Terraced House

The house in Veldstraat is conceived on the basis of maximum interaction with the town and the neighbourhood. The big double doors on the ground floor ensure contact with the street. The entrance hall is a combination of a grand front door and a service entrance. The full-length window, which can be opened, links the interior to life on the street; this is an architectural consolidation of one of the traditions of this working-class district.

The stairs run up the inside of the facade in half-storey sections. The pattern of circulation is marked in the facade, thereby coupling grandeur with nonchalance. At the same time this affirms the forced marriage between house and street. Every year the facade in fibre-cement sheeting is overgrown by Virginia creeper. This means the changing of the seasons is once again visible on this street.

Photograph by: Anja van Eetveldt
Vercruysse & Dujardin

Source: Mies Arch Prize: http://www.miesarch.com/