Text description provided by the architects. A europan 10 winner, Suture is a project that provided a solution to the problem of a fractured site, the ownership of which was irregularly and inconveniently divided between the Municipality of Emmen and the housing corporation Lefier.
The project called on the owners to exchange the land in a way that allowed for a fully usable and useful community space to emerge in the center of the project site. This newly injected garden space worked as glue that bound the pieces of the fractured site to form a whole. The garden also formed the second facade for the privately owned housing lots arranged at the perimeter of the block. The project took into account the existing pattern of informal paths that already functioned as shortcuts to the nearby amenities.
The internal public space will be turned into a green park and will be used for various types of activities. Future tenants will decide how their courtyard will look and will be editable to build and maintain it by their own effort.
The housing is composed of 24 rental homes, all of-which are accessible from the ground level. The housing stock includes two typologies or units (5,4 and 6 m wide) with a variety of possibilities for customization available for different types of families, from young couples with kids to senior residents.
The project was a collaboration between Timur Shabaev and Marco Galasso.
