Emil Rysler, Architekt SIA - Bauten und Projekte, entstanden als Architekt bei Diener & Diener Architekten, Basel



Housing St. Alban-Tal, Basel



Left:
Space enclosure and supporting structure

Below:
View of west elevation





The bedrooms are a series of equal cells forming a layer in the back of each flat and the living areas form another less defined layer in the remaining space. The supporting structure of the smaller house is a skeleton. On the bedroom side columns with a square shape show their ability to be connected with the non-loadbearing enclosure walls. In the living area the columns are circular to show their independence from the remaining enclosure. The two different approaches of space enclosure are reflected by the way the facades and their openings are treated. From outside one can read that the facade of the living areas is non-loadbearing by the way the openings are placed and the way the facade is disconnected from the ground. The less specific inside, symbolized by the free standing columns, goes together with the free composition of the openings outside as a response to the existing diversity of the city which has developed over time. The facade oriented towards the millpond as a concrete grid reflects the stronger definition of the spaces behind. If the information is properly stored, we can show how the association of the different building parts and therefore their treatment can be controlled separately, like the supporting structure or the non-loadbearing elements of the space enclosure.



Above:
View through west facade

Left:
Floor plan


see: Assemblage No. 3, 1986. S. 72-107, The MIT-Press

© Rysler - 8.3.2004