African Aesthetic House - Sow Geneva by SAOTA

African Aesthetic House – Sow Geneva by SAOTA, SRA Kössler & Morel Architects

Sow Geneva by SAOTA

This house was designed by SAOTA in Geneva as a family home and office. The triangular shape site, restrictive design and building parameters force SAOTA to develop the project as a carving and sculpting forms. The project also described as an expression of an emerging African aesthetic in the sure way it plays with texture, materials and the way it connects to the exterior. Conceptually, Africans have a very significant view of shelter. It expressed by flat roof which more essential than the vertical wall.

African aesthetic house Sow Geneva by SAOTA

On either side of the 20 meter wide channel sits the two portions that make this house, the main house and the annex. What link the two buildings are the cinemas, spa, auditorium and garages underneath. The main house is a combination of round edged cubes and triangular masses that form the L-shape of the living spaces. A double volume living area with a curved wall on the façade facing the lake, flows into a dining area and kitchen on the ground floor and bedrooms, a lobby and en-suite’s on the top level. The top floors are accessed by a glass cylinder encased lift. The annex houses a guest suite and what unifies the two are their materiality and special relationship to each other, making the gap in between read rather like a pause in time as opposed to an empty space.
Architects: SAOTA (Stefan Antoni Olmesdahl Truen Architects) with SRA Kössler & Morel Architects
House in: Geneva, Switzerland