“More than 50 years on, it’s one of the most successful housing estates in existence“
PARKOUR HALENSIEDLUNG (2007), SIEDLUNG HALEN (2010)
These videos offer two perspectives on the iconic Halen development - one looks at history and design detail, while in the other its massing, human scale, and playfulness are demonstrated through parkour.
The 79-home Swiss project was designed by 5 young architects on a forested site overlooking a river, 15 minutes cycle ride from Bern. The land had been intended for their own houses, until costs necessitated a higher density. Communal facilities such as the swimming pool, playground and community hall have shared ownership, and the internal streets are pedestrianised. For additional reading, this feature in Monocle (quoted above) includes short profiles of some of the residents. They reflect the fact that the buildings, arranged on a slope with high walls between gardens, seem to have found a sweet spot between community and privacy. As one resident says: “You can sunbathe on the top floor balcony as God intended without anyone seeing.”
Perhaps part of Halen's success lies in how well it resolves two areas of tension in our relationship to spaces. Firstly the public/private balance, something like what Le Corbusier referred to as "silence, solitude, but also daily contact with mortals.” And secondly, Prospect Refuge theory, in which we crave immersion within nature, but also shelter from it - a view of the surrounding landscape, but also a feeling of enclosure and protection.
Blaise Drummind, b. Liverpool, 1967. Gewaltige Raume Unerschlossenen Landes [Immensité des territoires inexplorés], 2007. Huile et collage sur toile
Blaise Drummond peint un symbole réalisé par le Corbusier 'Unité d'habitation de Marseille, dans un espace vierge et blanc avec au sol des tâches de couleurs. Une phrase en anglais rythme la façade: [Parfois je fais ce rêve où nous découvrons des pièces supplémentaires dans notre maison, comme une aile secrète. Elles sont presque d'élabrées mais ont un grand potentiel pour un projet d'extension et de restauration Un nuage beige, fait d'un morceau de couverture, surplombe le bâtiment et semble perturber la quiétude du paysage. Cette ceuvre est l'illustration parfaite des préoccupations de cet artiste anglais installé en Irlande, sur la rupture entre habitat et nature, l'homme et son milieu. En reprenant les emblèmes iconiques de l'architecture moderne, Drummond traite de la contradiction entre l'utopie moderniste, son industrialisation et les nouvelles conditions de vie assujerties.
Blaise Drummond paints a symbol made by Le Corbusier, "Habitation Unit of Marseille", in a blank white space with colored spots on the ground. A sentence in English punctuates the the facade: "Sometimes I have a dream where we discover these extra rooms in our house, like a secret wing. They are pretty dilapidated but have good potential for a sort of restoration extension project." A beige cloud, made from a piece of blanket, hangs over the building and seems to disturb the peacefulness of the scene. This work is a perfect illustration of the concerns of the English artist based in Ireland, of the rupture between habitat and nature, humankind and their surroundings. By reclaiming the iconic emblems of modern architecture, Drummond addresses the contradiction between modernist utopia, its industrialisation, and the new conditions of life subject to it.
Bauhaus Masters' Houses. The semi-detached house, built by Walter Gropius in Dessau in 1926, has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996. The ensemble of the Masters' Houses is an outstanding architectural achievement of the Bauhaus.
3D modelling, texturing, illumination, postproduction and editing by Sarah Möllenbrok | lichtecht. Music "Serenity" by Dreamsfall.