Barcode House | MVRDV

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Barcode House | MVRDV

Information

  • Project Name: Barcode House
  • Practice: MVRDV
  • Completion year: 2005
  • Gross Built up Area: 900 sqm
  • Project Location: Munich
  • Country: Germany
  • Lead Architects/Designer: Winy Maas, Jacob van Rijs and Nathalie de Vries
  • Design Team: Jacob van Rijs, Carola Dietrich, Marc Feustel, Vanessa Carlow, Stefan de Koning and Chris Daehne and Benjamin Wiederock
  • Landscape Consultants: Keller Landschaftsarchitekten, Munich DE
  • Photo Credits: © Rob 't Hart
  • Others: Co-architects and site management: Stadler und Partner, Munich, DE: Stuart Stadler and Michael Onischke with Andreas Selbertinger and Susi Felder, Services: TGA Büro Haff-Wiesmaier, Munich DE
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Excerpt: Barcode House is a villa designed by the architectural firm MVRDV. This large villa and studio stretch across two rectangular building plots forming a barcode collage of 9 individual but spatial units. The programmatic arrangement, determined by the owners’ daily routine, is expressed visually. The stripes have been individually designed to fulfil the spatial demands of the interior program, with the identity of each being reflected in its material representation in the façade and the interior.  

Project Description

[Text as submitted by Architect] Located in one of the outer suburbs of Munich, this large villa and studio stretch across two rectangular building plots forming a barcode collage of 9 individual but spatial units. The programmatic arrangement, determined by the owners’ daily routine, is expressed visually. The stripes have been individually designed to fulfil the spatial demands of the interior program, with the identity of each being reflected in its material representation in the façade and the interior. 

Barcode House | MVRDV
© MVRDV

Located in one of the outermost suburban neighborhoods of Munich, this spacious villa stretches across two rectangular building plots to form a ‘barcode collage’. The owners’ daily routine determines the programming of the layout. It manifests itself in adding individual elements – stripes –designed to respond to the spatial demands of the plan by the internal functions.

Barcode House | MVRDV
© MVRDV

The large, heavy volume is divided into ten sections, nine of which have been incorporated into the proposed building envelope. A curtain crosses the six m-wide gaps between the two envelopes. It unifies the elements to form a single entity. The identity of each stripe is reflected in the materials of the façade and the interior’s atmosphere.

Barcode House | MVRDV
© Rob ‘t Hart

The spatial configuration of the interior is based upon the classical concept of the enfilade. Still, the resulting form comes from the sum of the individual parts, through the interaction of large, full-size spaces that span the width of one barcode strip and small portions – alcoves – that link them. A vivid domestic environment is created: a balance between spatial openness and privacy. A prominent middle axis makes a spatial and visual connection between the sequence of elements. It offers rich moments of voyeurism along the length of the villa.

Barcode House | MVRDV
© Rob ‘t Hart
Barcode House | MVRDV
© Rob ‘t Hart

The Barcode House considered sustainability before becoming a fashionable keyword for architects. It was decided early on that wood, rather than the cheaper and less sustainable concrete alternative, would be used for the house’s structure. In addition, the house is designed to be incredibly flexible, providing the possibility of multi-family or live-work conditions, should its use change in future. Sustainability in this sense, a long-lasting house, resulted from good design; remaining open to possible change patterns of use, rather than rigidly enforcing specific ones.

Barcode House | MVRDV
© Rob ‘t Hart

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