01 A(NTI) HOUSE An exploration of architectural paradigms by fabricating an archetype of the instrument as an antithesis of the archetype of the human, subsequently merging the two to formulate a synthesis of two interlocking and conflicting forces, an alternation of regulation and freedom.
Cornell University ARCH2101 | Fall 2022 Instructors: Nathan Williams The project is to be a house for chairs instead of humans, thus calling for a paradigmic departure from architecture for humans. The human architectural logic is epitomized by the open plan floor slab, which allows for infinite opportunities of circulation. Orthogonality follows from the horizontality to allow spaces to be layered and stacked. The paradigm of the chairs is defined conversely: with no demand for circulation, chairs can occupy stationary voids scattered across the space with no regard for vertical variation. Hence the wall becomes the best archetype to accomodate the chairs, and the subseteqent form can be highly organic. Sited on a cliff, the floor archetype (horizontal/human logic) is strongest near the top of the cliff where the terrain is flatter, and the wall archetype (vertical/chair logic) us strongest near the bottom of the cliff which allows for more expansive vertical space. The two archetypes and paradigms thus populate from their origin of spatial strength towards each other along the long, narrow site, hence forming a condition of mutual oppression: the floor slabs are more and more disintegrated by the more massive walls, while the latter is domesticated and distorted by the floor slabs on the other end. The experience of such a house from the human perspective is thus one of alternating freedom and restraint, and the same can be said from the perspective of the chairs: they are anti-houses of each other, yet together they from a conflicting dialectic synthesis.
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