pasel.kuenzel: urban villa

Close and compact are the residences lined up along the waterside of Grote Rieteiland, an artificial island in Amsterdams hip neighbourhood Ijburg.

Within a strict and complex set of urban rules pasel.kuenzel architects succeeded to develop a plain and sober urban villa that is unique in its reduced design and compelling in its materialisation and level of detailing.

The building is a composition of a horizontal plinth for living and a vertical element comprising work spaces, bedrooms for the kids, a masterbedroom and above all a tremendous roof terrace. Due to a 12m wide glazed facade on the south side the main living area relates directly to the water. The house grants access via a patio facing the street and marking the threshold between public and private. The unusual materialisation of white painted raw timber boards of Douglas fir underlines the compelling power of simple things.

pasel.kuenzel architects is a Rotterdam-based studio founded in 2002 by Ralf Paseland and Frederik Künzel on the principle that “there is no urbanism without detail, and no detail without urbanism” and that everything in between is architecture. They consequently feel – as architects – compelled to work on all levels of scale, from general land-use plans down to the minute details of material junctions. According to them, the profession means: think out ideas and show their qualities, and let projects develop their own identity.

Urban Villa, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Programme: single-family house
Architects: pasel.kuenzel architects
Area: 307 sqm
Completion: 2013