Camouflaged amidst peaceful surrounds of a southern German village, an opaque facade vertically clad in scorched wood gives way to exposed concrete on the second floor. The L-shaped monolith takes care to complement the form of its neighbouring buildings. On second glance, it reveals itself to be anything but standard. Every material, surface, and furnishing of Villa Mahler is custom-made; at once an essential part of a singular spatial composition and a testament to shared values and mutual respect between its creators. Led by architect Anna Philipp of Philipp Architekten, the residence was brought to life in close collaboration with Eichkorn, the young Black Forest-based atelier and manufactory of Felix Eichkorn and Ruben Rebmann. Grounded in the collaborative philosophy of the Bauhaus, the first manifestation of their collective exemplifies the potential of synergy directed towards the pursuit of enduring beauty, which the trio of collaborators and friends reflect on in an exclusive with Ignant.
A Fortuitous Encounter
The collaboration that gave rise to Villa Mahler began when Anna Philipp was developing what she terms a “radical concept” for the villa’s outdoor area. Her concept for the house was beginning to form, taking cues from its bucolic surroundings. “It’s a quiet, rural setting with a lovely old apple orchard nearby,” she says. “There’s a road in front, but the house is set back so you walk behind it to enter the calm garden space. This orchard became the main aspect for me: how architecture can create a simple, inviting structure,” she says. “It’s straightforward; the houses line up along the road, and we had to balance the scale of the house with the street and surrounding homes. The wooden facade is a nod to the local building style, yet it’s unmistakably modern. This connection to tradition is something I’ve grown to appreciate over the years.”
As she was designing the outdoor terraced space, she began to search for a design partner to realize a unique concept to protect the terrace from the elements. “A simple sunshade just didn’t feel right,” she says. Having come across Eichkorn on social media, she reached out. During their first conversation, everything clicked. “We understood each other right away and quickly started exchanging ideas about architecture and the project. From there, everything just flowed.” Ruben agrees: “It just worked.”
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Villa Mahler: Anna Philipp And Eichkorn Collaborate On A Rarefied Artist’s Residence
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A Fortuitous Encounter
The collaboration that gave rise to Villa Mahler began when Anna Philipp was developing what she terms a “radical concept” for the villa’s outdoor area. Her concept for the house was beginning to form, taking cues from its bucolic surroundings. “It’s a quiet, rural setting with a lovely old apple orchard nearby,” she says. “There’s a road in front, but the house is set back so you walk behind it to enter the calm garden space. This orchard became the main aspect for me: how architecture can create a simple, inviting structure,” she says. “It’s straightforward; the houses line up along the road, and we had to balance the scale of the house with the street and surrounding homes. The wooden facade is a nod to the local building style, yet it’s unmistakably modern. This connection to tradition is something I’ve grown to appreciate over the years.”
As she was designing the outdoor terraced space, she began to search for a design partner to realize a unique concept to protect the terrace from the elements. “A simple sunshade just didn’t feel right,” she says. Having come across Eichkorn on social media, she reached out. During their first conversation, everything clicked. “We understood each other right away and quickly started exchanging ideas about architecture and the project. From there, everything just flowed.” Ruben agrees: “It just worked.”
