The studio house by the river: a place of community.

The idea was to design a research academy in which researchers and practitioners from different disciplines would work and live together: the academy would expand the site of the Gmund paper factory in terms of structure and content, creating an identity-forming and lively place for the municipality that was previously absent. Community life in the academy is intended to promote discourse, provide new impulses for individual creativity and be a space for experimentation - a newly conceived way of life.

My work focusses on tracing, revealing and negotiating the character of the location: approaching from the lake Tegernsee, a steep, wooded slope surrounds the winding course of the river Mangfall. A production site for paper products has grown up on a narrow bank of the river, utilising the power of the water for its production. How can we change our view towards a sustainable relationship with natural resources in an industrialised location and create multiple living spaces of coexistence? A moist garden is growing in the open space of the factory site, in which the various water resources on site are incorporated in a holistic approach: water purification, water storage and returning water to the local system are themes that are taken into account and characterise the design. The thematic focus is continued in the structural and functional design: in addition to the studio building, the wash house is being built as a second structure on the riverbank. Washing becomes a collective space here: a place to clean and relax, but also a place to come together and exchange ideas. The studio house follows the existing buildings as an industrial-appearing block: its column-free workshop on the ground floor enables a variety of uses and expands into a work yard, while the studio rooms upstairs receive additional lighting from above in the narrow valley via curved sheds, which create an ideal working light. The compact structure thus accommodates the various utilisation needs in a unified way: experimenting, testing, producing, discussing, retreating - everything happens parallel and side by side - with the idea that this creates unusual encounters and overlaps. A place of inspiration and shared learning, where the residents enter into a respectful relationship with the place.