This semi-detached house in Winterthur, Switzerland, was built by Hermann Siegrist between 1930 and 1932. It is regarded as a manifesto of New Objectivity architecture (Neues Bauen). In the course of the last 80 years, one of the two houses gradually lost its soul due to a number of inappropriate interventions. Ben Widmer, architect at Bernath+Widmer, acquired this house with the aim to give it back its soul.
On the basis of a comprehensive documentation of the neighboring house originally inhabited by the architect Hermann Siegrist himself, Ben Widmer carefully renovated his house, mandating only a few specialized companies. He wanted to carry out as much work as possible himself with the help of some friends. This allowed him to learn firsthand how the house was originally constructed and to make appropriate decisions on how to best preserve its historical value. One of the few companies entrusted with restoration work was fontana & fontana. In close cooperation with them, colors were applied in their original mixtures with the methods and techniques of the time.
The few new interventions made create a discourse between the concepts of living of then and now. The dining area, subtly indicated by a suspended ceiling, used to be connected to the kitchen only by a serving hatch. A kind of cabinet door underneath the stairs now offers a direct access. On the upper floor, the two rooms facing south were joined in a similar manner. A door camouflaged as furniture door serves as connection. Spaciousness is generated without forsaking the fragmented room conception of the 1930s. The new interventions do not result in juxtaposition between new and old. The boundaries between the old and the new were deliberately blurred and are often hardly recognizable.
