Villa Vriezenveen

This ZECC Architecten project typifies the change that is coming over the Dutch landscape as its former farmhouses give place to new abstract architecture. The essence of Villa Vriezenveen is that it picks up, yet consciously modifies, the lines of the landscape through a formal language of its own. The level plain stretching away between Vriezenveen and Almelo forms the backdrop all around this house/sculpture designed by the young architect Marnix van der Meer. Like its background, the lines of this single-family dwelling are unembellished. Dark zinc cladding runs in long horizontal strips, pleated and puckered at the joins. The outside walls interact harmoniously with the surrounding countryside, contrasting with the orange roofs of the neighbouring farms that line the Weitemansweg road. The rooms all have one large window aperture giving onto their own point of the compass. Jinking amid them to form a central nucleus is the living heart of the house (kitchen - dining area) which opens outwards on various sides. All room accesses, including open-plan staircases, radiate from this focal space. On the upper floor two symmetrical volumes project to front and rear, respectively forming a car bay and a covered terrace beneath them. The main bearing structure is three steel frames supporting two laminated steel girders 1 metre high and 27 metres long. A slender wood structure resting on the outer walls enables the form to jut and stretch on various sides towards the green plain and the pale sky tints of the Dutch landscape.

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