29.2.2008
Supping the light
The project is an adaptation of the existing house and an addition to this building, a so called 'Other house'. This house was where a wood shack used to be, so the original volume of the shack was kept in the design.
){kind=link}
The problem with our Other house, that enabled our creative solution, was the fact that the neighbours did not allow us to open the facades to the courtyard. Because of this, we decided that the house would get it’s neccessary light from above and both sides. To gain this effect, certain empty spaces were created, such as atriums and loggias. This empty spaces connect both houses on a archetypical level. They vary in term of use and character, but follow the same design. They become essential for living, they become architecture.
The house, being an addition, is purposely designed as a separate object. The volume takes on an aesthetic impression of unity, such as for instance stone with its surface.
The roof embraces the whole house, with snowcatchers on it that run down the facade, too. This snowcatchers work as a kind of texture lines, softening the monolithic appearance of the house. Places where the object draws in the light, are intentionally exposed and emphasized with the choice of a second material. The interior adjusts to the roof openings, which meander through the space, and influence the floor plan, creating one large space and a series of smaller ones, that hide behind the meanders.