At the beginning of the 17th century, Vincenzo Scamozzi wrote a treatise The Idea of Universal Architecture, which, among other things, touched upon the subject of urban planning. This book was read by the 22-year-old Prince-Archbishop, who then ruled Salzburg. He built many houses under the impression of Scamozzi?s work, thus creating in the Austrian city a surprisingly beautiful combination of streets and squares ? a public space that people enjoy to this day.

The main idea behind this historical example is that of the importance of using a wide variety of sizes in architecture, both horizontally and vertically. Even now, the presence of such alternation still largely determines the quality of any space, whether it is housing, a shopping center or a city block. The principle of diversity described by Scamozzi has been known for hundreds, if not thousands of years, but in modern architecture, it has been increasingly abandoned: most buildings today are constructed in the same style and size, repeating each other endlessly. Photograph by Paul Ott
When the architectural studio PETER EBNER and friends ZT GmbH started working on a conceptual project of a residential building in Salzburg (Austria) for 2 owners, there already was a building on the site that was an object of cultural and historical heritage. It was built in the 16th century, under Prince-Archbishop Wolf Dietrich von Reitenau, and was used for a variety of functions over the years. At different times, the buildin...