Space is un-ugly
The whole urban area nearby the railway station Aachen Rothe Erde with its railway-underpass is one of the most important entrances to the city. But it hasn’t been a place to recognize. The challenge was to revert a so-called ugly location into an interesting spot and change people’s way of looking at it.
Space is un-ugly
The whole urban area nearby the railway station Aachen Rothe Erde with its railway-underpass is one of the most important entrances to the city. But it hasn’t been a place to recognize. The challenge was to revert a so-called ugly location into an interesting spot and change people’s way of looking at it.
Space is un-ugly
Rothe Erde means red earth as well as cleared forest. To play with the name the traffic island was filled with herbs and red earth.
The ugliest element became the eye-catcher:
Rotten concrete, dove-shit and dirt transformed to a glowing signal-red super-sign in the urban space.
Space is unique
Without changing the landscape and by saving a 300-years-old Oak, it was nearly impossible to build a house on this ground.
A Japanese-German Family took the challenge and bought this site. The sake-and-salt-ritual shows the spiritual adoption of space and place.
Space is unique
Respecting the tree, the house was constructed carefully around and in between the roots. The shape of the building smoothly responds to the volume of the oak. The oak still remains the main character of the scene.
Space is still there
Nobody wanted to swim in this pool anymore. So space follows life.
The former pool is now reused as a gym. You can still reach it by taking the trapdoor, which at the same time serves as the bench of new dining area.
Space is still there
The historical carpenters work of this attic is such a good quality that therefore we didn’t want to hide it. Now it marks the room like a sculpture. The technical part and storage room is hidden behind the small inclined wall.
So this is archigraphus - We handle space
Handling space is a complex process. It’s not only finding out the clients desire but also discovering the potential of the space involved, designing, discussing, re-designing, following costs, respecting deadlines, organizing construction sites.
