Homecoming

A voyage in time, straight to the present: Swiss architect Arnd Küchel has transformed his birthplace

For Arnd Küchel, this was a homecoming. For the Zurich-based architect, the return to his parents’ house in Engadin was also a far-from-simple project. «I grew up here, but I am not the child I once was. As you can tell from this space», he says. How can a lifetime find its way into the place it all began?

A radical renovation was required. Küchel spent two years thinking about how to transform the architecture to meet his tastes. «My parents’ style differed from my own», he explains. «I was looking for lightness and light!». The house of 500 sqm from 1915 had character, but its furnishings made it dark and heavy. The architect has inserted mid-century design, with countless objects from Milan and Paris, Marrakesh, Zurich and Stockholm. A remarkable collection – lamps by Norman Foster and Serge Mouille, pieces by George Nakashima and Charlotte Perriand, art by Not Vital and Bohnchang Koo.

Küchel has carefully restored the buildings, doorframes, carved details, the stone pine ceilings and parquet floors. The kitchen is now open to create a large living area, with a fireplace and a conversation zone with Thomas chairs by Antonio Citterio in an intense green. The two guestrooms are in sparkling blue and warm pink. Piece by piece, childhood memories have been combined with the concrete, experiential treasures of an adventurous life, in order to construct, room after room, a place of many fascinating facets. Ready for the next chapter.

«In this case, I wanted to give Martina a contemporary version of her childhood home designed by Renzo Mongiardino, with my own humble means»