Starting on April 14, 2022, Almere in the Netherlands will be the venue for the International Horticultural Exhibition Floriade Expo 2022 for six months. The Rebel House immediately catches the eye of visitors there: from afar, it looks like an Imperial runner from the Star Wars saga. Directly in front of it, it looks like an animal evolution from Jurassic Park. This is mainly due to the striking facade in shimmering brown and copper tones. It is reminiscent of the scale skin of a giant fossil and consists of triangular ceramic tiles from AGROB BUCHTAL. The artist Christine Jetten has refined them with a special glaze. Floriade runs through October 9, 2022, and is open daily from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The Rebel House by architect Cas van der Zanden is a Tinyhouse, which especially through the collaboration with ceramic artist Christine Jetten, breaks conventions: sustainable in material and special in format.
Custom-made ceramics with special glaze
The Rebel House gets its sustainable concept and special look from the special facade ceramics with fine dust glaze. For this purpose, the fine dust is captured from the city air and recycled. At first, the architect and the artist wanted to produce the prototypes themselves and then look for a producer. But in the end, Christine Jette preferred to rely on the expertise of Agrob Buchtal's architectural ceramics, with which she was familiar. "I design custom ceramic glazes for building facades and interiors that are not commercially available. Therefore, I know about the material quality and was immediately excited about the idea of using unglazed tiles from Agrob Buchtal for the design. The ceramics team made it happen within a very short time, it worked out great."
House and facade breath
Cross-glued pine is the basis for the facade, floors and roof. Additional wood fiber boards with 8 mm joints serve as insulation. A 4 mm thick plaster layer of hydraulic lime is applied to the boards. This allows the house and facade to breathe. The applied ceramic is also breathable and additionally protects against heat loss. The choice fell on 30 x 30 cm large and 8 mm thick unglazed extruded stone tiles. The glaze developed by Christine Jetten was applied over them.
Tile trim with water jet
One sticking point was the asymmetrical, acute-angled shape of the ceramic triangles or "animal scales." For the trim, a special company used water jet technology with high pressure. Usual methods would have created too much tension, causing the long, pointed triangles to break. About 60 m2 of tiles were laid for the outer skin of the rebellious living animal. The pattern was complex and challenging for the tiler. Therefore, the architect projected the façade pattern onto the cottage. This allowed The Rebel House to be transported to Almere in time for the opening of the Floriade.
A soft spot for ceramics
Christine Jetten has made an international name for herself with her special glazes. She prefers to work closely with architects and the ceramics industry. She wants to help ensure that more and more architects and students use the durable and robust building material and incorporate it into their designs from the outset.
Press contact
Gabriele Busse (Press Officer / Senior Manager PR)
Deutsche Steinzeug Cremer & Breuer AG
T. +49 (0)228 391-1104
M. +49 (0)151 14976931
Email: gabriele.busse@deutsche-steinzeug.de
