Architectural Parallax

Thonex, Switzerland
2012

Too often office buildings are generic, uniformly glazed shapes indifferent to their context, climate and orientation. We are proposing an opposite approach, where the building facade is very precisely generated by its place and orientation. By wrapping a finely calibrated timber matrix around the given building volume, we create an environmental buffer. The matrix is made up of vertical and horizontal timber louvres. They carefully vary in depth according to the natural light conditions of different orientations. This variation also generates a powerfully changing perception of the building from outside. Moving around the building, the façade becomes animated, smoothly shifting between very strong horizontal and vertical readings. Shadows thrown by sunlight further animate the timber matrix as they change over the day and year. At the same time the timber matrix creates a strong material and phenomenal richness, ideal internal light conditions and a unique architectural identity for the building within a heterogeneous surrounding.