R128 HOUSE

R128 House

Photographer: Zooey Braun

Exploring turn-of-the-millennium futurism in this icon of Stuttgart architecture.

Like a glass jewel-box, the R128 House is a secret architectural icon hidden in Stuttgart’s leafy southern hills. Its transparent, rational style speaks to a minimalism and engineered purism common in Werner Sobek’s work - an architect who made this project his manifesto as well as his personal home.

The experimental house was completed in 2000, built with prefabricated steel and glass components designed through pioneering carbon-neutral principles, which means it’ll be completely recyclable at the end of its life cycle - not that that’s planned any time soon. The triple glazing employed for its insulating properties also has the added benefit of high reflectivity, negating the rather voyeuristic, museum-like aspect usually associated with glass houses.

That clear, ethereal quality is reinforced by each level’s very minimal built-in facilities and free-flowing furnishings, while modernists icons such as Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe, Eileen Gray or USM pieces are proudly represented throughout. The minimal decor contributes to the cleanliness of the open plan, with each storey divided by the framework into six equal sections that delineate the different functions of the space.

It’s a rare style for the Baden-Württemberg region, a landscape more accustomed to pointed-roof houses than see-through buildings. A quarter century later however, R128 still stands as an architectural beacon, imprinting its onlookers with deep fascination as well as representing an important milestone in climate-focused yet design conscious philosophy.