Pezo von Ellrichshausen Discuss Their Philosophy of Human-Scaled Architecture

For Mauricio Pezo and Sofía Von Ellrichshausen, the architect's job is about much more than dealing with functional issues, as well as social issues, sustainability, and safety. “Of course architecture from its very essence is solving problems, and the problems constantly change,” says von Ellrichshausen in this interview with The Architectural Review outside their Vara Pavilion at the 2016 Venice Biennale. “But probably the life span of architecture is many times larger than the problem that it addresses initially. Therefore we think of architecture more in terms of this larger span and hopefully it might embody a set of values and not necessarily propose a solution.”

Save this picture!

The duo’s main ambition is to develop a typology of buildings that promote different spatial experiences – all created on the basis of the human scale. Since 2002, the architectural firm designed 70 projects that vary depending on two spatial dimensions: size and direction. Each member of a “family” shares similarities with previous houses, but also shows a certain degree of mutation. As Pezo explains, “although we never refer to anything other than the building we are projecting at a certain moment, we cannot avoid extending our thoughts from previous projects. We believe in invention but always within our own personal memory.”

Save this picture!

Individual houses are the most common project type in Pezo von Ellrichshausen’s work, as their small scale allows for the slow process of developing and altering building types. The most recent example, Nida House, was recently examined in an article by The Architecture Review, where the house – described as an inverted pyramid – is analyzed in relation to its predecessors.

Read the full review of Pezo von Ellrichshausen’s Nida House at the Architectural Review and watch the video above to find more about the practice’s architectural philosophy and the Vara Pavilion at the Venice Biennale 2016.