Nikita Tokarev recalls the words of Ilya Lezhava: in Russia and in Europe, architects act differently. In Russia, they first invent an idea, and then painfully try to implement it. The result is pain and disappointment: architects, builders and customers are disappointed in each other, a dream come true disappoints everyone. In Europe, the architect first outlines a workable scheme, and then finds beauty inside it. Being Russian architects themselves, Tokarev and Leonovich worked in the first paradigm. And recently we tried the second one.
One of the customers of the architectural bureau "Panakom" settled in Germany and decided to build a house. The site is located in the suburbs of Munich. A local architect took part in the work on the project, who translated the project into German, brought it in line with German norms, coordinated, and now will prepare the working documentation and will supervise the construction. The situation when a local architect provides technical support for a project created by a foreign architectural bureau (in this case, he is called Executive Architect in English) is a common practice in many countries.
The plot faces the street on one side, and on the other - on the edge of a steep slope descending to the Isar River. On the site there was a small house of the usual appearance for these places: white walls, small windows, a high tiled roof. Such a house was incompatible with the customer's lifestyle. In addition, the site is overgrown with trees that cannot be cut down according to local regulations.
The architects were faced with detailed urban planning regulations: the height of the building, indents from the red line, from neighboring plots were limited. All these requirements, of course, have been met. One of them, concerning the maximum area of the ground part, was observed formally. Within the limit of 500 sq. m did not fit the pool, so it was designed as a separate building, with its own foundation.
This decision was suggested by an executive architect. It seems that the project was agreed without much difficulty, primarily due to his energetic actions. The local authorities were very afraid that the building "in a modern style" would violate the half-timbered-tile harmony of the suburb. The executive architect insisted that the project was international, convinced that Russian designers are very famous in their homeland, and, finally, the doubters agreed that the new building would enrich the suburbs.
In the house, public premises, contrary to the usual scheme, were located on the second floor so that the distance was visible above the trees that cannot be cut down. Therefore, it was necessary to arrange the entrance in such a way that a person, upon entering, immediately wanted to go up to the second floor. In the center of the house there is a double-height lobby with a skylight and a glass wall opposite the entrance, through which the garden is visible. The second floor looks into the lobby from both sides with a mezzanine, and the stairs go down to the very front door. The lobby invites a person to go upstairs or forward into the garden. Passages to the sides, to the living rooms, are invisible.
The second floor, although divided into several rooms, should give the impression of a single space with a common wooden coffered ceiling. The walls are made of glass almost along the entire perimeter, terraces are arranged along the street facade and above the pool. The terrace, which runs along the main façade, is accessed by doors from all rooms on the upper floor. The second floor looks like a gazebo, set on a stone base, too massive to carry its weight.
This accentuated tier, U-shaped plan, rigid symmetry with three intersecting axes (the third is vertical, fixed by a lantern in the ceiling of the lobby), the distinguished entrance are signs of classicism, moreover, rather of German, formal, Schinkel classicism. And the formal language of the building is the language of German modernism of the era of Gropius and Mies, in general, also alien to Panakom. Conceiving a building in Germany, the architects decided to pay tribute to the context, but here's the bad luck: they thought that the context was Schinkel and "New Objectivity", but it turned out - tiles and half-timbered houses.
The house remained alien to the surroundings. He is "not German." But not Russian either. In Russia, it would have been impossible to build such a house - so small and transparent. Not being “different” in style (despite the flat walls and the horizontal line of the cornice, the style of “Panacoma” is visible in it), he is “different” in terms of ethics and values. Planning is the result of self-restraint. Not only architects - the customer himself tried to squeeze the area and functions to the required 500 sq. m. He enthusiastically strove to remain within the framework of the law, so unusual and burdensome in Russia. Another value that the project follows is clarity. You enter the house, and he, according to Nikita Tokarev, “immediately explains everything”: its structure is clear at first glance.
The project has now been handed over to an executive architect who prepares working documents for the contractors. Construction is likely to begin in the summer.
