022 House for a Veterinary Surgeon
Dagmersellen/Lucerne, SwitzerlandProject 1983Realization 1984
Sited along the northern side of a small corner plot in a suburban settlement, the elongated house negotiates the slope to contain a principal floor with the veterinary surgery, the principal living quarters and two garages. Public access is possible via the angled staircase and the pavement along the garages. This lower spine of circulation is similar to the loggias of the Photographic Studio Frei (082) and the indoor and open-air swimming pool in Riehen (085).
Though the building bears many conventional elements, replete with its cement render, the head-like west façade may evoke zoomorphic associations, whereas the detailing of such things as the balustrade and canopy counterbalance the otherwise solid volume of the main configuration.
Herzog & de Meuron, 1988