The Hidden Home

Francois Roche and r&sie, "I am Lost in Paris," 2007

Courtney Smith

The first thing that caught my attention during our lecture on collaborative architecture was Cedric Price's diagram on six uses of existing buildings.  Reduction, addition, insertion, connection, expansion, and the typical demolition.  Six options in total, yet the most common in our culture seems to be demolition.  Why is it that American culture tends to tear buildings (and existing landscapes) to the ground and restart entirely.  During my time in Genoa I have been able to many buildings in which architecture was built on top of an existing structure to compensate for needed space.  This sketch to me embodied the entire lecture. 

Cedric Price's "Six Uses of Existing Buildings"

I selected one of this methods, connection, and chose a work based on this principle.  I was fascinated with Francois Roche with R&Sie's "I am Lost in Paris" and the way in which the structure was connected with the surrounding buildings.  

Since the main goal of the project was to avoid blocking or hiding the existing garden, designers Francois Roche and R&Sie created an invisible house, one covered entirely in ferns.  The facade of the house was inspired by the green wall work done by Patrick Blanc, designer of the living wall at the Caixa Forum in Madrid.  What fascinated me by the home was the intricate system which divides the plants and irrigation system from the actual walls of the home.  Unlike the Caixa Forum wall, the home features two independent walls.  The first wall functions as the framework to hold the ferns and the individually-blown, glass beakers which provide light for the interior of the home.  The second wall is the structure and insulation of the home.  The negative space between the two walls is small, but a usable space like a hidden walkway.  Beyond the series of walls, a garden connects the home with the surrounding residencies.  

While the structures or not physically connected through the use of a walkway, ramp, or even shared door, they are all very connected.  The all share the garden space, thus a physical connection.  More abstractly, the home functions as a beautiful view for the surrounding buildings and thus connects the two spaces. 

The model shows the system of walls.  The outermost wall is a grid system in which the ferns and glass beakers are inserted.  Over time as the ferns continue to grow and fill, the wall will become more solid. The innermost wall is solid with a few large windows to bring sunlight into the home.  As seen in the model a very defined space existing between the two walls creating a unique indoor-outdoor space.