What is quality of life in your opinion? The quality of living is living in harmony with the surroundings and largely depends on our view of...
What is quality of life in your opinion?
The quality of living is living in harmony with the surroundings and largely depends on our view of the world. Of course, the quality of living also depends on everything that surrounds us: from people to other completely material things. If we talk about the quality of living in the sense of living in houses, I can say that it means a lot to me that the house is well designed and made of natural and ecological materials. Humans perceive quality not only at the level of visual sensation, but materials and shapes also affect our well-being at more subtle levels. A house or home must be a place where we return after a hard day's work, to gather new strength in the circle of family or loved ones. For this reason, we can talk about the quality of living only when we start to really use the house or a piece of furniture and feel satisfied with it. Until then, it is just an object that we perceive on a visual level.
Is the dream of Slovenians still a two- or multi-story house with a garden and a dog, in which three generations of one family live?
From my experience at Lumarse, it seems to me that there is no longer a dominant pattern in the architecture of new constructions in our area. Buyers who are interested in buying a prefabricated house are mostly aware and do not build houses that are too big. A high-quality range of materials, low energy consumption and high-quality design mean more to them.
Where and how would you live alone if no obstacle stood in the way of your imagination?
Right now, being swamped with work, I would travel the world again for a while, with minimal luggage and limited funds. In this way, it is much easier to make contacts and establish genuine contact. Over the years, people accumulate a lot of baggage that we carry on our backs and this distorts our perception. At the same time, we are also in favor of status symbols, which determine our position in society and the reactions of those around us to us, which means that we give up many interesting experiences. But for now, it doesn't seem that he would travel anywhere for a long time, so he would be completely satisfied with Lumar's house Avant 169, of course in an ecologically passive version and in a location surrounded by nature.
Has the recession changed trends in home design and construction?
The recession has helped many to stop for a moment and think about what it is that they want to achieve and what is important. This is also reflected in the buyers of our houses, who want more rational houses with low operating costs. The houses are clean, their exteriors already show a bond with nature, as wooden facades are highly desirable. Buyers are increasingly aware of the message value of the architecture of the house, as it says a lot about the people who live in it.
From which part of the world do the most innovations in eco-building come from?
In the field of wooden constructions, the Austrians and the Swiss have certainly been the leaders in recent years, who have recognized wood as a material that can be intelligently integrated into modern architectural trends. As a traditional building material, it has experienced a renaissance in the area of the Alpine countries in recent years, which is reflected in the beautiful buildings that are being created in this area. There are a number of institutes in Austria, Switzerland and Germany that study materials and their impact on humans and the environment in a completely scientific way. Similar to the field of organic food, they award quality marks, which assure potential buyers that they will really get an organic product.
Which architects or designers have most fascinatingly changed the way of living in recent years?
At the world-renowned forum on wooden construction, which I attended in the winter of 2009, quite a few very innovative wooden buildings were presented. On the one hand, they presented new structural elements in the sense of a spatial rod, which enable the realization of organic shapes even in wooden structures, which until now was more in the domain of steel and concrete. As such, the example of the golf clubhouse in South Korea was presented, where architects Shigeru Ban from Tokyo made the roof structure from wooden sticks, the supports of which are designed as tree structures.
As another such example, the thermal baths in Tuscany (Toscana Therme Bad Orb), which will be completed this year, were presented. The roof structure was designed as a wooden shell, the project was planned by Ollertz und Ollertz architects. On the other hand, they presented new modern architectural trends for residential construction in passive standard, where it is necessary to highlight the Austrian architect Johannes Kaufmann, who with his innovative solutions for multi-apartment passive construction perfectly harmonizes functionality, modern trends, aesthetics and energy efficiency of wooden construction.