House, Laufnitzdorf

A farmer in Laufnitzdorf commissioned a new house for himself and his family. 'The client is a nonconformist type. Only an unconventional person can handle this kind of architecture,' says architect Albert Josef Ortis, who designed the house together with his office partner, Reinhold Weichlbauer. Actually, the two of them practice architecture as a sideline. One teaches at an art school in Graz, the other runs a construction company. That may also explain why they can be so radical, sometimes even brutal in their architecture. They are not dependent on follow-up commissions.

'We want to invent something new,' they say. In doing so, they rely primarily on their computer which stores information about all their previous projects. The architects superimpose a sequence from this data pool on the building lot and generate their designs. Wherever the computer indicates stairways, they build stairways. Altogether the house in Laufnitzdorf turned out to have eight. Some perform structural functions while also serving the entirely classic role of linking different storeys. For the remaining flights of stairs the client family will find new uses in the course of time.

What applies to the stairs also applies to other building elements. The architects like to use one and the same element for completely different functions. Hence the slender window elements are also used as window breast walls on the facade. The house is as appealing as it is unusual. One would like to move in right away.