Student Work
Title
House 196
Project Description
The site is divided into 8 rooms, from the street edge to the back lot line. Each zone, although spatially distinct, relies on its relationship to each adjacent room and gains its hierarchy from that relationship. The spatial organization of the ground level of the house is driven by a gradient of density from the central entrance room outwards to the lot lines. This expansion occurs along two formal wall armatures that both define and implicitly imply space. The second level of the house reads as two shifting volumes along the two armatures below. This shift defines two volumetric openings, linking the levels [the stair and the double heighted living room]. A symmetry is established and reinforced by two flanking terraces at the two ends. Each room contains a totemic object—a marker of occupation and usage. Alternative to the governance of the armatures, the project can be perceived as a sequence of flow and activity between these objects, from porch to chimney to kitchen table. In addition to functioning programmatically, the armatures integrate a performative quality to the house. At grade the two walls are designed to bring light and mediate the flow of heat into each room when needed and to conversely provide shade when applicable. The trombe wall emits heat at night. The form of the second level creates a cross axis within the house specific to bringing in different qualities of light across the seasons. The formal shift is revealed in the roof whereby a linear sky light ensures a desired airiness to the space.