One day, a project : 3 generation house by BETA office

beta-three-generation-Ossip-van-Duivenbode
Photography by Ossip van Duivenbode

Driven by the Saturday morning frenzy (age makes us reconsider the concept of sleeping in on a Saturday morning, it seems), I’m proposing a project that I can’t wait to comment on !
Let’s go to Amsterdam, famous for its coffee shop (do we really drink coffee there ?), the pleasure districts and its bicycles…but not only !

There’s also…*drum roll* of super innovative architecture (you didn’t expect that, did you ?). This is notably the case of the district, Builksochose, a name that is very unpronounceable for us French, which shelters harbour wastelands and is intended as a laboratory for a sustainable and new city. That alone.

It is therefore here that the “3 generation house” stands, a name that reminds us directly of Auntie Danielle, as intergenerational relations can be so badly experienced in France. A program that brings together three families: the young working couple, the small family with children and the cute retired couple.

In form and materiality, it’s rather simple: concrete, rubble, steel, a little wood to cover the whole and a canary yellow wall for the young and pep’s side. A sure thing.

The details are meticulous, like the railings, pure, like a black ribbon that links the ground floor to the ground floor. The window frames enjoy the same attention, glazing aligned with the bare exterior of the facade, synergy between the finishes on rubble and wood plate. Minimalist.

But beyond the material aspect of this architecture, it is the alternative to the lifestyles we practice today that struck me.

So yes, it’s not for everyone. That’s why I find the idea (which is not innovative, let’s face it) interesting for Western countries: learning to live next to each other again. At a time when the new major real estate operations are imposing differentiated access codes on each floor (useful to meet the neighbors or ask for a little sugar), this type of project brings a breath of fresh air and common sense in a world that is sorely lacking in it.

The BETAs are less than their name would lead you to believe !
(Yes I’m almost proud of my concluding joke)

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