Tessenbergstrasse 27
2505 Biel-Vingelz
Biel: Haus Rätz
Focus on the essentials
Planning and execution
1959–63
Architects
Max Schlup, Architect (BSA/SIA)
Client
Alexander Rätz, secondary school teacher
Landscape architects
probably Walter Leder
Description
The two-storey exposed concrete structure is striking for its layered floor slabs and full-height glass façades, which, together with the sharply defined side walls, precisely delineate the building’s form. A taut, grid-based layout of the rooms, built on a 2.20m grid, where the restriction to a limited number of materials is consistently maintained: the carefully formed exposed concrete and the original built-in furniture convey the understated elegance of early 1960s living.
Nature is pointedly incorporated, with the existing trees extending onto the large summer terrace. Discreetly integrated into the green hillside plot, the house, together with Max Schlup’s own home (Tessenbergstrasse 8), ranks among the most striking examples of architecture reduced to the essentials.
Visits and guided tours
Type of tour: Guided group tours; no individual tours
Booking: required
Group size: maximum 15 people
Meeting point: in front of the entrance
Guided Tours
Saturday, 14:00-14:30 - Rudolf Vogt, Silvia Kistler
Saturday, 15:00-15:30 - Rudolf Vogt, Silvia Kistler
Saturday, 16:00-16:30 - Rudolf Vogt, Silvia Kistler
Directions
Bus no. 11 to "Römergüetli"
Location
Tessenbergstrasse 27
2505 Biel-Vingelz