christian kerez's house okamura unfolds as a cluster of circular brick volumes in czechia

christian kerez's house okamura unfolds as a cluster of circular brick volumes in czechia

insnde the all-brick house okamura by christian kerez in prague

 

In Prague 6, within close proximity to Villa Müller by Adolf Loos, architect Christian Kerez completes House Okamura as a clear example of a very traditional, almost archaic method of constructing brick ‘circles’. The project, designed as an aggregate of column-like volumes, hosts three apartments with 39 rooms, combined. Kerez omitted dividing walls from the interior layout, making the outline of every single space visible from the outside. More so, thanks to their unique configuration, the apartments shift positions from floor to floor so that rooms in the vertical shafts belong to different owners. The rooms vary from 4 sqm to 18 sqm in size and 2.35 meters to 4.9 meters in height, with an additional 19 spaces in between the circular rooms, making it a total of 58 rooms.

christian kerez's house okamura unfolds as a cluster of circular brick volumes in czechia
all images © Maxime Delvaux

 

 

circular rooms with varying sizes, openings, and layouts

 

All spaces within one apartment of House Okamura are open to each other, with areas varying between 90 sqm and 110 sqm. As Christian Kerez (see more here) explains, the different sizes of the overlapping circular rooms create unpredictable changes in the direction of these openings. The latter seem to be randomly positioned and create a labyrinth-like movement. ‘It is a space that opens in on itself, generating an impression of expansion within actually limited boundaries, as intended by the rigorous geometrical arrangement. The layout of the circular rooms changes from one level to another,’ continues the Czechian architect. 

christian kerez's house okamura unfolds as a cluster of circular brick volumes in czechia
House Okamura in Prague 6

 

Meanwhile, the elevator, storage, and sanitary area are all tucked between the circular rooms of House Okamura. These intermediate spaces, which can be entirely closed off with doors, are minimal, fragmented, and convex, as opposed to the open, perfectly concave main zones. Concluding his thoughts, Christian Kerez highlights how the spatial concept of autonomous rooms aggregated to a sequence of spaces feels radical and new while the whole project resorts to traditional brick construction, which is easier to build on site than orthogonal spaces.

christian kerez's house okamura unfolds as a cluster of circular brick volumes in czechia
the project reveals a cluser of brick circles

christian kerez's house okamura unfolds as a cluster of circular brick volumes in czechia
the interiors host three apartments, with 39 rooms in total

christian kerez's house okamura unfolds as a cluster of circular brick volumes in czechia
circular living room with no dividing walls

christian kerez's house okamura unfolds as a cluster of circular brick volumes in czechia
the direction of openings constantly changes from room to room, and floor to floor

house-okamura-designboom-full

christian kerez's house okamura unfolds as a cluster of circular brick volumes in czechia
bathroom / sanitary room

christian kerez's house okamura unfolds as a cluster of circular brick volumes in czechia
shower area

christian kerez's house okamura unfolds as a cluster of circular brick volumes in czechia
hall area

house-okamura-designboom-full-1

 

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project info:

 

name: House Okamura

location: Prague, Czech Republic

architect: Christian Kerez@christiankerez

project team: Martin Kugelmeier, Nathanael Weiss, Werner Schührer, Miroslav Malý, Martin Binder, Jonathan Schönberger, Zdeněk Chmel, Ernest Babyn, Marina Montresor, Francesca d’Apuzzo, Patrick Perren, Bartosz Bukowski, Caio Barboza, Lou Dumont d’Ayot, Michelle Nägeli 

building management: Jiří Hušek, Petr Husák
structural engineer: Cobra ateliér s.r.o./ Jan Česal, Jiří Kopecký
general contractor: AMO s.r.o.
consultant: Osamu Okamura
photographer: Maxime Delvaux | @maxdelv

project period: 2013-2021 

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