Wächter Residence, Karlsruhe - West Germany

Abstract

Wächter Residence, Karlsruhe - West Germany The design of this home in Karlsruhe v\/as presided over by two basic criteria: function and human scale, carried up to their ultimate consequences. The first criteria had a decisive influence on the roof arrangement, as an extension of the neighboring buildings, and on the selection of construction materials to match the suburban environment where the site is located, not to forget the shaping of Windows and skylights, reflecting the internal functions and providing lighting while protecting the privacy of the interior from the exterior lines of view. The second criteria affects aspects so different from one another as the unexpected but valid room arrangement following a spiral path leading from the entrance to the master bedroom at the other end with the remaining rooms at intermediate levels affording the required degree of privacy; or the arrangement of the mechanical installations, resembling the human backbone; or, finally, the paint finish chosen, pleasing man's taste for ornamentality.