31 Residential Giants

Vertical residential giants are shaping the silhouettes of german cities since the post war period. Based on a comprehensive research about residential giants of the 60ies and 70ies the design wants to give an answer how to deal with the space which is left in the cities. For this aim the project transfers the quality and ingenuity the past into today.

The house is located on a nearly forgotten plot next to the main train station of the town Augsburg 60 km away from Munich. In viewing distance to a residential giants of the past and surrounded by freight tracks the house faces up the noise and the speed of the passing trains and makes housing possible on a left over space which is not initially suitable for living. The building understand itself as a guard of the city which welcomes the traveler and marks the arriving point. The cantilevered upper part looks in and over the city. The building is facing the noise and the speed of the passing trains and refers formally to it with its horizontal facade. The building is based on a robust structure of concrete columns. In the regular floor 2-20 are flats of different sizes which are all following a similar principal. A column is marking the entrance and defines different zones within the flat. The suspended ceiling is defining a threshold towards the living room. Around the building is a surrounding conservatory layer. The zone serves as a buffer layer, an outer skin against the rushing trains, the noise and at the same time offers the possibility of expanding the living space. It is both, a loggia and an extension of the living areas. On the 22st floor, at the bend, is the heart of the house, a floor that serves the residents for sports. Tribunes are inserted between the columns following the slope, the high concrete beams rhythmize the hall. In the top six floors are maisonette apartments. The residents live on the lower floor and sleep above it. The circumferential winter garden layer is two storey high. Through its depth, it becomes a green room, a garden high above the city. The roof serves as a garden for all residents. A surrounding zone of garden raised beds continues the element of the circumferential winter garden layer. Its a technical, metallic and robust house that picks up industrial and railroad elements Using this reference world the house is corresponding to the location and anchors itself between the freight tracks and the city center.