PEREGRINE GERETY
Based on our program goals and our philisophical approach to the site, the Outside Inside House had to fulfill three basic requirements: accomodate a wine cellar large enough for the operation of the winery, house the 7-8 more permanent staff and residents, and create a space in which people, plants and animals would be able to thrive in equal measure. Based on these goals and the original massing, the most appropriate spatial arrangement was the open raumplan with spiralling levels pictured above.
The original massing developed in X2 was inspired by a set of objects brought from home and shared with my neighbor. I made three dimensional digital models of these objects and then derived the forms for the massing from these models. Pictured above are digital models of my toy rabbit and hoof pick.
Viewed from the southwest, the X2 massing shows primarily those forms derived from my hoofpick, Hannah’s perfume bottle, and an abstracted couch box taken from my first model of the semester.
The northeast view of the X2 massing shows the rabbit trail staircase intended to allow small animals to access the roof structure’s roof. The garage that originally occupied the site is also visible on the right.
In the final stage of X2, I built a physical model based on the digital massing, using materials intended to reflect some of the ideas Hannah and I had been discussing regarding the urban winery. The boxwood leaves that clad the vertical surfaces reflect the blurred boundary between natural space and built space. The velvet came from jewelry boxes purchased for cents at a reuse shop, reflecting a high-end commodity made accessible to everyone.
Following the completion of the X2 model, the structure went back and forth between physical and digital iterations, changing form each time until it became the model pictured here. In this elevation oblique, it’s possible to see how the structure has taken on something of a stepped pyramid form in order to allow sunlight to penetrate from above.
The process of moving back and forth between physical and digital models and allowing these two methods of design to complement one another inspired the construction technique visible in the detail view above. The charred quality of the wood is reminiscent of yakisugi, the Japanese method of weather treating wood with flame, but rather than using traditional means to acheive it, I instead used a laser cutter. This allowed me to combine the beauty of the yakisugi method with the highly complex forms enabled by digital fabrication. I hope this complementary approach speaks to the philosophical foundation of the structure’s design.
These plan views show the nine levels of living space in the Outside Inside house. Starting on the bottom left and spiralling clockwise, we move from the cellar with a bathroom, laundry facilities, workspace, and storage to a dining level large enough for all the residents in both of the winery’s houses, and then to the kitchen, which is also the ground floor level. Following this, we continue to move up through the main lounge level and a series of bed levels before reaching the uppermost lounge and bath level at the very top. I have not referred to these as rooms because with the exception of the bathroom and laundry room in the cellar, there are no interior doors and walls. Light from above allows plants to thrive on the interior of the house, and there are glassed-walled courtyard areas on the upper levels, incuding one large enough for a bed.
Upward facing windows on every side of the house allow the sun to penetrate directly downwards, providing ample light for plants within the interior. These windows can also be lifted open to provide entrance and egress to any animals that wish to inhabit or visit the home.
This perspective view looking from the dining level into the lounge and up to the sleeping levels above demonstrates just how open the Outside Inside House truly is. This radical openness has deep implications for the social life of the residents.
Sunrise light begins to creep into the lounge.
These pillars demonstrate the process of translation between digital and physical iterations of the model. They did not exist withing the final digital model, but during the process of construction, it was apparent that the beams above needed support. I particularly enjoyed that the result is somewhat reminiscent of a shinto shrine, both because it’s beautiful and because shinto is all about interaction and translation between worlds, just as the house is intended to allow the interaction and mutual thriving of human, plant, and animal worlds.
Looking down from above, it’s possible to see all the way from the uppermost level into the cellar.
The Ouside Inside House is designed to allow the free movement of light, air, and animals. This is particularly evident when the house is viewed from above.
Light spills into the upper levels.