Mies van der Rohe's Basement.

The Tugendhat Villa in Brno, designed by the architect Mies van der Rohe, is an exceptional example of the international style in the modern movement in architecture as it developed in Europe in the 1920s.

Villa Tugendhart - the basement's entrance is prominently located at the front facade, photo by anarchitecture

The Villa Tugendhat was among the first to have central heating and central air conditioning. The basement contained a sophisticated air conditioning system next to the laundry and the darkroom, a combination of heating system, ventilator, and humidifier. [..] the large living area had an additional warm air heating system that could also be used for cooling on warm summer days. [..] A complicated filtering system cleaned and humidified the ait before it was forwarded to the vents in the living area.” (source: Dean Hawkes, The Environmental Imagination, p. 38)

Villa Tugendhart - air conditioning system, photo by anarchitecture

Remarkable, the building provides an example of a higher standard of living from the 20th century inter-war period showing the lifestyle of a cultured, wealthy and modern-thinking level of society. As in contemporary buildings, Villa Tungendhat’s technical features are well hidden: nearly the entire basement is occupied by building services.

Villa Tugendhart, the basement - a large part is dedicated to HVACR

Elections in the European Union. Vote!

Building Outline.

image by helmut k. lackner

Switzerland is the country of direct democracy. Citizens have the rights to challenge the government's decisions and may overturn parliamentary decisions. Likewise, it can be not easy to obtain a planning permission in some cases. People might have a say in the final result. As part of the approval process, the municipality can demand the construction of the building’s outline: a framework of steel tubes showing the estimated building height.
No chance to fiddle.

image by helmut k. lackner