Residence in Munich
- Emilia Margaretha
The colourful glazed surfaces of the bricks developed especially for a four-storey villa situated directly across from the English Garden in Munich create a homogeneous building envelope. Seen from a distance the skin – made up of 54,000 bricks in 24 colours – contributes to the overall impression of coherence. At a short distance, in contrast, one perceives the individual “pixels”. The freely composed celebration of colour has a basic unit: 210-mm-long “humped bricks” with two projections each. The brick bond, in which the bricks are staggered one fourth of the unit’s length, generates the three-dimensional surface. The original plan was to renovate the existing 1950s building. But in light of the clients’ brief, which also included stately spaces for their extensive art collection, new construction turned out to be the more economical choice. The building massing’s scale is closely attuned to a context that has accrued over time: the side facing the street (and the park) has a rigorous design with large openings. Bay windows on the sides provide views of the foliage, and both here and on the rear facade, the building’s edges are rounded. The playful approach to the facade design integrates the tall trees populating the English Garden. The building is also structured horizontally: a darker, two-storey plinth zone holding office spaces contrasts with the two living levels above, in which lighter shades of brick are employed. Because it steps bac, the extensively glazed penthouse is barely visible from the street.
