Office Profile: Monika Geissler, Architect FH/SIA Gürtelstrasse 11 Postfach 294 7001 Chur
Monika Geissler is an Architect born in Kassel, Germany. She studied architecture in “Fachhochschule für Technik“, in Stuttgart, where she got her degree in 1990. She did internships at the architecture offices in Stuttgart and Kassel. From 1990 – 1992 she collaborated with Peter Cheret in Stuttgart, from 1992 – 2000 and in-between 2003 – 2005 she worked with Jüngling and Hagmann in Chur, by that time, in 2000 she opened her own office in Chur. She was working and supervising parts of the project for extension of St. Luzisteig barracks, where she was showing her profound ability to deal with concrete, detailing in concrete and construction in general, also working with technical installations. She was also involved with Jüngling and Hagmann in Würth building, reconstruction apartment and office building „Tivoli“, and many other projects. Her own design of the one-family house in Chur resembles her profound understanding of architecture in terms of materials and spatial aspects, the themes like connection of spaces through the rhythm of transparency and the contrast of inside-outside through use of raff material outside – concrete and warm materials inside– wood and natural plaster. Referring her education, she was quite interested and trained in construction themes in a high level, also technical staff like installations and services. She was participating in a lot of lectures from architects from all over the world coming in Germany. She liked to travel and see what the others do in terms of architecture, places like Spain, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland and architects like; Aalto, Asplund, de la Sota and Fisac have a certain influence on her way of thinking about the space, materials and construction. She is dedicated on reading and investigating toward new ways of using the materials and construction. Bringing experiences from both sides Germany and Switzerland she has a deep understanding of the overall structure of what architecture should be, in one hand and in the other hand she is a lot open, without following certain styles, but merely reinventing every situation, starting everything from the very beginning, through consideration of all the problems and different solutions. She likes to use concrete and natural materials like wood and plaster, sometimes she uses plastics but not as a primary material. She also investigates in terms of colours; she has held a lecture on this theme. She defines her way of design as an investigation for problem seeking and trying different solutions without following a certain style. Looking at the site and the surrounding building, investigating the proper materials for outside-inside, and at the end a profound combination of all this toward a peace of architecture that creates an atmosphere in its own. Since 2000 she’s dealing mostly with reconstruction like; kitchen bathrooms, living rooms and also doing competitions. She collaborates some times with other architects like Corinna Menn and Jürg Conzett. Since 2006 she is Member of „SIA“, Association of Swiss Engineers and Architects. Written by Banush Shyqeriu
House Meng – One family House, Böschenstrasse 17 7000 Chur Constructed: Beginning April 2006, Finished March 2007
Adolf Loos once said: "The building should be dumb outside and only reveal wealth inside." His statement somehow features the House Meng in terms of exterior-interior relations. The house encloses the row of nine houses in a master plan from Bearth and Deplazes. The cubic – concrete box appearance of the house lies down the slope in a generous representation toward a quite marvellous view to the valley-sided town and to the Calanda Mountain. The generous one span opening in the entrance floor/living room creates a spatially and atmospheric connection with inside-outside, emphasizing the main façade. Three levels of the house are connected through a stair case that leads linearly through out all the stories from up-down, connecting spatially and through the rhythm of transparency. In contrast with the dumb concrete outer shell/façade, the interior resembles the warm family atmosphere through use of a special plaster, the flooring and window
frames of larch timber as well as many furniture units and lighting systems, designed to create a warm residential atmosphere. The workout of other fine details and the services like; controlled ventilation and warm recovery, guarantee once again the quality of inner spaces. Simplicity, rigor, use of worm natural materials the fine detailing, a playful light penetration through large opening and the transparency of the special interconnection together with the contrast of the outside-inside atmosphere form the main concept of the house lied down, open to a wonderful panorama – bringing all this together for a worm family environment. In connection with the neighbor house and according to the master plan the exterior spaces are closed with (wing-) walls which create small patios. A shifted stair connects the entrance patio with the big terrace and swimming pond below.
Written by: Banush Shyqeriu
Interview with Monika Geissler, Architect FH, SIA Chur, 2008
BSH: Discussing your project - House Meng, how you developed the idea for it, the concept, was it the site, the surrounding, client attitudes, other conditions…? MG: Well, there were different conditions… it was a site which was difficult in one hand because is very steep, and in the other hand there was a master plan by Bearth & Deplazes, defining very strictly the extension of the house in all sides, the outside material which is in situe concrete and also the boarding. The House is in line of a totally nine houses and is the last one in the row…The owner wanted to have a really bright inner atmosphere, spacey rooms with a feeling of spaces … I tried to take in consideration all these regulations, but also beginning in a very inparture way - as my method of design - as I heared and taught it many years ago from professor Dolf Schnebli in Germany, where he told to try different solutions to see what’s the problem. So when I began, I also saw the other houses (in the row) but I tried to start everything from the beginning, I investigated all these restrictions and regulations and the owner requests, preferences and then tried in a way of nothing really predetermined. I thought about the construction, as a result the concrete was very suitable for the outer part, but I didn’t wanted to make the house only from the viewpoint of the structure so I selected two walls/shells, so the inner shell is very different from the outer shell, and from outside I tried to keep the cubic form which correlates with other houses in the row, but from inside I tried to make a very different atmosphere… achieving it through the rhythm of transparency. Transparency for me is, as a definition given from the book Transparenz (Colin Rowe, Robert Slutzky, Birkhäuser,1997)…, you can stand in one particular place here in this house but in the same time you belong to different systems, so with this medium I tried to make more spacey, visually expend the space, to show the dimensions… BSH: A specific question about the inner stairs of the house, they “cut through” the building, why this connection, is this connection that makes flowing spaces, (in terms of free plan or Raumplan), how you would define this division and connection in terms of special aspects? MG: For me it was crucial to connect the stories like this, to have a very open connection through out the stories, because is not so easy to live in three levels. I wanted to have the view outside from down stairs – in the end of the stairs through the window upstairs. BSH: When we look at this large window here in the living room, going through all the length of the house, it’s different from the neighbour houses in the row, which was the main intention? MG: It was basically the intention to show from outside that this is one space and also as I mentioned that I wanted to bring the atmosphere inside with this picturesque view from outside. BSH: Concerning the strip window in the dining corner, was it more conditioned by the neighbour to put in such a high parapet, or you wanted the light and atmosphere that it creates…?
MG: Yes, on one hand this window I placed so high so you don’t see the neighbour, but in the other hand you see a wonderful picture out through it, and it’s also important for the sunlight, which gets through it, because the main façade is northwest side and this window is southwest orientated, so this is the best side for the sunlight, but I didn’t wanted to feel the very close situation with the neighbour. BSH: So in one hand you let it very open and in the other side you really preserve the privacy? MG: Exactly, but I also wanted to make the main façade really strong and this one as side façade not competing with the main façade. BSH: Going back to the construction aspect, Patrick Gartmann used a monolith concrete construction, a concrete mixed with fine glass foam, the material that in the same time makes the construction and the isolation, so comparing to this house even they look somehow the same from outside they are really different from the way of construction...? MG: Yes, they are different, that house is a monolith construction and this is a double shelled house. The isolation is much better in this house; construction in two shells for me was one of the main themes for the interior design. BSH: The span that takes the all over length of the house which we see in the living room looks huge enough for a load bearing walls system, is there something else that supports the construction in the front facade? MG: Yes, …there are three steel columns hidden in the wooden frame of the windows, thicker in the ground floor and less in the third level, but I had no interest to expose them.
BSH: The texture of the walls of the inner shell is something quite special, could you say something specific about the idea of the inner and outer shell, the wormer atmosphere and softer inside and the raff of outside, how did you find this material, or you already had in your mind that you wanted something like this? MG: As the outer structure is quite rigid, I was thinking for something different in the interior. I thought of what is something special in Grisons that you could work with it, since we have very good handcraft, also find a way how to use this old materials, so the plastering/finishing of the walls and the ceilings is a lime plaster and it’s not bright white and you see also the texture of how it is applied in the surfaces, so I think this breaks the rigidity and raff feature of the outside, and in other hand I liked very much to work with this natural materials like the wooden floor from the local timber here in Grisons. The plaster was done by handcrafters who came from a small village. It was not as easy as the use of modern materials, and I think that is more atmospheric material than pure white. BSH: After the construction then you designed everything for the interior, furniture…? MG: Yes, I designed and selected all the furniture and the artificial lighting, for me the house doesn’t stop with the construction, I see the design as a whole process till the last details, for me it is important to work in the details, I also did all the supervisions by myself, so it was possible to carry out all these details correctly. BSH: Working with concrete and details in concrete, where did you “mastered” working with concrete and details, going back to your studies in Stuttgart, Germany, did you learnt the concrete detailing in Germany and bringing that experience here in Switzerland or is the opposite or bringing together both the experiences? MG: Not really, in Germany we used the concrete less. As my formation was in Higher Technical school of Stuttgart, also participating in a lot of lectures in the university and lectures given by many architects around the world, like James Stirling, so the roots of working with construction and details are in my formation in Germany. In construction classes the professor every time showed not only the construction but also how it looks like, so when we talked about the stairs first he showed us the staircase from Balthasar Neumann, so I think it was a good training to work both with the construction and the space it creates. The two years after finishing my studies I worked in the office with Peter Cheret in Stuttgart. He grew up close to Basel, so several times we went to Basel to look to these concrete…(laugh) “boxes”, and afterward I decided to come here because of the architecture what was happening here. When I began studies in Stuttgart I although looked a lot what was happening in the University and visited lectures there. First time Richard Meier was actual and when a left Germany every one was talking about Günther Benisch, and I noticed that this trendy and stylish architecture was not the direction I wanted to go, so I decided to come here (in Switzerland). One of the concrete buildings I did with Jüngling and Hagmann, was the canteen at St. Luzisteig, where I also was asked to supervise the construction.
BSH: You were really involved in St. Luzisteig barracks extension, and also in the reconstruction that was done there, so working in that project particularly what strikes you, what was really relevant? MG: Well, for St. Luzisteig we took the project and situation from Peter Zumthor, but we changed it to correspond better with the existing buildings. In St. Luzisteig we tried to treat the surface of the concrete in a special way, so basement is made of washed concrete, upper part is made of a very small part of borders which we developed in order to make the connection to the old buildings in the surrounding. BSH: Your experience with Jüngling and Hagmann, their way of design, how they corresponded to your attitudes? MG: Jüngling and Hagmann… for me it was very easy to work with them, because they develop the theme in the beginning and all what you do after is; designing the interior or select the materials, all is below the theme, so as an employee is very easy because the theme is over all other things and you can work very independently. BSH: How do you mostly develop the projects; investigating, being very open in the beginning, being more sceptical or disliking, somehow reinventing every situation…? MG: Well, I don’t have a certain style or a predetermined aim, coming to the site and construct, I really want to see what the site says to me, what are the client requirements, so I look to all of these and then try to keep also my freedom. I don’t make every time buildings of concrete, this is not my aim, I investigate all materials for different conditions. BSH:
What is something that you are most interested?
MG: Generally for me more important and relevant in most of the cases are the space and the materials. BSH: So, in one hand you thing in terms of space and the other hand in terms of materialisation, which one you are more interested, because Zumthor says that he thinks of a building mostly in terms of material aspect, because the materials make the building? MG: Well, I consider both important. I had a lecture about colour in architecture, so I would like to work also in this theme, but here in this house it was not so relevant. BSH: What most attracted you to come here, was it Zumthor, Jüngling and Hagmann…? MG: It was also a coincidence, because I knew a guy who was working here. I visited him and the Grison Architecture several times and thought that this was more adequate for me. So finally I went to Jüngling and Hagmann which were quite a young office in that time. I learned a lot and had really a good time there.
BSH: You worked a lot in reconstruction projects, even during your internships, what is relevant to you for reconstruction projects comparing to new designs, is it interesting to you? MG: Yes, it is, normally it is more difficult than a new building but I like learning and investigating about the structures, like in St. Luzisteig. For me is very important that the new building and the addition or the reconstruction correspond to each other, to create a new unity. BSH:
You read and investigate a lot…?
MG: Right,..already during my studies there was a good library in the Higher Technical school with the newest books, also the university had a good library and the bookshops were frequently visited by me. Also I like travelling, see what the others do also in terms of architecture. For instance Spanish architecture is very interesting to me, architects like Miguel Fisac, Alejandro de la Sota, then Nordic architects like Aalto, Asplund. BSH: Asplund?
What is special interest in these architects like; Fisac, de la Sota, Alto,
MG: Fisac for me is important in terms of experimentation with materials; he made a lot of concrete constructions, themes with textures, light. He also developed special beams and got the patent for them, beams in very interesting cross-sections, which he called bones. BSH:
Since 2000 you have your own office, how it is organized?
MG: Oh, well, I am working alone. Sometimes I work together with the others, for example Corinna Menn and I did a competition with Jürg Conzett. Now I have some projects of reconstruction, but in a small scale. BSH: Influences that you brought from Germany here, which one you would distinguish? MG: Not too much, basically from my study is the theme of construction, how to deal with it, construction and space. Also technical staff, like lighting, mechanical staff. For example at the Würth building with Jüngling and Hagmann, it was important to think about the technical staff just in the beginning of the design. … In St. Luzisteig there were a lot of tubes and pipes and the technician was not able to cross all those so I made the plan… BSH: What was something that you would distinguish as an important experience during your study or work, an important influencing moment? MG: During my studies I visited the Stockholm Woodland cemetery of Gunnar Asplund. That was a very impressing and influencing moment to me. BSH:
Do you have any specific material that you would like to use the most?
MG:
I like concrete very much because you can shape it differently and
make certain surface, and I like all this natural materials, but I also work with plastic sometimes, coloured glass, so I am really open in this theme not too personal, and also I like to investigate toward inventing something not just always going in the traditional way of using the construction and materials. BSH: Do you consider construction to be an important part of what you’re concern in Architecture? MG: Yes, very much, even to this house is not the best example, because here I tried to make a cheaper construction, but the Würth building (with Jüngling and Hagmann) the construction is a big part of the building also in St. Luzisteig the construction is the main part which determines the interior, too. But it depends on the task also of what importance is the construction.
Interview by: Banush Shyqeriu, student in MasterCourse of Architecture DIA&CIA–Second semester Interviewee: Monika Geissler, Arch. FH/SIA Participants in the interview: Daniel A. Walser, Arch, ETH/SIA Hueng Huaihai, from China, visiting student at CIA Interview held on 11.04.08, in Hause Meng, Böschenstrasse 17 Chur