the dynamic windows of the kiefer technic showroom by ernst giselbrecht + partne

The house affords the inhabitant the ability to “trim” the constituent parts of the wall section to accommodate the weather, undergoing an array of metamorphosis throughout the days, weeks, and seasons. It also explores the sensibility of layered and adjustable hiking attire and abode. It takes its inspiration in part from the rich sailing traditions in the region, where an array of sails are trimmed and hoisted to utilize changing winds. Kiefer technic showroom by Ernst Giselbrecht. This new office building of the Austrian metal company Kiefer technic. While the immovable shoreline granite has worn, eroded and severed over time, the Responsive house delicately touches the land, tailoring to the changing winds and freeze-thaw cycles. This facade changes continuously each day, each hour shows a new face - the facade is turning into a dynamic sculpture. Designed to adapt to the changing climate along Coastal Maine, the Responsive House reacts against traditional notions of the static dwelling. Restoring and reexamining this dynamic and active relationship, between the house and its environment, is what this opening gambit seeks to do.

No longer does one close the shutters at the onset of an impending storm, no longer do our homes contain “sleeping porches” for cool summer nights, rather the thermostat ensures we are always provided with our cool summer nights and our shutters have become vinyl bookends to windows, feigning functionality. Yet homes have lost their relationship with their environment, with the weather around them. And this, to a large extent is the purpose of our homes, our dwellings, to offer protection from inclement weather, and shade in the heat of the day. Contemporary dwellings primarily rely on adjunct systems to maintain a secondary interior atmosphere, separate from the one that encompasses the house. Our separation from this environment is often regulated though, through the static construct of our homes’ walls. From the changing seasons to the changing climate, we reside, figuratively and quite literally, in an unstable air mass. Weather and our environment are in a constant state of flux.

The dynamic windows of the kiefer technic showroom by ernst giselbrecht + partne