by Wolfgang Höhl

This single-family house with its clear-span interiors, industrial materials, and view of city lights might be mistaken for the work of American architect (and Frank Lloyd Wright apprentice) John Lautner.

But the SPS house, named after "Sprengersteig," its street in Vienna, is a product of the young Austrian firm querkraft architekten. The glazed, pedestal-like building is recessed into a sloping site, with "two boxes and a studio" on the above-ground floor.

Completed in September 2000, the house measures 16 by 130 feet (5 by 40 meters). Its materials and design are simple. Glass, aluminum, corrugated acrylic, galvanized steel pipes, and untreated larchwood characterize the outward appearance.

Inside are found subdued colors and comfortable materials — such as wood, sheep's wool, and the clay cladding of the back wall. The green-beige color of the upper-floor "boxes" on both inside and outside appears to vary greatly with time of day and changing light conditions. "The color lives," says Peter Sapp, a principal of querkraft architekten.

Inventive Urban Planning

The house was built in a part of Vienna normally off limits to permanent residential construction. The neighborhood is an allotment, or Schrebergarten, traditionally dedicated to hobby gardens and other recreational purposes. The origin of such zoning goes back to the late
19th and early 20th century, when the urban working classes were given this land to grow their own food. The allotments also provided green space to the growing and crowded cities.   >>>

The SPS house in Vienna by querkraft architekten. Photo: Hertha Hurnause The house has three parallel zones: an open garden terrace, a covered pergola, and the interior of the lower floor. Photo: Hertha Hurnause   Click on thumbnail images to view full-size pictures.