Influencing this project’s narrative is an unusual bug found in the south of France called the cigale. This bug spends the first two years of its life buried in the ground. It then emerges to live the last two weeks of its life in trees, absorbing heat and light before expiring. Curiously, the people of Provence have adopted this large insect as their symbol.
from Grandview Drive, looking southward onto the site
Maison Cigale, a work in progress Myron Nebozuk
t ruth be told, this project began life well before the theme of this issue was announced. For years I’ve been obsessed with Lebbeus Woods’ comment, ‘Imagine that we find a cure for gravity; what then?’ Also shaping my proposal for a theoretical house project was this excerpt from this issue’s call for sub- missions: ‘an architecture centred around notions of materi- ality, physicality and actual experience—the nature of the ground—our bodies demand a richer lived experience.’ Accommodating both Woods and the provoca- tive excerpt above, I suggest a middle ground;
In place of a prosaic garage, the idea of a berm to protect vehicles from the elements has begun to take hold. My obsessive-compulsive couple has requested an illuminated, glass-enclosed linen tower. ‘What’s the use of ironing a table linen and then throwing it into a closet?’ It is placed alongside the stair to separate night time and daytime zones.
an architecture devoted to the senses yet treading lightly on the earth.
This house is dedicated to an imaginary couple who desire a home with night time spaces that are oriented towards the night sky and the aurora borealis. Daytime / waking hour spaces are oriented to the sun, tracking the sun’s trajectory. For the most part, program is set within an emerging steel superstructure that lifts the entire house from its site. Kinks in the plan allow program elements to better track the sun.
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O n S ite review
W eight
I ssue 10 2003
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