Page 89 - AIT0324_E-Paper

Entwurf • Design Bureau, CH-Genf
Bauherr • Client Privat
Standort • Location CH-Genf
Nutzfläche • Floor space 120 m 2
Fotos • Photos Dylan Perrenoud, CH-Genf
Mehr Infos auf Seite • More info on page 134

HOUSE MOLAIRE

IN GENEVA

„Die Idee der Offenheit wird Living arrangements are as individual as life itself. The
floor plan of this 120-square metre flat in Geneva is
in eine physische Erfahrung umgesetzt, a veritable web of relationships. There are no classic
da es kaum Wände gibt.” rooms with walls and doors, instead there are glass
partitions and curtains. The loft constantly changes its
Bureau appearance through open or closed situations, depen-
ding on the needs of the family – a design by Bureau.

T oday, lifestyles are more diverse than ever before, they are being
created and discarded, they are dynamic. Living-, housing- and
marriage partners change. Families grow and shrink, children move
in and out, living spaces are sometimes used permanently, sometimes
temporarily. A rigid and lasting relationship appears to be a discon-
tinued model – both as a family structure and as a form of housing.
Flexible ways of life call for equally flexible, “elastic” forms of housing.
And where better to live out individuality than within your own four
walls? One example of this is the Maison Molaire in Geneva, designed
by Bureau. The architecture firm is known for its explicitly non-standard,
Längsschnitt • Longitudinal section surprisingly unconventional concepts. The flat shown here is located
on the top floor of a small, simple mixed-use building from the 1980s,
which sits between two taller buildings. A dental practice was previous-
ly located here. There are only windows on the north-facing long side
(!). These are supplemented by two skylights in the transverse axis.
Lighting was therefore a key issue. So was openness and the very idea
of openness here translates into a physical experience as not much is
walled. The 120-square metre, column-free floor plan provided this from
the outset. Bureau created flexible zoning using curtains, partition walls
made of plywood and glass as well as sideboards. The parents’ kitchen-,
living-, dining-, sleeping- and sanitary areas are essentially one. The
opening and closing of the curtains – blue for the parents’ and children’s
sleeping areas, pink for the sanitary areas – produces dynamic room
scenarios that change constantly throughout the day. This lively orga-
nism is characterized by simple materials that have a very provisional
appearance: plywood panels for the floor and partition walls, simple
tiles for the shower, but also for individual walls, the dining table or the
ceiling above the shower that extends all the way into the sleeping area.
All the rooms relate to each other, sometimes more, sometimes less so,
just as do the residents themselves. It is a decision: to see or (not) to
be seen. One thing is definitely inevitable with this open-plan concept:
Grundriss • Floor plan “The possibility of disorder is omnipresent,” admits Bureau.

AIT 3.2024 • 089