Dear Axel… 99 Postcards from Alison and Peter Smithson

Between 1985 and 2002, the British architects Alison and Peter Smithson transformed the Hexenhaus from a modest vernacular cottage to one of the most remarkable houses of the late twentieth century. The architects completely redefined the relationship between the house and its surrounding landscape by means of more than twenty small additions, extractions, satellite buildings, furnishing operations and alternative routes. During this long process, they established a close relationship with their client, the owner of the furniture company Tecta Axel Bruchhäuser, who still lives there to this day. Axel is a key figure when it comes to comprehending the house’s design. As Peter Smithson wrote: “To work with such a person is to receive notions, strongly felt and expressed, which are the beginning of a spatial transformation. Each gives what the other needs.” Text: Anna Bach.