The Architectural Review - 09.2019

to construct a building are killing the
architecture', believes Bourdais, whose
intention is to give t he designers
he commissions carte blanche.
Unlike houses for everyday life, its routine
and implicit sense of duty and restraint,
holiday homes help liberate conventions.
They call instead for 'a degree of informality,
unpredictability, even exuberance', believes
J\1:auricio Pezo, one half of Pezo von
Ellrichshausen, the first practice to have
completed a Solo House in J\1:atarrafia.
'Perhaps that is the real pursuit of a holiday
home; to be able to alter the perception of
time, passing from the linear sequence of our
daily life to the circular time of idleness and
boredom', continues the practice's other half,
Sofia von Ellrichshausen.
The Chileans built a long succession
of steps in t he forest leading to a concrete
p linth, suspended above t he landscape.
Climbing upstairs, a rectangular ring
of narrow rooms, closer to an enfilade
of balconies than traditional interiors,
surround t he deep swimming pool.
The 'circular time of idleness' is taken a step
further and 1naterialised in the hollowed-out
plan of' OFFICE Kersten Geers David van
Scveren's round house, the second Solo
project currently available for holiday-goers.
Commissions from Living Architecture
and Solo present architects with a blank
canvas and free rein: stunning settings with
barely any neighbours in sight and generous
budgets. Disconnected from its own reality,

t his architecture enters another dim en ion
and inhabits a parallel world. It is an
atypical setting for architecture to thrive

in, but not all is lost along the way. 'Some
buildings do not need to solve any problem
whatsoever, but to be a problem in
themselves', argues P ezo.
Time itself is a luxury, 'more important
than money' according to Bourdais -
interestingly, he decided to ask each
architect h e invited to work with the
same ball park figure, €800,000 for the
full, furnished house. While Zumthor is
renowned for getting what he wants and
nearly all his projects have suffered from
interminable delays, his way of working is
not the norm. vVhat Living Architecture and
Solo Houses provide is a safe space free of
protocol, 1narket demand and legislation
that invites architects to launch into the
world of ideas with the sole brief of
designing a holiday home. Unburdened
by practicalities, architecture can arguably
elevate itself, attempt to break new ground
and challenge the wider public to rethink
the spaces vve live in - even if for just
a weekend getaway.
While past relics and design heritage have
since time immemorial been converted into
guest accommodation - even Palladio's Villa
Saraceno can be yours for £20 per head per
night, as long as you take 15 friends along -

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upper ground floor plan

Solo House

Pezovon

Ellrichshausen

2013

Arranged in a 5m grid

around a small but deep

pool, the square plan of

the first Solo House

project is exacting in its

symmetry: two entrance

stairs split around the

stem of the building,

directing identical routes

around the basin of the

pool to a third spiral stair.

Upstairs, the elevated

platform is raised above

the trees, remaining open

to the elements