A 27 Atelierhaus

Usually, architects and artists make unlikely bedfellows. Artists think they have some inborn expertise on spatial structures, while architects credit themselves with being artists by virtue of their genre. Therefore, it is all the more surprising that the Japanese artist Leiko Ikemura and the Swiss architect Philipp von Matt successfully teamed up to build a residential and studio building. The result of their collaboration is anything but a compromise. The building is a unique fusion of traditional Japanese architecture and solid Swiss sturdiness. What looks like a minimalist cube actually contains an unexpectedly complex space that is astonishingly diverse and original. Barren walls and rough concrete meet rooms and courtyards suffused with light.