Zurich House / t-unoauno + arqaz arquitectura

Text description provided by the architects. Facing the current global situation, brought about by something intangible causing great tangible problems, has ushered us to rethink Virtual Real Estate as a new concept, in terms of architecture, since it seems likely to remain this way, resulting in change in human behavior instead; we now find ourselves in a new “normality”, commuter towns have now been drastically transformed, large cities, towns, streets, the world is an entirely new one, we are obliged to stay at home, turning our focus to the importance of comfortable living tailored to our new lifestyles.

Looking closely at homes as the basic cell of a larger system in need of a change in its policies. Understanding that, in this new era, it is not the architecture that has to be rethought, but the way of living.

Interpreting the home as a sacred space, our protective refuge, where each act is part of a ritual, we reclaim our sense of wonder. In our daily lives, obvious small things that surround us are easily overlooked since these are usually overshadowed by those that are more overwhelming.

In the context of a time when one of the most important companies in Big Data announces a new era accompanied by what they call the “Goal”, in which we will no longer have to commute to work, travel or coexist (everything will be within reach with the use of VR headsets), we have been commissioned to remodel a space in the apartment of a building located on Zurich street, to transform it into a warmer place, where inhabitants can find a sense of spirituality within the city’s “chaos”, through the renovation of a bedroom and a new home office space.

We seek to convey that warmth by bringing more natural light into the room and the use of oak wood and indirect light reflected in warm tones. Through a rectangular window, divided into 4 parts, that lets through a beam of light that forms a cross into Dana’s bedroom. The inhabitants are a family of four, a teenager and only child, Dana, her parents, and Rita, the French bulldog. They find moments of spirituality with the passage of natural light filtered through these 4 panels and serenity with the use of wood through a simple language.