Crisscross

We have developed the new two-generation family house on a classic long agricultural plot into a slightly rotated cross plan so as to co-create a multi-layered world in which you move crosswise, then in all directions and then around. This creates a number of different corners on the property and you experience new situations all the time. We set part of the house in the middle of the demolition of a stone barn, and for part of the shell we recycled and whitewashed bricks from the demolition of a brick barn. We're lowering our neighbor's high wall with green-roofed additions, creating a little paradise in our own big backyard. We borrowed the turned centerline of the house from the neighbor's barn and placed the building on the lot so that its sightline includes a view through the original gate of the demolished barn to the furthest point in the apple orchard, which continues through the unbuildable portion of the lot. Settlement on the property is in many ways due to contemporary legislative constraints unknown to our ancestors, but we still aim to preserve the genius loci and diversity in unity that can only be found in the now almost fairy-tale urbanism of preserved suburban villages.

The house is straightforward and simple. The brick perimeter walls are connected by a reinforced concrete crown, which reinforces the archetypal exposed truss structure with above-rafter insulation, which therefore does not need additional reinforcement. We heat and cool with an exposed concrete floor from geothermal wells. The large roof overhang protects against the sun and allows you to walk around the house with dry feet even in the rain.