Viktor Jörgensen

The stately villa at Gloriastrasse 82 in Zurich serves as a starting point for a dense residential model in which communal living takes center stage.
The existing apartments in the villa are characterized by their generous layouts. On the ground floor in particular, wide wall openings connect the rooms and create a spatial continuum that offers visual connections across multiple spaces. How can denser living be achieved without sacrificing these spatial qualities?

The answer lies in a reinterpretation of the existing structure. Architectural elements such as poché spaces, bay windows, and the coexistence of served and serving rooms offer potential for new forms of living.

This project proposes using the spacious rooms as shared living areas, complemented by closable niches with furniture-like qualities. The niches can be integrated into or separated from the communal space by sliding or pivoting doors. This creates a system of temporary appropriation, allowing residents to claim private space when needed—without fragmenting the collective space.

The dense form of communal living encourages proximity and spontaneous encounters. Space is redefined: not by the clear division of public, semi-public, and private spaces through walls and doors, but as a fluid resource of adaptive environments. It is a permeable housing model that emphasizes interaction and collective experience—offering not only a spatial but also a social response to the challenges of contemporary urban living.