Artist House

The window, a medium between two worlds, has been an inspiration for many artists throughout time. What lies beyond it is either a representation of reality, a character, or an imaginary landscape. What happens if the window can be opened anywhere around you and capture a different image each time? How do these worlds coexist and what ties them together? For this assignment, each student had a three dimensional grid in which a house for an artist had to take form. The rigorous concrete grid imposed a sincere display of material; it was our first encounter with the expression of textures. This project explores the ideas of limit between interior and exterior spaces and how they can be united with light. The outside world is not only the garden, in the middle of which the house is placed, but the sky as well. The relationship between the interior and the two exteriors is treated differently. The perimeter of the house is covered by shutters on each floor, filtering the light and offering new views each time they are rearranged. The roof is made of concrete domes penetrated with small circles that let the light pass. The second and third floor are always lit during daytime, even when the shutters are closed. The stairs that connect the three floors are located at the heart of the house. They are isolated from the rest of the dwelling in a “vertical room”, whose only link to the outside is the light coming from the upper dome.