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Libeskind Rolls Out Zinc Homes
Photo credit: Klaus Helbig
Building Design
October 10, 2009
The Libeskind Villa, the first of a series of 30 prefabricated homes by Daniel Libeskind to be distributed worldwide, has opened to the public.
Libeskind and his wife and practice manager Nina opened the 380sq m prototype on Tuesday, built on the premises of Rheinzink, the Berlin-based manufacturer that is developing the zinc facade for the Libeskind Villa.
“This is really the first time I’ve taken on the issue of doing something which is a limited artistic edition of a new space, of a new way of living. It’s really designing a total work of art,” said Libeskind.
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The prefabricated houses will be distributed by German company Proportion, which was set up in 2007 with the aim of making the work of leading architects like Libeskind more available to the public.
The design’s asymmetric tapered shape is meant to emerge from the ground like a crystal growing out of a rock. It features wide sections of glazing and a timber frame covered with standing-seam zinc cladding, available in two shades of grey.
Solar and rainwater harvesting systems have been integrated into the design.
“It’s a very interesting piece of architecture and it folds up and goes on the back of a flat-bed truck,” said Nina Libeskind.
“It blows away the existing idea of prefabrication and it’s the most sustainable ecological house you can imagine.”
The prototype villa will remain open as a visitors center in Berlin.
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marcarch
about 1 month ago
18 comments
i always like to know cost/sf? shipping pre-fab 'can' be sustainable. depends on distance. exposed areas of walls 'can' be energy efficient, depending on orientation, materials, etc. Nina's statements are 'simplistic' to be sure.
Karly
about 1 month ago
2 comments
Nina Libeskind's statements are idiotic. Is she really so dumb as to think that shipping a whole house across the globe is environmentally friendly? And what about all that capricious surface area? Like Libeskind's Imperial War Museum, that's a formula for WASTING energy! Have these people learned anything from their mistakes? It just shows that the Libeskind's are all about blowing their own trumpet regardless of how ignorant they are about design.