Weekend Haus

A house on a slope is always a structure that reflects the environment in a particular way: it develops an intimate relationship with the ground and thus offers an opportunity to sharpen our perception for the differences between the found natural and the placed artificial. In that way the slope house becomes a tool that gauges its surroundings.

In this specific case, one arrives at the house from above, where the first impression is that of a platform projecting into the countryside. The connection to the terrain allows for two paths: one is a bridge to the said platform, which is the roof, but also the fifth facade of the building. The second path leads into a volume, an open hood forming the entrance to the actual house. On entering one immerses, breaks through the horizon established by the roof and reaches a plain surrounding the house, which again offers two connections with the terrain. The slant of the steps leading to this level parallels the slope of the adjoining topography. The movement, which is very difficult on the natural terrain, is made possible by the arrangement of the steps and their continuation into the house – the land is being domesticated.

The landscape opposite the slope, however, becomes present in the truest sense of the word by the very arrangement of the house. The view offered from the inside of the house into the landscape is pure construction: the building’s positioning on this spot reveals the geographical benefits of the place and thus establishes the relationship with the surrounding land. The construction of the view reveals the landscape as an orchestrated set.