homify 360°: Bauhaus-inspired design, Abstatt

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Haus B, Abstatt, Firma Firma Minimalist house
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The design legacy of Bauhaus of course stretches far beyond the German borders. Nonetheless there is something very pleasing about seeing a piece of Bauhaus-inspired architecture in the context of the movement’s country of origin. This house in Abstatt, Germany, by Mattes+Eppmann Architekten is a wonderful example of a minimalist, modern house that is up to the present moment but still benefits from bags of that early 20th Century Germanic style.

​A face that gives little away

Haus B, Abstatt, Firma Firma Minimalist house

Seen from the outside, this house offers an impenetrable expression to the world. This sense is created largely by the large expanses of wall surface only occasionally interrupted by glass. What windows there are, are unconventional in their shape, size and placement. The most interesting and unusual of these is the long, narrow strip of glass that runs the entire height of the building, from top to bottom.

The trio of neutral colours used, meanwhile, offers interest and diversity to the exterior view without sacrificing that crucial minimalist aesthetic.

​Nothing to see here

Haus B, Abstatt, Firma Firma Minimalist house

This view is even less revealing of the character of this home or those who live there, with blank walls largely blocking the main body of the house from view. From this angle, however, we do begin to get more of an idea of how light is able to enter the building.

​Unexpected indulgences

Haus B, Abstatt, Firma Firma Minimalist style garden

As austere as the face the house shows to the world may appear, it is full of surprising little features that give the lie to the impression that this is a house designed to meet only the most straightforward of functions. This beautiful swimming pool area and its surrounding decking bring an element of luxury to the property.

​The beauty of cement

Haus B, Abstatt, Firma Firma Minimalist corridor, hallway & stairs

Although not everyone agrees, cement can often be very beautiful; all that’s required is the right context. These wonderfully solid and chunky cement stairs, so utterly well-suited to this coldly lovely building, are the perfect evidence for that.

​Blocks, blocks and more blocks

Haus B, Abstatt, Firma Firma Kitchen

In the kitchen, as outside, straight lines and cuboids feature heavily. The designer of the work surface seen in the foreground has taken advantage of the blocky aesthetic to take a huge, rectangular chunk out of the side of the piece, leaving a handy shelf for books and other bits and pieces.

​The whole picture

Haus B, Abstatt, Firma Firma Minimalist dining room

Zooming out, we can see how the kitchen comes together as a whole. The sturdy, simple furniture is carefully colour-matched to the floor, breaking up the chilly dominance of the white kitchen fittings and cement walls.

​Three for the price of one

Haus B, Abstatt, Firma Firma Living room

Placing a sofa in this room allows it to act not only as kitchen and dining room but also as the living room, with the whole open-plan space illuminated by those strange and lovely windows.

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