a+ samueldelmas

Description

Located on an elongated plot, the «Maison quinconce» is laid out in several long strips. The house enters into a dialogue with its wooded surroundings, slipping in and out from amidst the existing trees, especially the great Lebanese cedar. The superstructure is composed of an assemblage of parallelepiped-shaped blocks. These are offset from one another and create façades made of Corten steel alternating with glazing. The constructive feat here was to have the solid Corten and the glazing arranged in perfect staggered rows. This was made possible by the use of a steel support structure, which becomes abstract and disappears. Indeed, the central and unique post is not encased in the façade complex but placed at the corner of the patio between two glass sheets. The views are directed according to two different principles, external and internal. They are both all about the natural atmosphere. Grand, fully opening pivot windows abolish any notion of boundary between the inside and outside. Several passages between the two amplify this sensation and generate a succession of reflections that make the house look unreal. The garden with a variety of terraces and gentle slopes takes shape as an extension of the house. The ground floor and first floor patios refocus the house on an intimate exterior area. Green patios that play with transparency develop new connections between spaces and reveal the interlocking logic.