Luxembourg-Based Firm 2001 Exemplifies Their Ethos in a Glass House

What’s in a name? For Luxembourg-based architecture firm 2001, quite a lot, actually. The moniker nods to the energy embodied by the start of a new millennium, as well as to Stanley Kubrick’s seminal sci-fi film 2001: A Space Odyssey. Philippe Nathan, who cofounded the studio with Sergio Carvalho, says the numerical designation “sums up an attitude that finds its architectural application,” and refers to their projects as “reduced expressions” that carefully consider the interaction between structure and surroundings.

Exemplifying that ethos is a 4,800-square-foot house in Mondorf-les-Bains, Luxembourg. An essential gesture is the contrast between cast-in-place concrete and solar-protective glass that each define two of the four facades. At the structure’s corners, the shine of mirrored glazing meets the rough nuances of concrete left imperfect to emphasize materiality. The glass, meanwhile, is framed in sleek black-anodized aluminum. “It’s a simple and clear vocabulary,” Nathan says.

The two aboveground levels contain the bedrooms and bathrooms for the family
of four. Since the house was built on a slope, the lowest level, devoted to the public spaces, is partially underground. The back faces a patio and small garden. The front overlooks a quiet street dotted with single-family residences and blossoming cherry trees—all remarkably reflected on the building itself.