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Architects Directory 2009

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X Architekten

Austria

BIOGRAPHY AND PRACTICE

Founded in Graz in 1996, x architekten moved to Vienna in 2001; in addition to a studio in Linz, last year they also kick-started a joint venture with React Studio, creating the Bucharest-based rex-architecture. A total of fifteen employees work in the office, including the core team of David Birgmann, Bettina Brunner, Rainer Kasik, Max Nirnberger and Lorenz Prommegger. Bringing a broad spectrum of architecture and design skills (as well as metal casting, courtesy of Kasik), the team also teach in Austria, Holland and Germany.

'The 'x'stands for openness,' the team explains, 'it signifies a quality that goes beyond a single person's abilities.' They add that they don't believe in creating a 'specific spatial or visual identity', instead preferring to create a signature look through the use of 'innovative materials, new forms and spatial relations.'

THE HOUSE

For the design directory, x architekten urge you to 'pimp up your roof,' an experiment in increasing suburban density following a 'one-hour-adventure' in Google Earth, researching suburban conditions around the world. The project imagines a typical saddleback roof house transformed into a platform for a new dwelling set atop the original structure. This two-in-one building features a new unit opened towards the sky, with the gable walls adapted as a running track and privacy from the host house below.

THE FUTURE

This house concept points towards the studio's future concerns. 'We suggest setting up another model in which existing houses are extended instead of continuing to extensively "consume" new areas and infrastructure'.

www.xarchitekten.at