of the Bauhaus and displays the Bauhaus Foundation’s collection openly. The house locates itself boldly and communicatively in the city as well as in the network of Bauhaus buildings in Dessau. While the structure is understood as a serving infrastructure filled with objects and exhibits, the museum becomes an icon of all its programs and presents them to the outside world simultaneously.
As a visitor, a vertical experience of the city becomes possible parallell to the collection round. There are views at varying heights starting from the ground plaza, then looking at the park along with the City Hall (Ratsgasse); the counterpart of the historical post, as it glances into the expanse of the city and all the way up to the sculpture garden on the roof, in height of the tree tops.
The individual floors are located dependently to their neighboring floors and produce a variety of spatial situations. The offset and stacking of four display tubes creates an interplay of open and closed spaces. Consequently, the dialectic of these open and closed forms creates a spatial experience and expands the curatorial possibilities of this museum vastly. The interstices allow a fascinating interweaving with the city, visual connections of the active interior with exterior, and an engagement with the public spaces.
2nd round, open competition, 2015
Dessau, DE
FAKT + Vogt Landschaft
direct commission, 2015
The construction of a new terrace on the hall of YAAM creates a new community space along the Spree river where different users from all cultures meet. It offers sport, play and leisure – a playground of diversity. The decision to treat the entire roof area as one flexible space is both economical and corresponding to the principle of YAAM; striving to express openness to further development and autonomous transformation. The design is expressed with a transparent and bright envelope similar to sporting uses, however, the common material is charged by means of design to a symbolic and independent aesthetic. The new roof equips YAAM with a new presence amongst the various actors along the river.
An overall economic approach is taken into account from materials to structural integrity. By using the existing concrete structure and a new beam grillage, all the loads can be directly deducted. An economical, simple and open spatial experience is achieved that encourages users to adapt and adventure the new space.
direct commission, 2015
Berlin, DE
FAKT
035 Yaam Rooftop Berlin
direct commission, 2015
The construction of a new terrace on the hall of YAAM creates a new community space along the Spree river where different users from all cultures meet. It offers sport, play and leisure – a playground of diversity. The decision to treat the entire roof area as one flexible space is both economical and corresponding to the principle of YAAM; striving to express openness to further development and autonomous transformation. The design is expressed with a transparent and bright envelope similar to sporting uses, however, the common material is charged by means of design to a symbolic and independent aesthetic. The new roof equips YAAM with a new presence amongst the various actors along the river.
An overall economic approach is taken into account from materials to structural integrity. By using the existing concrete structure and a new beam grillage, all the loads can be directly deducted. An economical, simple and open spatial experience is achieved that encourages users to adapt and adventure the new space.
direct commission, 2015
Berlin, DE
FAKT
installation, 2015
FAKT 034 is an installation piece realized in June 2015 in the courtyard of 6 Rue des Trésorier de la Bourse, Montpellier, in the context of the Festival des Architectures Vives. The project works as a progressive experiment both spatially and structurally. Its aluminum structure has a clear span of 6.4m x 4.5m with only two sheets of 2mm thickness each. The project searches for an installation that overcomes the object but instead transcends into phenomenon – the cloudscape. It is an attempt to enrich the structural nature of architecture with a strong sense of physical excitement and ever-changing visual properties. The topics of lightness, weightlessness and soft borders are all translated into one floating world.
open competition, 2015, all photos by Giulio Boem
Montpellier, FR
FAKT
034 Montpellier Cloud
installation, 2015
FAKT 034 is an installation piece realized in June 2015 in the courtyard of 6 Rue des Trésorier de la Bourse, Montpellier, in the context of the Festival des Architectures Vives. The project works as a progressive experiment both spatially and structurally. Its aluminum structure has a clear span of 6.4m x 4.5m with only two sheets of 2mm thickness each. The project searches for an installation that overcomes the object but instead transcends into phenomenon – the cloudscape. It is an attempt to enrich the structural nature of architecture with a strong sense of physical excitement and ever-changing visual properties. The topics of lightness, weightlessness and soft borders are all translated into one floating world.
open competition, 2015, all photos by Giulio Boem
Montpellier, FR
FAKT
competition, 2014
What is wrong with the ordinary museum?
As the production of art is seeing an enormous evolution in both scale and medium, new spaces and ways of considering the exhibition space are needed. Over the last few decades, the reuse of industrial typologies allowed the use of gigantic spaces to house large scale installations. Contemporary art is becoming more and more concerned with space itself as renowned artists are creating spaces for collective reception. The New Guggenheim a Both And. Variety and Flexibility derive from two very different levels:
1 – a compact gallery level that offers a homogenous pattern of rooms, varying in size and format.
2 – one enormous space. A cloud of a thousand shapes. Unlimited, but specific. A post-white-box-room, offering sheer space and flexibility.
The established museum model is no longer enough. The New Guggenheim represents as a new kind of platform for art of the future – a playground of sorts. The cloud space changes with its program, making the Guggenheim the interactive icon of Helsinki.
competition, 2014
Helsinki, FIN
FAKT
024 Guggenheim Museum Helsinki
competition, 2014
What is wrong with the ordinary museum?
As the production of art is seeing an enormous evolution in both scale and medium, new spaces and ways of considering the exhibition space are needed. Over the last few decades, the reuse of industrial typologies allowed the use of gigantic spaces to house large scale installations. Contemporary art is becoming more and more concerned with space itself as renowned artists are creating spaces for collective reception. The New Guggenheim a Both And. Variety and Flexibility derive from two very different levels:
1 – a compact gallery level that offers a homogenous pattern of rooms, varying in size and format.
2 – one enormous space. A cloud of a thousand shapes. Unlimited, but specific. A post-white-box-room, offering sheer space and flexibility.
The established museum model is no longer enough. The New Guggenheim represents as a new kind of platform for art of the future – a playground of sorts. The cloud space changes with its program, making the Guggenheim the interactive icon of Helsinki.
competition, 2014
Helsinki, FIN
FAKT
conversion / refurbishment, 2013-2015
The Ensemble of the former Electric factory and office buildings is an industrial landmark from the 1950s. Located in the district of Steglitz, the buildings were erected in 1956-57 according to a draft by former Bauhaus student Konrad Sage. The two-story factory is preceded by a two-story small office building. These two buildings are connected by a glazed aisle and both houses executed in a common architectural language. Konrad Sage characterized the factory roof of the large hall as an expression of alternating sheds, inclined in opposite directions. The construction of the factory and office building of the former Electrica company is exemplary for their design direction of architecture of the fifties and thus of historical relevance for Berlin.
Various building measures were carried out for the conversion of the site into a new campus: constructive retrofitting, energetic measures such as interior insulation, new roofs, renovation of the facades including the large glass fronts, surface restoration (terrazzo etc.), dismantling of later implementations and integration of up to date media.
private commission, 2013-2015
Electrica Werk, 1958, Karl Hebecker / Konrad Sage, Berlin, DE
FAKT
022 Industrial Landmark Nicolaistraße
conversion / refurbishment, 2013-2015
The Ensemble of the former Electric factory and office buildings is an industrial landmark from the 1950s. Located in the district of Steglitz, the buildings were erected in 1956-57 according to a draft by former Bauhaus student Konrad Sage. The two-story factory is preceded by a two-story small office building. These two buildings are connected by a glazed aisle and both houses executed in a common architectural language. Konrad Sage characterized the factory roof of the large hall as an expression of alternating sheds, inclined in opposite directions. The construction of the factory and office building of the former Electrica company is exemplary for their design direction of architecture of the fifties and thus of historical relevance for Berlin.
Various building measures were carried out for the conversion of the site into a new campus: constructive retrofitting, energetic measures such as interior insulation, new roofs, renovation of the facades including the large glass fronts, surface restoration (terrazzo etc.), dismantling of later implementations and integration of up to date media.
private commission, 2013-2015
Electrica Werk, 1958, Karl Hebecker / Konrad Sage, Berlin, DE
FAKT
urban competition, honorable mention, with David Levain, 2014
The project is organized as one field. Freestanding buildings of varying height and depth alternate with open spaces of diverse nature and character. The urban structure aligns with the street, giving the neighborhood an address while positioning the new facilities within a larger chain of public programs. The structure is topological, in the sense that it defines spatial relationships that don’t exclusively depend on finite form. While it relates /adapts /adjusts to its surroundings, it is also clearly legible as one field /ground /park. Existing qualities found on site (i.e. the multiple, introverted micro-situations within the park of the Schöpflin Foundation) are not simply mirrored in the new neighborhood. They find a new and playful interpretation within a domestic environment.
The proposed masterplan for Schöpflin Areal in Lörrach (DE) formulates an integrative and adaptive answer to the respective demands of two actors – the municipality of Lörrach and the Schöpflin Foundation – joining efforts to develop a two-hectare site next to a former textile factory. Which forms of living – derived from the site’s existing qualities – could support the foundation’s philanthropic activities? How to integrate new public facilities (a municipal sports/ association center, new spaces for the foundation’s activities) within the neighborhood as potential new incubators for this suburban area? The proposal takes on these demands into a flexible yet robust system. More than a finished project, it is thought of as a framework open for future adaptations capable of supporting an uncertain development process. The open program is answered with an inclusive image and structure.
In this sequence of built and unbuilt, solid and void, housing and green, intensity doesn’t rely on one condition or the other, but rather in the mutual reinforcement of each of these counterparts. The presence of nature is fundamental. It is of diverse character (lawn, playground, vegetable garden, greenhouse, hollowed out surface, etc.) which supports extensive uses, social interactions and contributes to a specific urban landscape. As much as architecture, the presence of nature participates in the urban identity – an ever changing one, supporting numerous possibilities of living in the new Schöpflin neighborhood.
Honorable Mention / Anerkennung, Nicht-offener Wettbewerb, 2014
Schöpflin-Areal, Lörrach, DE
FAKT + David Levain
016 Schöpflin Neighborhood
urban competition, honorable mention, with David Levain, 2014
The project is organized as one field. Freestanding buildings of varying height and depth alternate with open spaces of diverse nature and character. The urban structure aligns with the street, giving the neighborhood an address while positioning the new facilities within a larger chain of public programs. The structure is topological, in the sense that it defines spatial relationships that don’t exclusively depend on finite form. While it relates /adapts /adjusts to its surroundings, it is also clearly legible as one field /ground /park. Existing qualities found on site (i.e. the multiple, introverted micro-situations within the park of the Schöpflin Foundation) are not simply mirrored in the new neighborhood. They find a new and playful interpretation within a domestic environment.
The proposed masterplan for Schöpflin Areal in Lörrach (DE) formulates an integrative and adaptive answer to the respective demands of two actors – the municipality of Lörrach and the Schöpflin Foundation – joining efforts to develop a two-hectare site next to a former textile factory. Which forms of living – derived from the site’s existing qualities – could support the foundation’s philanthropic activities? How to integrate new public facilities (a municipal sports/ association center, new spaces for the foundation’s activities) within the neighborhood as potential new incubators for this suburban area? The proposal takes on these demands into a flexible yet robust system. More than a finished project, it is thought of as a framework open for future adaptations capable of supporting an uncertain development process. The open program is answered with an inclusive image and structure.
In this sequence of built and unbuilt, solid and void, housing and green, intensity doesn’t rely on one condition or the other, but rather in the mutual reinforcement of each of these counterparts. The presence of nature is fundamental. It is of diverse character (lawn, playground, vegetable garden, greenhouse, hollowed out surface, etc.) which supports extensive uses, social interactions and contributes to a specific urban landscape. As much as architecture, the presence of nature participates in the urban identity – an ever changing one, supporting numerous possibilities of living in the new Schöpflin neighborhood.
Honorable Mention / Anerkennung, Nicht-offener Wettbewerb, 2014
Schöpflin-Areal, Lörrach, DE
FAKT + David Levain
competition, 5th prize, 2013
The new primary school of Riethüsli incorporates all school activities as an urban and compact typology which embodies learning and everyday life under a single roof. The former dispersed urban configuration is solved with a solitary setting. The school functions as a multi-disciplinary and hybrid building which combines learning, moving, playing, romping, lingering, talking and eating in one house with a garden that offers play areas and open spaces, paths and natural areas. The school house with its school program and various neighborhood uses in the afternoon becomes a new hub to the surrounding district.
The house is compact and vertically stacked. Instead of isolation, the project promotes communication through an intersection of programs over the floors. Just as learning requires different perspectives, a flexible variety of different spaces is offered in terms of size, openness, equipment and use.
The school creates a remarkable urban address on Teufener Straße, where passers-by can observe the different uses of the school over the day. The school’s sports centre is clearly oriented towards the public entrance on the street, where a prominent stairway leads users and pedestrians to the school. On the garden side, it is more calm and the connection of the school and the large garden is clearly felt. The open ground floor acts as a distributor mediating between the other levels and is linked to the garden.
At two crucial levels, the surroundings are brought into the public areas of the school house, to ensure its permeability with the context . Through its position and orientation on the slope, the building makes use of the existing topography and sensibly links the school on its different programmatic levels with the surrounding district.
5th prize, open competition, 2013
Ersatzneubau der Primarschule Riethüsli, St. Gallen, CH
FAKT
004 Primary School Riethüsli
competition, 5th prize, 2013
The new primary school of Riethüsli incorporates all school activities as an urban and compact typology which embodies learning and everyday life under a single roof. The former dispersed urban configuration is solved with a solitary setting. The school functions as a multi-disciplinary and hybrid building which combines learning, moving, playing, romping, lingering, talking and eating in one house with a garden that offers play areas and open spaces, paths and natural areas. The school house with its school program and various neighborhood uses in the afternoon becomes a new hub to the surrounding district.
The house is compact and vertically stacked. Instead of isolation, the project promotes communication through an intersection of programs over the floors. Just as learning requires different perspectives, a flexible variety of different spaces is offered in terms of size, openness, equipment and use.
The school creates a remarkable urban address on Teufener Straße, where passers-by can observe the different uses of the school over the day. The school’s sports centre is clearly oriented towards the public entrance on the street, where a prominent stairway leads users and pedestrians to the school. On the garden side, it is more calm and the connection of the school and the large garden is clearly felt. The open ground floor acts as a distributor mediating between the other levels and is linked to the garden.
At two crucial levels, the surroundings are brought into the public areas of the school house, to ensure its permeability with the context . Through its position and orientation on the slope, the building makes use of the existing topography and sensibly links the school on its different programmatic levels with the surrounding district.
5th prize, open competition, 2013
Ersatzneubau der Primarschule Riethüsli, St. Gallen, CH
FAKT