KARIN MATZ ARKITEKT

Tag: architecture

HB6B – one home

HB6B – one home – Stockholm, Sweden 2013

When the apartment on Heleneborgsgatan in Stockholm, Sweden was for sale in 2012 it had been used as furniture storage for 30 years. The previous owner had begun a renovation in the 1980s but fell ill and the apartment was left untouched until his death. Time had been frozen; wallpaper was half removed, only a few tiles and a kitchen faucet were sticking out of a wall, there was no electricity and a bathroom only with signs of rats as inhabitants.

In a city like Stockholm with an enormous housing shortage and with every square meter increasing in price by the minute, this story was somehow impossible to understand and resist.

The finished apartment is a result of a fascination for this; a try to let the previous layers and stories of a space live on and at the same time fill the requirements for the new story that will take place.

The apartment is 36sqm and the goal was to fit everything desired by the occupant. In this case: generous spaces, airy sensation, walk in closet, all appliances for everyday life, a large luxury shower / bath, different possibilities of movement, a space which could be divided when wanted. Finally it had to be LIGHT and INEXPENSIVE!

The result is an apartment divided in two parts. One where everything is part of one structure, which is based on the Ikea kitchen units. Everything in this part is completely redone with electricity inside the walls and with all surfaces painted white in order to bring in and reflect light. Here all the functions are squeezed in on top of, in-between, under and inside each other. Bedroom, kitchen, wardrobe and storage are all one.

The second part is left with things free-standing with all surfaces more or less as they have been for the last 20 years. The holes in the the walls have been filled in, loose wallpaper and paint taken down and electrical cables and outlets have been added running on the outside of the walls.

The bathroom becomes the connection between the two parts

.

May 11, 2014
Tiles and Concrete

Tiles and Concrete, Lasagnana – Tizzano Val Parma – Italy, 2011 – with Francesco Di Gregorio

Located in Lasagnana, on a tiny street in the middle of Val Parma in Italy, the ground level of a former stable from 1897 has been converted into an apartment / studio for a young couple.

Dimensions and forms come from the positions of existing elements: windows, walls and columns. The strongest element of the stable was, for us, the “whole space” which we fell in love with. A bathroom is the only volume added, completely covered in white 10×10 cm tiles that bring light and uniformity. It is a freestanding structure where space has been turned inside out. Inside are the functions needed, outside the circulation. The bathroom stands on a new concrete floor, which is separated from the existing walls and columns by a gap framed by steel plates that define the floor’s limit and absorb its flows. The electrical connections hang on stainless steel wires which also support vertical elements dividing the space. The “whole space” is the bathroom, the bathroom is the “whole space”, all supported by a uniform slab.

Legolands by Francesco Di Gregorio Karin Matz from Karin Matz on Vimeo.

August 23, 2012
66 m Lima

66 m Lima, Peru, Competition, 2012 – with Di Gregorio Associati

Extra everything

The project is built up of units. Each unit is a free space where rooms and gardens can be assembled in various ways. The circulation is kept on the side of the units in order to keep the space inside flexible and free in plan. It is a double height garden unit. It is closed to the neighboring sites providing privacy but open to the park and the sea for light and views. To achieve open-air gardens, the units are shifted back and forth so that each unit has one part where it is open to the air for a minimum of 12 m. The terraces face south and north in order to take advantage of the particular location of Lima where the sun arcs across both the northern and southern sky depending on the time of the year. The actual house sits comfortably behind a layer of private gardens.

Each unit has a flexibility-floor through which all pipes and services run. From the floor the pipes are connected to a shaft in the circulation zone. The floor also holds the gardens and the pool. It is possible to have the gardens, the pool or other recessed objects wherever desired, within the structure of the floor. The floor and walls are naturally ventilated due to their double structure. The only object that interrupts the units is a solarpipe that goes through the entire building with high reflective mirrors and a translucent glass in order to bring light into the deeper parts of the building. The entrance floor holds a cafe and the rooftop holds a communal pool and garden area.

The project creates 10 private garden houses in the sky with direct connection to both the pacific Ocean and the Golf Park / city of Lima all the way to the Andes.

August 23, 2012