Tour a Brutalist Home in Zurich That Embodies Tranquility | Architectural Digest
When Victoria-Maria Geyer was presented with an prospect to design and style a home in Zurich, it felt like a desire occur legitimate. That the household was a Brutalist masterpiece by renowned Swiss architect Ernst Gisel was—for the Hamburg-born, Brussels-based mostly interior designer—a occupation-defining minute. “When the owners questioned me to occur on board, I experienced to do this,” Geyer states, pinching her have hand. “They despatched me pics of the property, and promptly I was seduced.” The gravitational pull of the residence lured Geyer from Brussels to Zurich with the job of introducing warmth and texture to concrete and steel.
Located in Küsnacht, a rich enclave some 15 minutes by automobile from Zurich’s metropolis centre, the dwelling was obtained by the clientele in 2021. Whilst the shell of the framework was a Brutalist marvel, the interiors remaining a good deal to be wanted. “The preceding owners lived in the dwelling as it was developed,” describes Geyer. “There’s a time period in French, dans son propre jus, which means to soak in kinds juice. That was the trouble with the interiors. So I experienced to go in and actually change the atmosphere.”
What helps make interior renovations really hard is performing in a predefined place. What would make it even more difficult is when that predefined space is solid in concrete from the hand of an iconic architect. “Because Gisel’s style and design was so exclusive, I couldn’t just go in with the materials I really like operating with silk, velvet. I had to conjure what the house allowed me to use.” This meant Geyer applied a palate of blues, grays, whites. “I utilised metal, but then contrasted it with rough textures this kind of as materials, stones. It was a problem to not use the resources I ordinarily gravitate toward, but what a worthwhile practical experience it proved to be.”
Although the end end result was a single the designer and owners came to really like, acquiring to that position was a logistical nightmare. “It was my 1st venture in Switzerland,” Geyer points out, “and I did not know the hoops I would have to bounce through in declaring each and every very little factor that I brought in from distinctive elements of the entire world.” The inside designer is now performing on other many a lot more homes all over Switzerland, and has vowed to not make the very same administrative issues.
But for Geyer, the headaches built the finish benefits all the far more meaningful. “My most loved portion of the dwelling starts and ends with the kitchen,” she says with a smile. “I love the curtains, simply because it brings this sort of a textured splash of colour to the home. I experienced to be measured with these moments, to not cannibalize the artwork on the walls. But truly, for me it is definitely the green table that anchors the room.” Geyer built the table, along with an assortment of other parts of furniture during the dwelling. “The fact that I was capable to carry my personal types into the home produced it all the far more meaningful.”
The shoppers are serious art collectors with two youngsters operating all around a recipe, some could muse, for disaster. “The property owners are extremely down-to-earth and have a excellent perception of humor,” Geyer suggests. “They have a lot of lovely artwork on their walls, but they want to dwell in a property, not a museum. I mean, search, their philosophy is: Do not stop your daily life since you have young children. They have white carpet in their household. If that does not sum up how peaceful they are with young children functioning around, I don’t know what will.”