Sarina Lee

Assignment 1.2

Project Name: Double House / Casa Doble en Utrecht
Architects: Bjarne Mastenbroek and Winy Maas (MVRDV)

Project Date: 1995-1997
Project Location: 124 a/b Koningslaan, Utrecht, The Netherlands
Project Size: 300 square meters
Clients: Koek and Wesseling Families



Two-family House (or 'Double House')
124 a/b Koningslaan
Utrecht
The Netherlands
Bjarne Mastenbroek and MVRDV 1997
As the name of this project suggests, the house is designed for two families. Originally, it was meant for
two business people but due to financial constraints, they found another couple to pool their resources in
order to make this project possible. Instead of simply splitting the site into halves for each of the two
families, the architects designed the houses to be interlocked together three-dimensionally in order to
have bigger living spaces that almost stretch across the entire width of the site.
One of the living rooms occupies the entire first floor while the other occupies the second floor. Both
families have equal views of the exterior from their living room and both have their own entrances, one at
the front of the building and one at the side. Although the families get their own spaces within the house,
the garden at the back of the house is shared.

Due to budget restrictions, the exterior of the house is clad with plywood. With time, the house's exterior
reddish brown color that appears in most of the magazines and books fades away into a grayish brown.
This may have been caused by lack of maintenance and the wear and tear by Mother Nature. The rest of
the material for the exterior is glass.

The way the architects located the glass and wood panels defines the space within by using glass for
more communal spaces and having wood panels to hide the more private spaces.
[1]




Biography:

Bjarne Mastenbroek:
(1964) studied in Delft; after that he worked as an architect at Mecanoo, in Delft, and for Enric
Miralles in Barcelona. Together with Dick van Gameren he started in a new office in 1991,
joining 'De Architecten groep' in 1993. They were winners of the Europan 2 competition. In
2002 Bjarne Mastenbroek started his own office.

[2]




































Biographical Information on Winy Maas Below

Architects: De Architectengroep loerakker rijnboutt ruijssenaars hendriks van gameren
mastenbroek bv: Bjarne Mastenbroek, with Floor Arons and Michiel Raaphorst
MVRDV: Winy Maas, Jacob van Rijs and Nathalie de Vries with Mike Booth, Joost Glissenaar
Structures: ABT Velp
Client: Koek - Wesseling Families
Country: The Netherlands
Location: Utrecht, Koningslaan
Project date: 1995-1997
Project size: 300 m2
The home is located in a row of isolated houses at the edge of Wilhelminapark.
The facade of the house reveals the subdivision, intersection and complexity of the space it encloses,
presenting as its facade a graphic structure reminiscent of the geometries of Theo van Doesburg in an
apparently arbitrary arrangement which is a paragon of free architecture.
The outer surface plays with transparency and opacity, alternating different types of glass with panels of
dark-painted plywood which hide what glass would reveal: the most private parts of the house.

One house may give up volume to the other house next door on one floor, only to take it back on the
next level.
Only a cross section fully reveals the special nature of this project: different "pieces of space" fit
together like a jigsaw puzzle, making up a single whole with the spatial continuum of its interior
projected on its faade, like Le Corbusier's early project for the villa in Carthage.
The smaller of the two homes, on the left as seen from the road, has its kitchen and dining room on the
ground floor, separated by the stairway; a small mezzanine on the next floor overlooks the rooms below
and leads into the living room.
The bedrooms are on the next floor up: the only closed rooms, along with the bathroom on the top
floor, which offers access to a little hidden rooftop patio.
The home next door is larger, with an entrance, garage and guestroom on the ground floor; the first
floor is completely open, and contains the living room and kitchen; the second floor with its two
bedrooms is much smaller.

Above this more rooms of various sizes take back space from the house next door.
The rooftop patio is accessed by a withdrawing ladder.
The project was originally conceived in cross section.
The original idea was a simple vertical subdivision of the volume of the lot; but step by step, the homes
gradually intersected, tied together in a box of glass and wood.

In the end, spaces were interwoven without blending together, borders were shifted floor by floor, and
alignments were exchanged until the architects settled on this final solution.
The dividing wall between the two apartments weaves back and forth like a snake, stretching the
possibilities of reinforced concrete to their limit.



[3]



[4]
MvRdV
biografia
biography
19911 Oficina de Arquitectura y Urbanismo fundada por Winy Maas,
Jacob van Rijs y Nathalie de Vries
1991/- Office lor arChiteclure and urbilr'1SIll loenled by W<ny Maa;.
J!ICOO van RIIS a"<J NatnallB do VII""
COrQ.IfSOS (abler\os y I. m IOOOS)
1991 Central Park Leidschenrijn, Vleuten de Meern/Utrecht
Bundesgartenschau 2001 Potsdam, Alemania
i 9'36 Transformer houses, Eneco Dordrecht
1995 Silo Residencial en Amsterdam, primer premia
Reconstruccion del Centro Begane Grand de Arte Contemporaneo,
Utrecht, primer premia
lyon-Vaise, proyecto urbano, primer premia
Pabellones de acceso al Parque Nacional Hoge Veluwe, primer premia
Iglesia en Barendrecht, segundo premia
Piscinas Sloterpark, Amsterdam
1992 Casa piu Bella del Mondo, Reggio, l\alia
. : Europan-2, Berlin, Alemania, primer premio
competitions (open and limited)
1997 Cent/al Pari< L.elOschennl'1. Vleulen d9 Mr.eml1.Jl,cchl
811rdesgar1<lnSChau 2001 PoI!;dam, r""""""v
1996 Translo"",", Muses. Enoco Dardlcchl
1995 Housng SI'OAms\s"iarn Ilrst r'tIe
ReconslructoQrl of w.., Eleg;Jrn Gr:Jf1Cl Cen!re for Corltemporar, A'I Jlrroeni.
ilfS\ prize
LyonVa sa. lown plan for me c6"I'e. I r51 prize
1994 3 Porters lOdges Hoge VRILf'" Nalion1ll Park. I,rsl pole
ChLJrc:l'l n B1lTfmdrechi second prite
SIOIerpat\< wlmmlngpool. Amsleraarn
1992 r-asa pou Bel , 0",1 Moroo. ReggJO IlaIy
1991 Eutopan . Ber"" Gelmany . first l)(iZe
r.<emlos
1997 Premio del Hormigon del Betonvereniging por la Villa VPRO, Hilversum
Premio Merkelbach del Fondo de las Artes de Amsterdam por los
Apartamentos WoZoCo's, Amsterdam-Osdorp
Premio Dudok del Municipio de Hilversum por la Villa VPRO
awards
1997 ConcrG!eAW<lfd lrom rhe BeIOr'l', amnIQlno Int V,lta WAO. Holve<svrn
Merl<elOBch AIMl'ti from !he F,md lor the All far WOloCos.

Dudok /lwaJd Imrn Ihe M In<;,pal,ly vi HI',e,sum lor the Vl's VPRC IverSol",
expos,r."IOnes
'991 MVRDVTOWN. 5 Years of MVRDV, Architectural Association, Londres
Huizen en Tuinen. 7 omgevingen van wonen en werken, Fundacion
Exedra, Hilversum
Amsterdamse Architectuur 94-97J Galeria Arcam, Amsterdam
9 + 1. Ten Young Dutch Architectural Offices, NAi, Rotterdam
I Bienal de Sao Paulo
1998 Westelijke tuinsteden, GalerCa Arcam, Amsterdam
Document voor Vedute, Galerla Arcam, Amsterdam
1995 Zoeken naar architectuur, Groningen, Tilburg
Referentie: OMA, NAi, Rotterdam
Rotterdam 2045, NAi, Rotterdam
Steierischer Herbst, Graz, Austria
1995 Kunstaanmoedigingsprijs Amstelveen Jonge Heiden, NAi , Rotterdam
993 Bouwkunst in het Veem, Amsterdam
De Kracht van Heden, loods 6, Amsterdam
Kunstbouwkunst, Galerla Expohenk, Rotterdam
Frans Hals Prijs, Museo Frans Hals, Haarlem
1992 Europan 2, Ouisburg, Madrid, Londres
199:' Bienal de Venecia
exhibitions
1997 MVRDV,OWN 5 Year'! 01 MVROV. Archl18f:tural Assoc' 11011. LondOn I!K
l-I 1780 en fUlnen. I cvngev:nqen van '/'JOnen en WdfMr Exoorn FOtJndalJon,
HI'vtlrSUm
Amslordsm... Archilecluur 9+9r. ,\ream ""leriO AmstccOalT'
9 - t . Young DuICh Archllectural Offices Nel"... n<is ArchllocturaJ
Instiluto PJJlterdamt BI6flM e S80 Pal,la Bllllll
1996 estehike IUlnslildoo. Arcam GaIOJ'" MlSterdsm
DocumL.nt 'IOOr Vedvla. Arceun Gaier'6 I\mStil,darn
1995 looken naar archilectuur Gron'flgon TlltxJr9
Releranhe: OMA. Nelher1ands Archlloclunl nsllllJi<> Rolle<dam
Rotle<dam 2045. Archllacl rallnst. Ie Roneraarn
SIc;anscl](l' Herosl GIi'" Av lrta
1995 Kunstaann'106d'(W9 'Is Atl\slelvN)n Jongellel<len. emer",nd& Nchn,jc J1ll1
InlihluW Rotterdam
1993 BOuwi<UflS1 In he! 'I '!In .ll.m!1l<,rrUlm
De 1<"1';hl HIJdeol . 6 Amslw.oam
... lStt ,wkJ.Jt". . G"lerJe ExpohCt1k Rotteroam
Winy Maas
1959 Nace en Schijndel, Holanda
1878/83 RHSTL Boskoop. arquitectura paisajistica
1984190 Universidad Tlknica de Delft, Facultad de Construccion e
Ingenierfa, Departamentos de Arquitectura y Diseno Urbano
exper,encla p"Oie!HOnal
Bureau Bakker. Bleeker
D.R.O., Amsterdam
Kuiper Compagnons, Rotterdam
Unesco, Nairobi
DHV, Amersfoort
Office for Metropolitan Architecture, Rotterdam
ensenanza Y GonierenClas
Architectural Association, Londres
)nstituto Berlage, Amsterdam
Universidades Tlknicas de Delft, Eindhoven, Wuppertal,
Ber lin, Barcetona, Oslo, Bergen, Stuttgart, Viena y Graz
Academias de Arquitectura de Rotterdam, Amsterdam,
Tilburg, Groningen y Arnhem
Instituto Bauhaus, Weimar
Instituto Sint Lucas, Gent
Rietveldakademie, Amsterdam
Cooper Union, Nueva York
Winy Maas
1959 Born In Senl)ndel. p Nelhenands
1978/83 RH TL Boskoop, landscape archllecture
1984/90 Technical University Oem . Faculty of ConstruclJon.
Engineering Oepanmen s of Atchlleclure and Urban DeSign
work experience
Bureau Bleeker
D.R 0 . Amsten'jam
Kuiper Compagnons, Rollerdern
Unesco. Naircl')l
DHV Amersfoort
Office for Metropolitan Arr:hitecture, Rmteroorn
teachi ng and lectures
Archllectural Associat,nn Lonlion
1M 8erlage Insll ufo) Amslfl'::l=
Technical Universities 01 Do I. Einohoven, '" uppet1a1
Berlin. BmCo;.Onil 051;) Bergen. S!GtlVsn. ",'Ianna an Gm?
for , f Rei. rdam Amste(<Jaj
11Itl.)rg, Gronlrl{len ana Am'l!lm
Bauhaus InslHu Welma,
'
Sint lJ.. :.:DG InstlhJut Go 11
'ac0b van RilS
Nace en Amsterdam, Holanda
Academia Libre de La Haya
'. Universidad Tecnica de Delft, Facultad de Construcci6n e
Ingenieria, Departamentos de Arquitectura y Diseno Urbano
ex08nencll1 prcfeslcna!
Martinez Lapena & Torres arquitectos, Barcelona
Van Berkel en Bas, Amsterdam
Office for Metropolitan Architecture, Rotterdam
'S6MI ze y canleranc as
Architectural Association, Londres
Instituto Berlage, Amsterdam
Universidades Tecnitas de Delft, Eindhoven y Karlsruhe
Academias de Arquitectura de Rotterdam, Amsterdam,
Tilburg y Arnhem
Rietveldakademie, Amsterdam
Cooper Union, Nueva York
Jacob van Rijs
1964 r n Amsterdam, The Natr erlands
1983184 Tne Hagu& Free Academy
1984/90 Lniverslly DE!ift, FaclJl\v of Constructi on
f "g" le,'rrlng Departmen of Architecture
work experience
Aarrrw: lllref1i\ Tones arqulleclOs. Barcelona
\ pntl"'I i<61 Em (l- Arrster am
Pil " r lvIerropol tlli1 Arcl1'tec\ure. Roller<.: alll
teaching and lectures
\I r'l if ,tv'w /'ISSOCiatlon _un on,
Ii Ie Berlage InSlilUie Amsterdam
-:-- Q'lnl I Untvers r.9 <-' Delft, Eindhoven and <arlsruhe
r'-J3lhalte de Vri es
Hl65 Nace en Appingedam, Holanda
. 984/VJ Universidad Tecnica de Delft, Facultad de Construcci6n e
Ingenieria, Departamentos de Arquitectura y Diseno Urbano,
Menci6n honorifica
expeli onc ' PI' leS,o"'al
Martinez Lapena & Torres arquitectos, Barcelona
D.J.V. architekten, Rotterdam
Mecanoo Architekten, Detft
ensenanza y conteren,
Universidades Tecnicas de Delft y Eindhoven
Academias de Arquitectura de Amsterdam, Arnhem,
Rotterdam, Tilburg y Groningen
Instituto Sint Lucas, Gent
AKI Enschede
Architektenkammer Bozen
Nathalie de Vries
1965 Born In ApPlngedam, 1ne Nemenar.ds
1984/90 Technical J'wersit Delft, Constr cliOrl
-=r;Qlneer,n ,Depaltmer I Arctlltec ture
hcnou'abie menllon
work experience
Marti nez _spen<l T:JlTes 8arcelona
D.J V. arc iteKlen. Rotterdam
Mecanoo Arcnilekten, Delft
teaching and lectures
Technical un,versltles 01 0111 and Eindhoven
A:-auern,es for Atchllecture In Amsteroam .l\rnher1, Rotterd:lnl,
Tilburt an Gronlngen
S;nt Lucas InsUtu.J1Gent
,Af<, [nsr:t.'l(lL
Arr:hrlekten)o.amn1er B\.'Z8
l iOCper :JMIOn New YoM<
Hacia una arquitectura
Bart Lootsma (Amsterdam, 1957) es historiador y critieo en el campo de la arquitectura, el diseno y
las artcs visuales. Es profesor invilado en ellnstiluto Berlage y en el PAS. ambos en Amsterdam, Y
miembro del consejo dc redaccion de las revistas ARCH'S y Oaidalos. reflexiva
Bart Lootsma
nLa eiudad Generica es socia
logia aconteciendo"
Rem Koo/haas'
USe supone entonces que mo
dernizac;6n reflexiva quiere
decir que un cambio de la 50
ciedad industrial, que ocurre
subrepticiamente, sin planifi
car a ralz de la modernizaci 6n
normal y aut6noma , con un
orden politico y econ6mico
intacto. y sin alterar, implies
10 siguiente: una radicaliz8ci6n
de 18 modernidad, que rompe
las premis8s y los conlornos
de la sociedad industrial y abre
eaminos a alra modernidad"
Ulrich Beck
7
CASA DOBLE EN UTRECHT. Maqueta de Irabajo. Fachuda principel l Dcl..a.E Hol.IriE N LJf'AE01f. n... ,
1989 fue el ano en que el mundo comunista se derrumbo; al final bastante abruptamente. Tambien fue el ano en que MVRDV se
embarcaron en su primera empresa en colaboracion. La correspondencia en el tiempo no es coincidencia, ya que MVRDV es uno de
los estudios de la nueva generacion de arquitectos que ve retos y oportunidades en la nueva situacion que ha emergido desde la caida
del muro de Berlin. De esos estudios, MVRDV es probablemente el mas radical, y ciertamente el mas rapido en producir resultados
construidos concretos. En un esfuerzo asegurarse el total aprovechamiento de las consecuencias de la nueva situacion politica
y economica, buena parte del trabajo del estudio es investigacion. No investigacion historica, formal 0 semantica dentro de la natu
raleza de la arquitectura misma, sino, al contrario, principalmente investigaci6n ahistorica y estadistica, que no esta a priori intere
sada en la forma sino que forma parte integral de la situacion del encargo real. La historia juega un papel para MVRDV en la medida
en que es un desarrollo dinamico: se zambullen en este movimiento e intentan extrapolarlo.
1 was the year whe. , tl'1,e communist WOrld , ralhar Dr plly as It turned OUI, rell ap;:;rt II was also the year when MVRDV embarkeo
upon their first collaborative venture. The liming is not cOincidental, 10- MVRDV is onp. of Ihe offices of a ew genGration of archl1eCis 'Ah<J
see challen(les and opportunities I tile new Situation Ihat has risen since the fall of the Berlin WClII , Of these oHIces, MVRDv Is Drol11ttlly
ti,e mOSI radical and certainly the qUickest off the mark tn producing concrele built lesulls. In Cln ettort to ensure that 11 takes full ad iill
lage of the conseque Ices 01 the new political find economic situati on, e. good deal of the office's work consists of research Not nlS!'l1
ical. formal or semantiC research Into Ina nature of architecture 11se:l, ut . on the contrary, mainly allistorieal, stalls ieal rese- h Ina
nOI a prion illtslested In form but IS ge red rather to Ihe situation of Ihe act 'al commiSSion. To the ex!enl that hiStory ()Iays i;l role lor Nil/RD\! .
it IS a a dynamic development th .y (jive Illto thiS moverllent eno try to eXllapolate It
1 R(im Koolhaas, "Generic City". en: Rem Koo/haas, S, M, L, XL. Rotterdam, 1995.
2 Ulrich Beck, "The Reinvention of Politics: Towards a Theory of Reflexive Modernization", 8ec{,: , -ntf.At. 01 T(...,aU I'tIecI:; 01 1..A1 JlIU
en: Ulrjch BeCk, Anthony Giddens, Scott Lasch, Reflexive Modernization. Politics, Tradition Brn:".. Atl! .. $-:ut'Lasctl, f'1 flprlrlCB" T.Y1.' / ()I')t; . / 1' ;,..1
and Aesthetics in the Modern Social Order, Cambridge (UK), 1994. I'", M:ldom S: _ Orr:te' , ltri:JiI' 1\Mi, '9!l-i
34
Working Model, Main Facade
Towards a reflexive
architecture
881
CASA DOBLE EN UTRECHT. Maquet a de trebajo. Fachada posterior / Dn..",.a.f I--OJsE N V' mKv>g RIIIIIf f.-:ad& 'DQ5.iIl\)1
De todos modos, desde 1989 el mundo se ha ido decantando los desarrollos de la economia global y por el impacto siempre
creciente de la tecnologia, especialmente en 10 que respecta a la movilidad y a los (nuevos) medios de comunicaci6n. Esto ha lIe
vado a un difuminado de las fronteras nacionales, a una congesti6n creciente en determinados lugares y a la fragmentaci6n de la
sociedad en innumerables subculturas e individuos. "Occidente se enfrenta a preguntas que desafian las premisas fundamentales
de su propio sistema social y politico. La pregunta clave a la que nos estamos enfrentando ahora es si la simbiosis hist6rica entre
capitalismo y democracia que caracteriz6 a Occidente puede ser generalizada a escala global sin agotar sus cimientos fisicos, cul
turales y sociales", escribe el soc1610go Ulrich Beck.' EI propio Beck ve oportunidades en esta fase del proceso de modernizaci6n
a la que llama 'modernizaci6n reflexiva'- para conseguir una sociedad totalmente nueva, una que pueda ofrecer a los individuos un
mayor papel en numerosos niveles, pero tambien una en la que los individuos formen una nueva imagen de la masa de la que son
parte y de las consecuencias que esto supone- ejemplo, para el medio ambiente. "Este concepto no implica (como podria suge
rir el adjetivo 'reflexivo') reflexion, sino (primero) auto-confrontacion".'
;::; e any rate the worlrJ as been Incre slr'gly shaped by global economi c developments ano by the ever Incre sing IT'paCI
o u:'1r 0 ogy, especially With respecl 10 mobility and 'he (new) meOla, ThiS a rosulleo ill (l blurring of nalionAI bo ers, Increasing con
"J lion II' a ,,-1' Ler of places and "1 Iha fragn.enlahon f soc'e1y Into cOLintless subcullures and InclivlciL;als, 'The West is cOI'lrOtllod by
' l u_ II ! S tt1fl! ,hallen e Iha fundamenlal f) emtses of Its OWIl social and oolltir.i'll sys1em, TIle key (] UeSlinl1 we ale now co I ront,n .. IS
1'.1" I v nt,,'Ollcal symbiosis between capilallsm a a oema racy Illal charllctP.riLed Ihf West Ci'l n be gererB lied 0 a glob ' scale
:, tllO\.. ext Is pnyslc I, cullura n j social found lions'. 'riles Ihe 800010, rSI Ulrich Beck Bee <himself s as OPDort uJlrlles n
Is I e ullll.) rnoden IzattO pro ess -Wtllch he calls 'reflexive moJern,z3t IOP'- for ae levlng d lotally new society. olle whicil ofters
;, \10 f)ls a IJlgger role on numerous levels LJut also one In whier IndlVld tals fan ','lew ;lI1a, e of tne mass 01 which they ilre oar. an:::!
" Cf'nseCI.8'lCeS thiS has- lor example lor Ihe environmenl . 'This co Icepl rOes not 'mpl y (as t ,8 d)0ctlve 'r lIective' might sLUgeSt)
fleellOll, i;u (1Irst! sell con(ronlalion"
35
Working Model, Rear Facade
Utrecht, Holanda, 1995/1997
casa Doble en utrecht
En una plaza de las afueras de Utrecht, cerca de un esplendido parque del siglo diecinueve, dos familias,
ajenas entre si, comparten la propiedad de un unico solar. Los dos clientes deseaban combinar las mejores vistas del parque
con un acceso facil a la calle, al jardin y a la cubierta. AI proponer una casa con la menor profundidad imaginable, se conse
guia ' estirar' el programa hasta alcanzar cuatro 0 cinco plantas, y a l a vez conceder al jardin el mayor espacio posible. Interpretar
el muro medianero como el 'primer movimiento terapeutico' en las negociaciones entre los vecinos y sus deseos, a veces con
flictivos, dio paso ados volumenes residenciales engarzados; cada uno de ellos mas rico que la premisa subyacente a ambos.
Los dormitorios se incorporan a los serpenteantes aticos como casas dentro de una casa. Ambas salas de estar se desarro
lIan a 10 largo de la fachada, disfrutando de las vistas sobre el parque. Tambien las diferencias extremas pueden coexistir: mien
tras un cliente desea estar arropado por el jardfn, el otro prefiere retirarse al piano nobile. Mientras uno opta por un salon justo
allado de las salas de juego de los ninos, el otro prefiere un dormitorioltaller en la zona superior, y asi sucesivamente. AI prin
cipio, su mutuo sometimiento amenaz6 con paralizarlos. Pero como en la parabola del ciego y el tullido, juntos demostraron
ser mas de 10 que podrian haber imaginado ser de forma i ndividual:
Utrecht, The Netherlands. 1995/1997
.Doubla.I:::touse l Jtrecht
tn suoorban street by a splendid nlneteenthcentury park In Utrec t, two In epender! lamllc$ snare a Sill\,! e slle " 1\
wish to combine lhe finesl vIe of the with easy access to the street. Ihe arden and the rool By proposrng the hOU58 ",I IN! ellS: ma;)
Inable depth. the progl'lIn can be 'strelchacl' up 10 loul or live stories while !<eeping the gar en as big as PCSSI Ie. InTerprel1 g tt e partitIOn I',all
as e therapeutlc tlrst move' toward negotiations betw88r the neIgh .ou" and Iheir sometimes conllictlng Wishes, has glVell blnn 10 W() te:
locking dwelling volumes. eacn ncher t an the premiS<! underlYing them beth
The bedrooms are inCOlporated In the meandenng lOps as houses,nahouoe. Both living spaces .,)(tend along facade and fl)V(t19 v ews 01
the park. Here extreme dirt rences can coexist ,,<here one occupant wanlS \0 be SU lOurodeti by 119 garden, ille olher C3" w,1 maw to 1.1,,, tl18no
nobile. ere the one chooses a salon jus I past the chi ldren's playrooms, the othel opt:; 10 1 a bedroom upstaIrs and Y . 1h&'
mul I dependence at first tilreatened to pwalyse them BuIes in the parable 01 the lame and the bnnd. togefl',er the)' proved t : 1;" mo'l'l It 3"
they could have possibly Imag;nad themseiv9 to be as indIVIduals.
161(.'94 Il 12114 11)195 ,-.
2 SfCREVS ,4", DEEP IOJSE It. HOUSE ALT1cHA'i?:l' FlO()QSl AlTEFlNATlrmf:l..OOR$l
-
FWUlRUlA.f
__ _.. flllnll_' oAUo "\111 __ "
- _.---,
- ...... _
"
122
-I-I
Section/Perspective Sketch
I
F
Alzado pos ter ior (Sur ..'o.
124
Rear Elevation [Southeast]
1
r Alzado Iil l crol (Nordeste) I ~ SNMIIIIDf' Non.n&au.ll
125
Side Elevation [Northeast]
Planta primera I r:
Seccl6n lon gitudinal DO J lonrlitt.OrlllllllilC:1lOn DO
=-=- _ __. "" __
.."
Planta cuarta I For.rn IlOOI '*"
Planta tarcera I Tlwd 0I9n
FI
=..!=" - ,.. - ----=- - , -1.'_'_ ''t
Pl anta $cgunda I .-c:vf'd ItICIf pIIr!
126
Main Elevation [Northwest]
Longitudinal Section DD
First Floor Plan
Ground Floor Plan
Fourth Floor Plan
Third Floor Plan
Second Floor Plan
127
"
/"
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50
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t 'tJa..

,
.....
Alz.ado Iiltertlt Suroeste l $oLl!hWltBl ...
1
-"10
:-:}U
Secc,On transversal CC I "," CC
.,n ,4
SecClon transversal BB en:-e I8ClDI as
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Vertical Sections [above]
Horizontal Sections
[below]
o ctall cs de
' schad;) pOAterior
(\ler seccion longitudinal 001
Clf;li. ~ (II
133
Details of Rear
Facade
distribution of forces distribution of forces on fourth level
party wall and head elevations drainage system
stability in north-south direction windowless facade
KBWW House Conceptual
KBWW House is named (as a
MvRDv's habit?) after the initials
of it's owners. The Double Villa
is one of a row at the Utrecht's
city park. Remarkably, the
original buyer did not have the
means, nor needed the space
of the whole lot of ground he
bought. Consequently, they
searched and found a partner
who agreed to take over one
third of the space.
This became the main concept
of designing the spatial divi-
sion of the building: instead
of an arbitrary devising line
translated into a straight wall,
the two neighbors are forced
to live spatially with their de-
mands and wishes, within the
borders of a box. The resulting
meandering party wall gives the
special character and originality
of this villa.
Andrew Ticle
getting neighbourly passive massing vs.
INTRODUCTION
Utrecht double house is designed by the Netherlands architect group MvRdV at the site by the Utrecht
city park. The original buyer didnt mean to or need to have whole ground he bought, so that they looked
for partner to take over one-third of space. And it became the original idea of site design. According
to their wishes of space usage, instead of traditional straight wall divided two dwellings in one site, two
neighbors had space intersection to ft their need in space, and their wishes are the main concepts of
space transformation [1]. As shown in fgure 1, original buyer owns the larger part of building, which is
white part, and partner owns the smaller part of building, which is shaded part.
SITE / FLOOR PLAN
Basically, as in fgure 2, double house is a platonic solid cubic shape with a small part of subtractive form
at bottom-right corner. The shape is not completely cubic due to the relationship of site and its neighbor
houses. Two sides of neighbors are not parallel to each other and double house can extend its border of
box to as closed as to the right side of neighbor. As shown in fgure 3, site plan are arranged along with
two sides of border of neighbor houses, so that it made the shape of oblong. In foor plan, as in fgure
4 through a to e, layout of two family spaces consistently arranged at left and right but different size of
layout in each foor. Ground site only use two-thirds of intended foor plan, and two families share equally.
Up to frst foor most of spaces are arranged as living room space to larger family. On the contrary,
smaller family has living room space on most of second foor. The space ratio for two families at third foor
switch back again that larger family has larger space. Generally, the ratio of total foor plan is also one-
third to two-thirds, which as their shares of ground site.
FAADE / FENESTRATION
About the fenestration of double house, most of public spaces have large window facing front and
back. Only private space such as bathroom and bedroom have bear wall cover inner space. As foor
plan design, represented in fgure 5, the bedrooms for larger family are arranged at the second foor; the
bedrooms, bathroom, storage are
arranged at the frst foor, third foor and forth foor, so that these area are shaded in building faade. As
the concept of Nolli map, public space are open and white as fgure void, and private space are shaded
as fgure object. The purpose to set the large window facing front and back is because its site is by the
city park and the frontal of building is facing the park. Larger window offers better view for both dwellings
[2] and both families has equal view from their living room and dining room. Two dwellings have their own
entrances: one is at front and the other is at side. Though they have their own space in the house, they
have to share exterior space: garden [3].
TRANSFORMATION
The zigzagging partition is not come from nowhere. Each of space interlocking in two dwellings is been
calculated precisely to meet the initial ratio of space arrangement of one-third to two-thirds. Architects
try to use interlock approach to obtain more living spaces stretch across the entire width of the site. As
transformed in fgure 6 [2], initial division of two families is subject to the proportion. Then space trading
is made in following transformation that upper left block is moved to bottom center. After the frst attempt
to rearrange two spaces, smaller block exchange is considered at the second transformation. Because
of the disadvantage of top two blocks exchange lead one family to lost top foor and roof space, another
attempt is made to keep roof. But third transformation also cause the result that one dwelling only has
useful space centralized at the third foor. Newer compromise approach is only change more smaller
blocks from bottom-left toupper-right. It leads the fnal sketch model as shown as the diagram in bottom-
left at fgure 6. After main shape is obtained, few specifc blocks swap between two dwellings to balance
the private shaded parts in elevation. At the fnal transformation we can see that whole interlocking
spaces are asymmetric, even no partial symmetry.
TYPOLOGY
General speaking both sides of dwelling have linear organization along with the staircase
bottom-up. Assuming there is a plane formed by y-axis and z-axis, all living spaces
can be reached with shortest distance from central plane, and each foor can easily
intercommunicate to each other through central plane. To analyze more detailed about
organization of house, exploded diagram can be applied not only for organization, but can
also help understand about building structure. As demonstrated in fgure 8, the
massive wall on the side of building provides structure and organization. Two staircases in
dwellings also represent the main axis of building circulation [4].
STRUCTURE
Double house has special zigzag- ging partition structure hanging the living spaces and
private spaces like bedrooms and bathrooms in the air without column structure support.
The mechanical support and construction procedure must be designed carefully. In double
house component model which is built by Illinois Institute of Technology demonstrated the
procedure and mechanical design [5]. Shown in eight step model in fgure 9 through a to
h, site model is the frst one, then at the second step model in fgure 9b main walls go up
at two edges of site. Dividing walls in fgure 9c is the frst and main structure challenge
in the project that only two walls at the ground foor support whole 4 foors. In fgure 9d,
small box of bedrooms hang on two sides of edge walls with only support from walls. The
gravity and bad equilibrium points might cause the structure problem as shown in fgure
10. In diagram the blue part are the support of component, and the orange part are the
possible collapse point in each box and each turn on the dividing wall. In component
model and diagram shows the potential mechanical problem but it may have been fxed
by stronger material such as steel frame structure. Those are the information which can
not be presented in diagram. In fgure 9e, the construction kept going to install groups of
small spaces such as bathroom and closet. By now most of the living space is shaped.
In fgure 9f, vertical circulation is formed by installing the staircase in both dwellings. After
roof, windows, and few small walls are done, the project was complete. Actually the
structure has its own design of mechanical balance. In fgure 11a to c [1], a simple design
of diagonal frame across different plane from one edge to another distributes the force and
weight from top to the ground, which can be seen in fgure 12.

Because of the design of cross frame structure, force not only distributes horizontally and
vertically, but also goes diagonally to prevent the structure failure from enormous force
gather in one week point. A triangular mechanical structure is formed in fgure 11a, so that
the main support to smaller dwelling is reply on this triangular distribution design. The main
support to larger dwelling is shown in fgure 11b. A column in driveway provides important
support to right part of structure. The force is shifting from center to side and distribute the
force to two ways to both center support and side support. In fgure 11c, the support from
edge walls and dividing wall distribute the force vertically. Combining these three distribution
design any force from any place in the house can successfully relay to the ground either go
vertically, horizontally, and diagonally. These cross frame structure complement the week of
last force distribution design and its disadvantage shown in fgure 10.
Sishe Chin




Sources:

[1] http://www.galinsky.com/buildings/twofamilyhouse/index.htm
[2] http://www.archidose.org/Jul02/070102c.html
[3] http://www.floornature.com/progetto.php?id=4374&sez=30
[4] http://architube.org/557
[5] Levene, Richard C. MvRdV 1991-1997: Casa Doble en Utrecht. El Croquis 86 (1997):
122-133.
Models