the tower on the countryside.

The preservation of an existing, obsolete wheat storage by converting it into housing. The typology keeps the agrarian history of the countryside in mind and gives an example for densities of future developments. In contrary to the urban sprawl this buildings that in their significance form places to meet for the community as the silos did for the farmers.

Working with this pragmatic building, where „form follows function“ is the code, I was eager to explore variations of operating in this strictly organised building. To get deeper knowledge of the relation of form and architecture I studied and wrote essays about: the formalist John Hejduk, the conceptual artist Sol LeWitt, the absolute architect Peter Eisenman, and the structuralist Herman Hertzberger.\nIn the vertical silos in the towers, that are similarly organised as the 9-square grid models of John Hejduk I developed different prototypes of flats, that also make use of the freedom of small high differences for each „room“. The evident plan: you can grasp the apartment from one position, ref. Casa Tonini by Reichlin and Reinhart. The path: the condensation of the route through the country house. the view back allows to understand the house, with the Heathcote House by Edwin Lutyens as reference. The exterior in the interior: Exterior elements like the balcony give a grandeur feeling. They allow multiple visual connections in the maisonette, with Little Thakeham by Edwin Lutyens as reference. The open plan: On the top floor, above the silos, an interplay of figures with the structure is created, with the weekend house by office kgdvs as reference.\nFor the horizontally organised warehouse I chose a different approach of openness, in the mindset of the structuralist Herman Hertzberger. Here I operate to emphasise the existing structure, the new walls form to be defined areas. An open space, that allows the inhabitants to choose their way of inhabitation.\nTo the outside the building keeps its „functionalists“ expression, with the big window frames and the new dormers telling about the conversion. So the past is still readable and with its diversified interior, an architecture that is there to serve and support the people living in this Typology. it can act as a prototype to preserve and enliven this important Typology in the rural environment. By this safe this landmarks can not only be preserved but transformed as a typology to live vertically on the countryside and provide a new density in an existing volume.