Avala House

Architecture and artisanship in dialogue. A house on Mount Avala born out of collaboration between the owner and TEN Studio.

A craftsman contacted TEN studio for the design and construction of the Avala House, which overlooks the countryside close to Belgrade, Serbia. It is presented as a case study of how sufficiency-based design can yield an optimal form for living. The owner prescribed as a condition that he be allowed an active role in the execution of the project, to which he contributed through constructional know-how and the specification of local materials. The house is organized by a grid frame measuring 16 x 16 meters, with an interior cut-out of 9.6 x 9.6 meters, and is set over sloping terrain, opening out to the landscape. In settling the matter of grade differences, the steel structure is fixed to only three points of support:

on one side directly to the ground, and at the other end to two boulder-like concrete volumes which include an outdoor garden staircase and a garden bathroom. Each side of the house is executed differently – with different surface materials (hanging net, sheet steel, pre-cast concrete, and open frame) – in order to create a variation of atmospheres with the steel structure itself and its movable elements: pivoting doors that, when adjusted, completely transform the space, which expands from 50 m2 to 156 m2 with views of the surroundings, thanks to the connection with the terraces. The interior is conceived with an unobstructed space connected to the other rooms and dividing the sleeping from the communal area by means of floor-to-ceiling curtains.