Hall 2 - 46

Hexenhaus (Witch’s House)

Designer

Alison and Peter Smithson

Location

Germany

Information

Alison and Peter Smithson spent 20 years designing Axel Bruchhäuser’s „Hexenhaus” in Bad Karlshafen. Together with Tecta Landscape, it is one of the Smithsons’ later works.

Exhibit
contents

INFORMATION

Exterior view of the Hexenhaus, 2004 – Axel Bruchhäuser’s house, where he still lives with his tomcat Karlchen.

INFORMATION

First contact between Axel Bruchhäuser and the Smithsons, 1984, correspondence between two cats, Snuff Smithson and Karlchen.

INFORMATION

Letter and drawing by Peter Smithson about the placement of a window in the Hexenhaus, 1996.

INFORMATION

“Hexenbesenraum” (Witch’s Broom Room) – that’s what Alison Smithson called the glass-enclosed, eleven-metre-high pavilion, which can be reached via a catwalk.

INFORMATION

Floor plan by Peter Smithson, showing all the Hexenhaus annexes constructed between 1983 and 2003.

About the
Designer

INFORMATION

Alison (1928–1993) and Peter Smithson (1923–2003) were British architects who formed an architectural partnership. They are considered key representatives of New Brutalism, particularly in architectural and urban theory. The two met while studying architecture at Durham University and married in 1949. They initially worked for the architecture department of the London County Council before establishing their own practice in 1950. Learn more