The Giergasse, a leftover space, the surprise at the back. In a broader perspective, the Giergasse is the transition between a park, a green campus area and a closed building block.
The plan integrates 3 elements
- A secluded courtyard
- An object in a green campus
- A surprising footpath to the Rhine
The combination of the surrounding small-scale buildings and the wish to realise an object generates a paradox. The plan contradicts itself.
The starting point for the design was the maximum possible volume as limited by the sun enjoyed in the gardens, patios and houses surrounding the area. According to this method, the volume to be built must not be larger than 35 metres long x 23 metres wide x 22 metres high. A courtyard has been created in the centre of the solid volume in order to let daylight in.
The ground floor on the southern side of the volume has been cut away, so that the green park naturally flows over into the courtyard. The existing car park is transformed into an extension of the city park. The courtyard is in use as both a children’s playground and a shared exterior space. The building, a mini-block, becomes an object in the park, it creates a new closed building block in combination with the existing buildings, and it creates a secluded courtyard along the footpath to the Rhine. The sculptural character and the slanting roof turn the mini-block into a symbiosis of the objects in the park and the traditional houses which surround the Giergasse.
The mini-block comprises 16 completely unique residential units. A village with diversity, people can choose customised living space as it were, depending on their particular needs.
There is a choice between rhombus houses, attic studios, lofts and work houses. The loss of the existing car park is compensated by realisation of a parking garage.
In order to emphasise the block's object type style, the roof and facade have been realised in one and the same material. The choice of a natural green cladding reinforces the paradoxical nature of the design. It raises the question of whether the block is part of the park or indeed part of the surrounding building block. The green cladding also provides spaciousness in the courtyard, space normally reserved for gardens can now instead be used for communal activities.
The design is significant in many ways, despite the seemingly simple construction. It is a modern translation of a traditional shape, it is both an object and a closed building block, it isolates itself from the city yet sits in its very heart, it combines communal properties with individual ones.
