VitraHaus
The concept of the VitraHaus connects two themes that appear repeatedly in the oeuvre of
Herzog & de Meuron: the theme of the archetypal
house and the theme of stacked volumes. In Weil am Rhein, it was especially appropriate to return to the idea of the ur-
house, since the primary purpose of the five-storey building is to present furnishings and objects for the home.
photograph by © Iwan Baan
Due to the proportions and dimensions of the interior spaces – the architects use the term ‘domestic scale’ – the showrooms are reminiscent of familiar residential settings. The individual ‘houses’, which have the general characteristics of a display space, are conceived as abstract elements. With just a few exceptions, only the gable ends are glazed, and the structural volumes seem to have been shaped with an extrusion press. Stacked into a total of five stories and breathtakingly cantilevered up to 49 feet in some places, the twelve houses, whose floor slabs intersect the underlying gables, create a three-dimensional assemblage – a pile of houses that, at first glance, has an almost chaotic appearance.
photograph by © Iwan Baan
Project Info:
Architecture: Herzog & de Meuron
Location: Weil am Rhein / Germany
Year: 2010
Work: finished in 2010
Client: Vitra
Status: Completed works
Type: Corporate Headquarters / Showrooms/Shops
Isabelle Laurent
Isabelle Laurent is a Built Projects Editor at Arch2O, recognized for her editorial insight and passion for contemporary architecture. She holds a Master’s in Architectural Theory from École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Paris-Belleville. Before joining Arch2O in 2016, she worked in a Paris-based architectural office and taught as a faculty adjunct at the École Spéciale d’Architecture in Paris. Isabelle focuses on curating projects around sustainability, adaptive reuse, and urban resilience. With a background in design and communication, she brings clarity to complex ideas and plays a key role in shaping Arch2O’s editorial
