Some projects begin long before the actual commission. When Nidus opened its first exhibition, ‚Sehnsucht Stadt‘, in 2017, the residential building on Arnoldstraße in Düsseldorf formed part of an exploration of an architecture that continues to shape the city today: the housing of the post-war reconstruction years. Not icons, but everyday building blocks of the city – robust, rational, and often underestimated in their architectural quality. 

Built in 1956, the apartment building is a particularly fine example. Its carefully articulated façade, generous windows, and precisely composed details give it an understated elegance. A building that does not need to be loud to have a presence in the city. 

Years later, a client approached Nidus to redesign his apartment. As chance would have it, it was located in exactly this building. What had begun as an observation of the existing city became an architectural intervention. 

The starting point for the design was the question of how the attitude of the 1956 building could be translated into a contemporary interior without reconstructing the period in which it was built. The approximately 150-square-metre apartment was reorganised and conceived as a continuous sequence of spaces. Existing and new elements are not staged in opposition to one another. Instead, a distinct contemporary layer is introduced within the existing architecture. 

The material palette is deliberately restrained. Oak runs throughout the apartment, bringing warmth and calm to the rooms. Bespoke built-in elements take on different functions while becoming part of the spatial order itself: cupboards, shelving, panelling, and furniture come together to form a continuous architecture. Textiles and light surfaces introduce softer elements, counterbalancing the clarity of the joinery. 

This approach is particularly evident in the custom-designed kitchen, where oak meets large expanses of stainless steel. The precision and directness of the metal contrast with the warmth and tactility of the wood. Kitchen units, worktops, and built-in elements are conceived not as individual pieces of furniture, but as part of the architecture of the room. 

The furnishings likewise resist belonging to a single period. Vintage pieces sit alongside contemporary designs, art, and objects by Nidus. Different times and origins overlap – much as the city itself is made up of different layers. 

The result is an apartment that does not attempt to recreate the 1950s, but instead carries its qualities forward: clear proportions, precise details, good materials, and an unforced approach to living. 

Apartment 1956 is therefore also a story of continuity. A building that Nidus first encountered through an exhibition about the qualities of the existing city became, years later, the setting for its own work. Looking became building on what was already there.