580 Park Avenue

580 Park Avenue is the complete remodeling of a 400 m2 prewar apartment on Park Avenue, Manhattan, New York. The renovation uses innovative materials from renewable resources to render an exquisite modern apartment.

The Cabinetry has been fabricated to measure. Contrasting rich and precious materials with light paints and fabrics 580 Park Avenue is an exclusive ‘Pied a Terre’ on the Upper East Side. Due to tight city codes and building regulations the five bathrooms have been designed like airplane bathrooms: In order to offer a maximum of comfort, flexibility and beauty in a relatively small space all functions have been seamlessly integrated in a single continuous surface. The kitchen has been transformed into a place of encounter around a highly innovative kitchen island. The hanging hood is a thermochromic light piece that registers entropic activity. The renovation was completed with a highly qualified team of contractors from Europe.

Authors: Aurel von Richthofen with Lydia Kallipoliti

Place: Manhattan, NY, USA
Year: 2007–09
Size: 300 m2
Type: Renovation
Client: Undisclosed

Cabinetry planned in 3D and executed meticulously

detailing - European craftsmanship at its best

master bathroom - Portuguese stone and walnut counter

teamwork - city, building, architect, contractor and subcontractors

Haus Frehn

Haus Frehn is a countryside home South of Berlin for a couple with separate guest house. The site is located in the scenic Spreewald of Brandenburg in a predominantly rural setting.

House Like Her

The House Like Her – an artist studio and home – is located by the sea south of Muscat along the magnificent coastline of the Indian Ocean between Quriat and Sur. Linked by the new coastal high-way to the capital the location offers the serenity and unspoilt beauty unique to Oman.

Lausanne Housing

The housing scheme Fiche Nord in Lausanne comprises two residential buildings connected via an underground plinth and garage. The setting on the sloping terrain North of Lausanne overlooking lake Geneva is spectacular. The volumetric shift in the facade exploits this view. Each buildings contains 7 apartment types of various sizes.

Eco Friendly House Competition

A team of GUtech students lead by professors Nikolaus Knebel, Martin Werminghausen and Aurel von Richthofen win the first prize in the Eco-Friendly House Competition organized by the Research Council Oman. The house will be built on the new Campus premise in Halban, Oman. The house features a radical design to minimize heat gain, includes passive and active energy-efficient technologies, the use of local materials (adobe). The building will serve as guest house for guest faculty coming to Oman.

Hotel & Park Heiden

Hotel & Park Heiden is a new business hotel and adjacent park in 19th century spa-town Heiden on lake Constance in Switzerland. The new hotel marks the Western edge of a contiuous park landscape and ties into the historic fabric of the town. The building continues the typology of representative townhouses reminiscent of the former glory.

Portfolio 2009-2013

This portfolio collects three lines of investigation explored simultaneously and mutually re-enforcing the work produced by aurelVR during 2009-2013: Research, Teaching and Practice. Research on urbanization in Oman and the Gulf marks a new field of investigation of design processes and spatial organization beyond form. Teaching expands in the same direction using digital tools to support design and research. The design part, finally, collects various projects done with aurelVR in Berlin and Oman.