THE HOME UPGRADE
New Homes in Remodeled Buildings
by Tessa Pearson
© GESTALTEN Publishing, Berlin, 2019
« This house was in a very bad way before we started work on it. It was progressively sinking into the ground, creating significant structural problems, » architect Antonin Ziegler says of the Parisian home he reworked into a live-work space for himself and his girlfriend. After addressing the drainage and fondation issues,
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Ziegler could tackle the rest of the structure, which is built on a narrow plot measuring just four meters in width. « The idea was to preserve as much of the existing structure as possible and to leave it visible,’ adds the architect, who used recycled materials for much of the work. « It’s adorned with cement, sheets, and wooden planks that characterize the aesthetic. » Hidden behind a simple, modest façade, the interior spaces are free from the constraints of the old design. « Many perspectives have been devised to create a visual dialogue between floors and to open up the house, the highest point of which overlooks the rooftops of Paris.
