In the architects’ office this building is referred to as the “Socrates House”, because the design can be read as an – extremely free – interpretation of a quotation from this Greek philosopher. It stands at the entrance to the town of Wellenstein, surrounded by the vineyards of the river Moselle. From a present-day viewpoint it is almost a kind of invention in typological terms: the house is funnel-shaped, the approach is from the north; the funnel opens to the southeast with a view of a gently rising slope covered with apple trees. Socrates imagined living in this way, proceeding from the light and warmth into the dark and coolness. Leon Battista Alberti took up these ideas and gave them visual form in a drawing. In the present case the kitchen lies at one side and is inserted into the building in the form of a sculpturally projecting element. On top of it is a balcony for the bedrooms at first floor level. The glazed funnel with the living area and the terrace in front of it is specially staged through the use of unusual sculptural frame elements, and part of it is provided with shade and protected from the weather. The garden – with a pool of water in front of the terrace – has been planted in a carefully considered way.
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