14 HOUSES

EINDHOVEN, 1995

The surrounding neighbourhood consists of conventional housing blocks with total separation between the formal, public architectural side (street) and the informal, private courts (backyards). Maxwan decided to make a project that would be like the opposite of the canonical architectural photograph, in which all signs of life are wiped out of the scene of the building (so as not to disturb the TRUTH). This typology was inverted so that the backyards would lie in front of the house: street and building are mixed up with dry parking underneath the 2 large cantilevers and sidewalk with main entrance between the 2 blocks, generating it's own pocketlandscape.To prevent abuse of the front garden (which now lay behind the house) they were made impossibly small. If the residents wanted to express themselves, they had to do it in public. And they did. The façade is a home-brewn rippled (poly-urethane) surface with an aluminum coating, then a transparant glossy polyurethane finish. It changes colour and reflection continuously depending on wheather and light conditions. After winning the 1st prize in the competition, Maxwan took this scheme to completion. Each apartment is accessible by wheelchair and street and building are mixed up. Dry parking underneath the 2 large cantilevers, sidewalk and main entrance between the 2 blocks, generates its own pocket landscape. The plan features an innovative 3 layer poly-urethane façade panel, developed by the office itself in collaboration with one of the leading chemical industries of The Netherlands. It changes colour and reflection continuously depending on weather and light conditions.

Credits: