Sustainable aesthetics and gradual transformation The genius loci as the gentle transformer: for Nöfer architects, the goal is to find new forms for eternal architectural values. TEXT: CORNELIA BRELOWSKI
Over the past 100 years, architecture has often faced the problem of following the latest hype, producing cities filled to the brim with buildings that are outdated and incapable of meeting nowadays needs. Nöfer architects strive to go against that tide and produce architecture that picks up on century-old urban building traditions, implemented in combination with intelligent modern building standards. 86 | Issue 53 | August 2017
This merger guarantees little aesthetic and structural abrasion and allows for a slow transformation and restoration of the urban cityscape. Through intensive analysis of the architectural detail, Nöfer architects have created their own repertory which in turn leads to recognisable characteristics in their work, described by Tobias Nöfer as detailed architecture in tune with anthropomorphic proportions.
Main image, right and bottom middle: Kurfürstendamm 170, Berlin. Photo: Wildgrube, © Nöfer Architekten Bottom left: Spree One, completion 2018. Visualisation: Nöfer Architekten Bottom right: Upside Berlin high-rises, completion 2019. Visualisation: Xoio, © Nöfer Architekten
With the ‘Palais Holler’, Nöfer architects have recently finished a representative building situated at Berlin’s traditional Ku’damm boulevard. The completely new building replaces a structure from the ‘60s, which had suffered irreparable water damage. The office and commercial building is oriented on the historic building style of the West Berlin boulevard, also featuring the typical combination of gabled, mansard and flat roof. The new structure effortlessly blends in with the urban street front and features two lofts, five floors, a two-level underground car park as well as a small garden. The office units of var-