DesignBuyBuild_16_2015
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“Until now, our practice has mainly<br />
been dedicated to architectural design<br />
for specific clients – custom-built homes<br />
that can pride themselves on a privileged<br />
rapport with the natural environment they<br />
integrate. With the Spahaus and Trihaus<br />
projects, we are working in collaboration<br />
with Fraternité developers to establish<br />
an assortment of properties in nature that<br />
are flexible and maintenance-free. This<br />
collection of residences was designed<br />
for this particular mountain site, by<br />
rolling out a variety of different models<br />
that serve as a bona fide, alfresco art<br />
collection.”<br />
This approach is not to be confused<br />
with factory-built housing, which may<br />
be attractive to some, but is conceived<br />
without regard to ground unevenness,<br />
natural layout, vistas or the alignment of<br />
developments with human experience.<br />
“To us, factory-built housing has no<br />
place in nature, given that the proposition<br />
wholly ignores the land on which it is<br />
built. The construction of a factory-built<br />
home requires significant deforestation<br />
just to set up the different prefabricated<br />
elements, delivered by way of heavy<br />
machinery, rendering the possibility of<br />
an intimate rapport between architecture<br />
and nature impossible,” Yiacouvakis<br />
explains.<br />
As a further illustration of this point,<br />
Spahaus units blend into the naturally<br />
undulating contours of the mountain,<br />
with each residence positioned to keep<br />
other chalets out of sight, as if they<br />
were laid out on the steps of a staircase.<br />
With a large window design in front,<br />
the ground floor’s concrete structure<br />
welcomes a wooden playhouse (that can<br />
accommodate a green terrace), which<br />
constitutes an additional room on the<br />
second floor. What we’re witnessing here<br />
is the merging of the “tiny house” with<br />
the thinking that goes into a modern,<br />
functional space. Inaugurated in the<br />
spring of <strong>2015</strong>, these 21 Spahaus units<br />
have nearly all found takers already,<br />
while the Trihaus generate a similar<br />
brand of enthusiasm.<br />
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