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Holiday House
The design for the holiday house Hof Ahmen goes back to the seemingly simple and yet essential question: how to complement a unique, listed farm with surrounding grassland and integrate the new building into the "genius loci" of the farm, while at the same time developing an independent modern architectural language for the new building?
Hof Ahmen as an existing ensemble is characterized by a rectangular courtyard surrounded by permanent grassland, which is divided by the typical local rows of trees. In the middle of the rectangular plot stands the listed, thatched main house surrounded by lush, historically grown trees. To the east of the main house the detached roofs of the sheep barn are located, which were built in 1990 as an open wooden construction and correspond, in proportions and roof shape, to the typical local "Drempel barn". The new holiday house forms an extension of these freestanding roof structures: a fifth, floating roof is added, thus incorporating the "genius loci". A floating platform, inserted under the roof, forms the main space of the house and creates a threshing floor. This platform is completely glazed and the boundary between inside and outside becomes blurred, in a continuum between interior and exterior space. Analogies to the classics of modernism, the "Glass House" by Phillip Johnson and the "Farnsworth House" by Mies van der Rohe, emerge.
The inhabitant becomes an observer of nature and the environment turns into the main protagonist of the interior. Slightly elevated with a kind of pedestal, the resident observes the surroundings: the constant interplay of cloud formations, the seasons and the grazing of sheep determine the atmosphere and character of the house and make
the surroundings become a scenery: the complete beauty of nature opens up to the user. The visitor enters through a terrace, in front of the house on the east, which serves as an outdoor area in summer and is an extension of the interior itself. From here, through the large sliding door (2.4m x 3.4m), one enters the main room. In its proportions (4 x 10m, 4.1m clear height) based on the barns of classic longhouses, the house seeks the dialogue between, on one hand, rural, typical local typologies and ,on the other hand, classical modernism. The main room is subtly divided into three areas by a wooden lamellas volume, without dividing the space in its entirety. The southern area, which gets sun all day long, is the dining area with its generous free-standing table. The northern area, where the sun shines from 5 o‘clock in the evening, is the living area. In the central part, the furniture element integrates the wet area and visually separates it from the main room. On the other side, the kitchen floats as a free, mirrored volume. Two wooden cubes, which accommodate the sleeping berths, are inserted into this fully glazed platform.
These closed volumes form a retreat in contrast to the open main space and convey a sense of security. The cubes can be opened to the main space through generous sliding doors, allowing flexible uses of the sleeping berths (daybed, couch) in conjunction with the main space. The border between integration and segregation, between landscape and architecture, between rural and modern, between open and closed and the careful balancing of these elements determine the design and let the house become a unique place together with the lush nature.
度假屋
這個度假屋Hof Ahmen的設計源於一個看似簡單卻相當重要的問題：如何在這周圍的草地中補充一個獨特且被列入受保護名單的農場，並將新建築物整合到農場的「天賦之地」中，同時如何為新建築物開發一種獨立的現代建築語彙？
Hof Ahmen是現有的建築物，矩形庭院是它的特色，被青綠的草地包圍，由當地典型樹行分隔開。在矩形地面的中央，一棟被列入受保護名單的茅草屋主屋，周圍是蓊鬱且歷史悠久的樹林。在主屋的東側，是羊舍的獨立屋頂，該羊舍於1990年建成，採用開放式的木結構，比例和屋頂型狀相符，「典型德國傳統農村建築風格」(Drempel barn)。新的度假屋形成，延伸了這些獨立屋頂的結構：增加了第五個浮動的屋頂，因此被納入這個「天賦之地」。平台嵌入屋頂下方，形成了房子的主要空間，並規劃這個打谷場。此空間完全採用玻璃構成，讓室內與室外之間的界線變得模糊，形成一個內、外空間延續，自然且平衡。這種設計類比現代主義的經典作品——菲利普．強森的「玻璃屋」和密斯．凡德羅的「范斯沃斯宅」之處。
居住者成為大自然的觀察者，環境成為室內的主要主角。略微抬高的位置及類似基座的平台使居住者可以觀察周圍的景觀：不斷變化的雲朵形狀、季節變化和羊群的放牧決定了房屋的氛圍與特色，並使周圍的環境成為景色：這自然之美完美的展現在居住者眼前。遊客由東側房子前的露台進入，露台在夏天會是一個戶外區域，也是室內本身的延伸。拉開大型的推拉門（2.4米x3.4米），進入主要空間，這個空間的比例（4x10米,淨高4.1米）基於經典長屋的穀倉基礎，目標在追尋鄉村經典風格與古現代主義之間的對話。
主要空間透過木質格柵牆體巧妙地將空間分為三個開放的使用區域，南側整日都有陽光，在這裡規劃為用餐區，擁有寬敞的獨立餐桌，北側從傍晚5點會有陽光照耀，規劃為客廳，中間的部分，透過收納櫃體傢俱元素，整合了濕區，並在視覺上將睡眠休息空間區隔開，木製的立方體嵌入這個玻璃建構的平台上，用於休息睡眠的空間，另一側，則是廚房，懸空的料理台是個霧面櫃體。
這些封閉的量體與開放的主空間形成對比，隱蔽空間是一個兼具隱私讓人們感到安心自在的地方，透過這些立方體可以大方地拉開門進入主要空間相連，使休息睡眠空間（日式沙發、沙發床）與主要空間靈活結合使用。設計過程中需要平衡多個立面之間的關係，例如：鄉村與現代風格之間、開放與封閉之間，以及在這些元素之間的取捨，設計師成功讓房子成為一個舒適且獨特的地方，同時能與周圍豐富的自然環境對話。
