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WOHNEN • LIVING TECHNISCHER AUSBAU • TECHNICAL SOLUTIONS

A mong the means of our time are also those of the past,” the architect Hans
Kollhoff proclaimed over two decades ago in a much-quoted article on the sub-
ject of “living” and thus rid himself and his profession from the steadily increasing
innovation pressure which has been dominating architecture since the modern age.
Whereas in Switzerland, where Kollhoff was teaching as a professor at ETH Zurich at
the time, he quickly fell on sympathetic ears, among German architects his views
were disputed for a long time. It has only been a few years that Kollhoff’s stance –
not necessarily the design vocabulary he developed since then! – is also supported by
a younger generation of German architects. Definitely among the pioneers of this
movement is the Munich architect Matthias Castorph. His work is characterized by an
intense discussion of the practical and theoretical works by Theodor Fischer (1862-
1938) who, as a reform-oriented architect, founder of the Werkbund, urban planner
and university teacher, significantly influenced the appearance of Munich in the first
half of the 20th century. The here presented conversion of, as the architect phrases it,
a “flat tinkered with beyond recognition” from the Gründerzeit in the Munich district
of Neuhausen was designed completely in the spirit of Fischer as well. It was
Castorph’s aspiration to turn a difficult existing building fabric into a “simple old-
Munich flat as it might always have looked”. Only when looking more closely, thus
was Castorph’s idea, with a twinkling of the eye should what seemed to be authentic
manifest itself as a modern further-developed interpretation of what was historic.
Durch Wandaufdopplungen entstanden praktische Nischen. • Wall doublings create practical niches.
The ideal of a simple old-Munich flat

If one looks at the photos of the construction site, it becomes clear to what extent
Die abgehängten Decken erhielten sanfte Stuckaturen. • The suspended ceilings had subtle stucco added.
Castorph tried to satisfy his aspiration. Nothing of what today at first glance appears
to be so natural and self-evident existed before the conversion – not the diagonally
installed oak parquet with its classic beautiful oily sheen; not the half-height wood
panelling of the kitchen wall; not the numerous practical, small and large wall niches
in all the rooms; not the subtle stucco at the ceilings in the rooms; and neither the
heavy, coffered doors of solid spruce with their inset Cathedral-glass panes which
were made by a small joinery business out in the country where, according to
Castorph, “work is still done exactly as it should be”. The door handles are also cus-
tom products: They were made according to casts of the door fittings designed by
Theodor Fischer for the Munich Ledigenheim [home for singles] constructed in 1927.
That building is among the late works by Fischer and is currently being renovated by
Castorph and his office partner Marco Goetz. Castorph explains his fascination with
Fischer with the latter’s keen sense of details. “Fischer’s objects”, Castorph states:
“Actually look quite normal. On closer inspection or picked up, however, one notices
that they are always slightly better made than normal. They feel better, are formally
more precise solutions, more consistent, more haptic. You simply feel Fischer’s knack
for the things of daily use.”

The new interpretation of well-known and proven elements

The new kitchen unit designed by Castorph as well totally corresponds to his ideal
Die Vorhangaufhängungen verschwinden in Lichtvouten. • Curtain suspensions are concealed behind cove lighting.
schooled by Fischer and based on craftsmanship, robustness and easy reparability.
The cabinets are made of solid wood and only painted on the outside. The doors open
with simple hinges instead of the today customary concealed hinges and slot bars in
the cabinets make it possible to install shelves at any desired height. All the cabinet
handles are inspired by Fischer’s historic models and turned from ebony. The worktop
cut from Bavarian Jurassic limestone has no cut-out holes. The stove and the sink stand
separate. Water comes out of the wall and hand-made Dutch tiles were plastered flush
into the wall and with no gap between them. The most elaborate intervention took
place in the dining area: A large concrete beam formerly dominated the room. It was
located right above the dining area and produced an unpleasant spatial feeling. Now
it disappeared behind a suspended ceiling. Instead, a “fake” beam was designed
which now structures the room in the right place. Short wall projections as well as the
area’s own colouring increase the effect. The longitudinal walls were furthermore sym-
metrically doubled in the eating niche. Thus, on the one hand, the projecting chimney
edge disappeared and, on the other, space for various wall niches was created – to cle-
verly integrate the radiator into the design, for instance. The “potato niche” above it in
turn relates in its form to the shape of the table as well as to the screen print by artist
Rupprecht Geiger which leans against the wall opposite. It is this kind of playful re-
appropriation of well-known and again and again proven elements and stylistic means
which give the Munich flat a timeless as well as cheerful appearance.

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