A hytte – a word of German origin literally translated as “small wooden house” – is the traditional mountain hut owned by about one in three Norwegian families, a tradition that explains why Norway tops the list of second homes per capita. Places of fixed rituals and custodians of family memories, this type of vacation home typical of Northern European culture finds its contemporary reinterpretation in Breitenbach, a small French municipality in Alsace.
Fourteen wooden hytter dot an Alsatian hillside
The encounter between a French-Danish client and a Norwegian architect resulted in a hotel perched on the heights of the Alsatian village of Breitenbach, composed of discreet, demountable wooden cabins.
Photo Florent Michel @11h45
Photo Florent Michel @11h45
Photo Florent Michel @11h45
Photo Florent Michel @11h45
Photo Florent Michel @11h45
Photo Florent Michel @11h45
Photo Florent Michel @11h45
Photo Florent Michel @11h45
Photo Florent Michel @11h45
Photo Florent Michel @11h45
Photo Florent Michel @11h45
Photo Florent Michel @11h45
Photo Florent Michel @11h45
Photo Florent Michel @11h45
Photo Florent Michel @11h45
Photo Florent Michel @11h45
Photo Florent Michel @11h45
Photo Florent Michel @11h45
Photo Florent Michel @11h45
Photo Florent Michel @11h45
Drawing Reiulf Ramstad Arkitekter
Drawing Reiulf Ramstad Arkitekter
Drawing Reiulf Ramstad Arkitekter
Drawing Reiulf Ramstad Arkitekter
Drawing Reiulf Ramstad Arkitekter
Drawing Reiulf Ramstad Arkitekter
Drawing Reiulf Ramstad Arkitekter
Drawing Reiulf Ramstad Arkitekter
Drawing Reiulf Ramstad Arkitekter
Drawing Reiulf Ramstad Arkitekter
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- Romina Totaro
- 21 July 2021
- Breitenbach, France
- Reiulf Ramstad Arkitekter in collaboration with ASP Architecture
- 20,000 smq
- hotel
- 2020
Commissioned by a French-Danish client, in fact, Norwegian architect Reiulf Ramstad rethought the typical Scandinavian structure for the 48° Nord hotel through fourteen punctual cabins that detail the hill like boulders on a slope. “The architectural design had to find a common denominator of both cultures,” explains architect Reiulf Ramstad, “fading into the site but not disappearing, showing that nature, ecology and modernity are not incompatible.”
Built on stilts, the small architectures are demountable, preserving the surrounding landscape intact. All volumes are clad in untreated and locally sourced chestnut wood, marked only by large glass openings. Four distinct typologies make up a family of polygonal volumes with different qualities: now developed on a single level, now towering and thin, and finally more spacious to accommodate entire families. The interiors are minimal and rustic, qualified by light wood and built-in furniture, in memory of the Scandinavian welcome, the “hygge”.
- Breitenbach Landscape Hotel – 48° Nord
- Reiulf Ramstad Arkitekter in collaboration with ASP Architecture
- private, Emil Leroy-Jönsson
- 20,000 smq
- from 20 to 60 mq
- 2015
- 2020
Site plan
South elevations of the four typologies
Fjell, plans and sections
Grass, plans and sections
Ivy, plans and sections
Tree, plans and sections
Grass, sketch
Ivy, sketch
Tree, sketch
Tree, sketch