Joseph Maria Olbrich, House of the architect, Darmstadt, Germany, 1901

Date:November 14, 2017

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Olbrich, House of the architect, Germany, 1901

The residence of Joseph Maria Olbrich is located directly below Ernst-Ludwig’s house in Alexandraweg.

The house is enclosed by a basement floor, where a small kitchen and three floor planes are located. The architect had the intention to provide a healthy comfort and cleanliness in all the rooms. This has motivated in many parts the simplicity of formal solutions and the need to fully exploit the properties inherent in each material.

On the ground floor there is the two-storey living room, whose dark green walls are covered in the bottom by oak panels. Above the front door, there is a balcony where a loud floor is located. There also is the study and the dining room. The study is covered in dark grey maple wood, while the dining room has white ceiling and white walls but is decorated with a triangular motif in gold. Always on the ground floor, before entering the real home, is the veranda, called “square”. The ceiling is painted in cornflower blue, the floor is in black and white marble, divided into chessboard according to the ornamental pattern of the prospects, and finally the windows are framed in gold coloured oak wood.

On the first floor there is a living room, the author’s bedroom, the bathroom and the blue-coloured guest room. Olbrich’s bedroom was covered in yellow silk with a regular adornment with drops and framed by maple wood. The bathroom has white ceiling, white marble walls, white and red box floor, the only colour element is a mosaic in gold and purple.

The house suffered major damage during the last World War and was subsequently rebuilt with remarkable transformations. The white floor blue tiled floor decoration was preserved, the wall fountain under the house with the statue of Ludwig Habich, the wrought-iron garden gate, and some windows partially moved during reconstruction. There is nothing in the original furnishings except the documentation of a few pieces.