Pepingen
Published in DIVISARE BOOKS issue #91
Nominated for the Mies van der Rohe Award 2017.
The rotation of an existing floor plan. As the re-scaling of a courtyard farm. As a transformation of the large spaces of farm buildings into small spaces for living. And as a reconsideration of context by remaking the context just so differently.
The reconversion of a courtyard farm into a single-family home. Not as a new housing typology, but as a rethinking of the existing farm typology – the typology of the farm as a spaces for living. A new structure is introduced within the existing farm buildings as an extension and refinement of these large spaces. A new, round volume becomes the connection point between the large shed – now as living area – and the smaller building – now for sleeping.
The courtyard farm creates a strange angle. The arrangement of the various buildings that make up the farmstead was not completely square. And not quite right in orientation.
The exact alignment and precise hooking of the position of the various buildings is projected back onto the existing arrangement. In an initial consideration, a strange drawing. In a second look, a particular outcome.
A constant retaking of elements that make up the drawing of the original farmstead becomes the leitmotif. The context is taken apart and put back together, just so differently. Precision is key.
As a result, a difference. And yet, the whole remains. Yet, it is still a farmstead. An almost imperceptible difference. An exercise in balance.
As a continuation of the original buildings built in brick with tiled roofs, the new construction is made of wood with a finish of cement tiles. The wooden structures are an extension of the wood found in the beams of the roof, while the cement tiles are a very basic material, responding to the banality of the bricks.
As a correction on the original buildings, the roof beams are cut in some places, to clear space for living. The cut beams are repaired again with steel beams, differently, retaining the original structure in a different configuration.
The new construction responds to the context of the farmstead. As the rethinking what there already is. And putting it back together, just so differently.
