Homes for Senior Citizens
Chur, Masans, Graubünden, Switzerland · 1993
Photo · Photo by Helene Binet
A precedent for integrating a long, low-rise residential program into a sensitive alpine landscape using a rigorous structural grid and local stone masonry.
- What we like about this project
- The rough, porous texture of the tufa stone end wall contrasts sharply with the precise, smooth lines of the concrete floor slabs.
Materials
- tufa-stone
- exposed-concrete
- larch-wood
- glass
Visual identifiers
- horizontal-grid
- tufa-stone-wall
- alpine-meadow
- balcony-gallery
- mountain-backdrop
Style tags
- minimalist
- regionalist
- rationalist
Visual tags
- senior-housing
- regionalism
- structural-grid
- landscape-integration
- swiss-architecture
- Geometry
- A long, low-slung rectilinear volume stretching horizontally across a sloping meadow, defined by a rigid, repeating structural grid of columns and floor plates.
- Facade system
- Post-and-beam concrete gallery frame with recessed wood-framed glazing.
- Structural guess
- Reinforced concrete frame with load-bearing stone masonry end walls.
- Spatial scale
- Two-story residential scale, with the long horizontal massing kept low to respect the mountain skyline.
- Lighting
- Overcast, diffused daylight casting soft shadows, emphasizing the texture of the stone end wall and the deep recesses of the structural grid.
- Atmosphere
- Quiet, grounded, and melancholic, with the building resting naturally under a heavy, overcast sky.
- Environmental context
- Set in a grassy alpine meadow with young fruit trees in the foreground and a steep, forested mountain ridge rising sharply in the background.
- Spatial experience
- The building sits lightly on the sloping terrain, offering a continuous, sheltered gallery or balcony layer that mediates between the private interior rooms and the expansive alpine landscape.
- Composition rhythm
- A steady, repeating vertical column rhythm across the long facade, bookended by a solid, textured stone gable wall.
- Style reading
- Swiss regional minimalism
- Program
- Senior housing or residential apartments
- Perspective
- Exterior Facade
- Discipline
- architecture
- Materials
- tufa-stone, exposed-concrete, larch-wood, glass
- Visual identifiers
- horizontal-grid, tufa-stone-wall, alpine-meadow, balcony-gallery, mountain-backdrop
- Style tags
- minimalist, regionalist, rationalist
- Visual tags
- senior-housing, regionalism, structural-grid, landscape-integration, swiss-architecture
- Geometry
- A long, low-slung rectilinear volume stretching horizontally across a sloping meadow, defined by a rigid, repeating structural grid of columns and floor plates.
- Facade system
- Post-and-beam concrete gallery frame with recessed wood-framed glazing.
- Structural guess
- Reinforced concrete frame with load-bearing stone masonry end walls.
- Spatial scale
- Two-story residential scale, with the long horizontal massing kept low to respect the mountain skyline.
- Lighting
- Overcast, diffused daylight casting soft shadows, emphasizing the texture of the stone end wall and the deep recesses of the structural grid.
- Atmosphere
- Quiet, grounded, and melancholic, with the building resting naturally under a heavy, overcast sky.
- Environmental context
- Set in a grassy alpine meadow with young fruit trees in the foreground and a steep, forested mountain ridge rising sharply in the background.
- Spatial experience
- The building sits lightly on the sloping terrain, offering a continuous, sheltered gallery or balcony layer that mediates between the private interior rooms and the expansive alpine landscape.
- Composition rhythm
- A steady, repeating vertical column rhythm across the long facade, bookended by a solid, textured stone gable wall.
- Style reading
- Swiss regional minimalism
- Program
- Senior housing or residential apartments
- Perspective
- Exterior Facade
- Discipline
- architecture